Thanksgiving Turkey-Shaped Candies

These were a lot of fun to make! Supplies:

• Oreo Double-Stuffed Cookies
• Tube of White Icing (use to hold candies together and for eyes)
• Reeses Mini Peanutbutter Cups (use as tummies)
• Milk Duds (use as heads)
• Candy Corn (use whole candies as tail feathers and wings and trim candies to make beaks)

Helpful Link: We got the idea from this Oreo Turkeys website.

Photos:
(Left) Turkey by Itself;
(Right) Katie and Stacy w/ Turkeys

Easy DIY Greeting Cards

With just your home computer, standard 8.5x11" paper and Microsoft Powerpoint you can create fast and easy cards. You can use photos and graphics off the web as long as you don't market your cards*. I like putting a big design on the front and a tiny design on the back of the card. Just print cards, fold them in half twice, and you're done!

If you want your fold on top, click on this template.

If you want your fold on the bottom, like I did for my Thanksgiving card, click on this template.

*Note: If you profit in any way from your cards or use them commercially, using someone else's artwork is copyright infringement.

Table Runners

We sewed table runners for Thanksgiving!

Table Runners
For mine (left), I used one strip of about 1 1/4 yeards of heavy fabric cut 16 inches wide (2 of those inches were for seam allowances). I simply folded down where I was going to hem the edges with an iron and then sewed away.
For Jen's, she used two different fabrics to make a revisible Thanksgiving/Winter table runner. She simply sewed the fabric right-sides together along three edges, turned the fabric right-side out, and hand-sewed the fourth edge.
For Stacy's (bottom), she used two different fabrics too, but to make her runner extra long, she joined her fabric at the middle of her runner and sewed it together on the bias to make the seam less obvious.

Simple Valance (to go with the Table Runner)
I basically hemmed a rectangle then folded one long side over and sewed it to make a pocket for the rod to go through.

Note: For heavy fabric, you may have to adjust/increase the tension on your sewing machine.

Helpful link: Table Runner Tutorial

Carving Halloween Pumpkins

Procedure: We carved pumpkins. First we carved around the stems with a large knife, entered our pumpkins, then removed their seeds and gooey insides with a pumpkin-carving spoon. I lightly drew my design on my pumpkin with a brown marker, then cut it out with thin pumpkin-carving knives. Stacy printed her design out on her printer, traced her design by pricking through the paper, then cut out where she'd pinned with a pumpkin-carving knife.



Design Credits:
From left top row: T-Fighter Spacecraft by Neuralclone and AGirlCalledBob, Gotham City Skyline by Stacy, Ghost and Tombstone, Jack Skellington by Mox_E, Scary Cat by Jess, Batman by Nick

Cat Credits: It's the notorious Froy from CrochetKitten.com!

Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Stacy and Nick went all out with a Batman-themed house! You could modify their procedures to make a custom sign and projector image for any holiday.

Arkham Sign: Make a template - you could use Adobe Illustrator software to print your template out in tile mode. Trace your template onto a styrofoam-like surface - Nick used a sheet of foam insulation from the hardware store. Next, cut your sign using foam-carving knives (the kind used to carve foam pumpkins). Finally, spray paint black. Be sure to use acetone-free spray paint or it will eat through your work (spray-test a small corner first). Even regular spray paint will eat up the foam a little. An alternative is painting the sign with tinted primer (tint regular primer with black paint) and then painting it black. Afix your sign to PVC pipe and secure pipe to the ground by sliding it over embedded rebar.

Batman Symbol

Easy Way: Use a high-powered lantern and foamcore board. Cut your design out of the foamcore and place in front of the lantern. Black out the other three sides of the lantern.

Nick's Way (uses a projector, music and DVD authoring software): He made an Adobe Illustrator file of the bat signal and laid it down on a video track in Adobe Encore*. Then he placed his music (the score from the first Batman movie) on an audio track underneath it. He added a jumpback action at the timeline's end to go to the first chapter marker, thus keeping the 13-minute long video looping. He burned his new DVD and played it through a home TV projector via a DVD player that was contained in a cardboard construct. The player and projector were both set on a stool and plugged into an attached multi-adapter.

*Note: Adobe Encore is a DVD authoring suite that comes with the CS4 Production Bundle. You could do the DVD step with iDVD on a Mac or the Windows equivalent.

Spooky Halloween Curtains

You will need: Muslin or similar white fabric, white chiffon or tulle, and black paint. We used Acrylic paint, but you could use indoor latex house paint. We also used a dropcloth underneath to catch paint that seeped through the fabric.

Procedure: First, cut and hem muslin to fit your window. Next, paint your ghost or other shape onto muslin. Stacy used Adobe Illustrator software to print her design on paper in tile mode, traced her design onto her curtain with a Sharpie, and then filled it in with paint. I free-handed my designs directly onto my curtains with black paint.

After your designs are completely dry, cut and hem the chiffon to fit your window and sew it to the muslin, layering it so that the chiffon goes over the painted side of your muslin. Attach your project to a curtain rod in any way you choose (you could use clips; I sewed tie-ribbons to mine; Stacy sewed a rod pocket into hers). Hang with the chiffon side facing out for a great spooky display your neighbors can see and appreciate.

Cake Decorating with Fondant

Making a Rose Flower with Fondant: Pull the fondant with your hands to warm it. Then make a small ball the size of a marble. Form it into a cone. That will be the center of your flower. Then make a ball half the size of your first ball. Place the ball between saran wrap and press into a circle with your fingers. This will be your first petal. Attach it at the bottom of your cone and wrap it around, leaving it open at the top. Do a second petal and wrap it around the cone's other side. You are now done with your first row of petals! For your second row, use three petals. For your third row, use four or five. Bend the petals slightly outward and away from the tip of the cone. Cut the bottom of the flower at an angle so it will lay pretty on the top of your cake. Make leaves or more flowers as you like.

Leveling a Round Cake and Preparing it for Fondant: Remove the cake from its cake pan; we used a pound cake. Use a long, non-serrated or very mildly serrated knife to cut off the unlevel, dome portion of the cake. Start cutting at the lowest part and go across. If you don’t get it completely level, don’t worry. Now flip the cake over. You always want the seared side up.

Take a buttercream icing and a long icing spatula and apply the icing to the sides of the cake, then the top. Do not worry about making it look good. Now take flat wide tool (such as a chop) and scoop most of the icing off the sides, and then the top. You just want a level surface for your fondant, even if it’s a thin layer and the cake shows through. Don’t use too much icing or your fondant will bubble.

Applying the Fondant: Use two long wide spatulas to move the cake to your cake serving plate. Stick both spatulas with downward pressure under your cake, move to the cake plate, and push down as you quickly move the spatulas out from underneath the cake one at a time. If you remove the spatulas slowly your cake will crumble.

Now it’s time for fondant! Use confectioner’s sugar to dust your rolling surface. Pull the fondant with your hands to warm it and then roll it into a large ball. Place it on your rolling surface and roll it out. If you want to pick it up and turn it 90 degrees, add a little more powdered sugar underneath. When it’s big enough to cover your whole cake, drape it once over your rolling pin and carry it to your cake.

Now it’s time to put the fondant on your cake! Start unrolling the fondant over the cake at the side closest to you and drape it over the rest. Set the rolling pin aside. Tap the fondant down around your cake. The fondant is like rubber, so pull and stretch it to get it to do what you want; don’t fold it. Tap it down around the base of your cake. If you get a fold, pull and stretch the fondant away from the cake, then tap it down. Cut the excess fondant away from the cake with the pointy tip of a knife.

Piping the Trim: Use a Ziploc bag with a princess piping tip and your buttercream icing. Pipe the icing in small dots/dollops around the base of your cake. Pipe a tiny bit of icing on top of your cake to secure your fondant flower to your cake. You could also use Vodka to secure two pieces of fondant to each other.

Note: If you are trying to cover a square cake the process is different. For a square cake, cut out one square of fondant for the top and four rectangles for the sides. Apply them to your cake and seal the edges with piped icing.

Sewing Night: Fleece Socks/Slippers

Socks/Slippers Project: Buy an easy fleece sock/slipper pattern. Alternatively, cut out for each slipper:

• A) Sole - Piece for around the bottom of your foot
• B) Heel - Piece going frombottom of your heel to 4 inches above your ankle
• C) Top - Piece for over the top of your foot going from the tip of your toes to 4 inches above your ankle

Be sure to cut out the pieces so the direction of most stretch runs across them, not top-to-bottom. Now sew the sole piece to the heel piece, right-sides together, along the base of the heel. Next, turn the seam allowances in towards the heel piece and sew, this time using a zigzag stitch. Now, unfold the sole-heel combination and pin to the top piece with wrong-sides facing out. Sew all the way around the outside of the slipper leaving an opening at the top for your foot to enter. Turn the slipper right-side out. The only thing left is sewing the cuff - Fold about one inch of the cuff inside the slipper and sew all the way around the cuff once. Done!

For those who do not know how to load a sewing machine: Here are some general instructions – you will still need your sewing machine’s manual. Turn your machine on. Load thread onto a bobbin using the bobbin-winder on the top of your machine. Now, load the bobbin into the chamber underneath your machine. Next, load your spool of thread on top of your machine and follow your manual’s directions to get it to come out near the sewing needle. For my machine, the thread has to be caught by a little hook at the top of the machine, and then feed down and around a knob, then up and through a hook, then down and through another hook. Next thread your sewing needle from front to back and hook the thread throug the foot. To get the thread from the bobbin underneath up, turn the knob on the side of your machine until the needle comes down and hooks and loops that thread. Keep turning the knob and it will bring up the thread. Pull both of the threads (the one coming from the top and the one coming from underneath) up and away from you and your machine so they won’t slip away. Place the foot down to clamp your fabric under the needle. Begin sewing!

Stepping Stones with Pawprints

You could do this project with pawprints, handprints, or any other kind of print.

Procedure: First, mix cement with water in a large bucket. We got a 60-pound bag of cement from Home Depot. We used a long thick-diameter wooden dowel and a trowel to mix the cement with the water. Then we coated our molds with cooking spray to prevent sticking and poured the cement into them. You can use pie dishes or any disposable plastic or aluminum container. The mixture should be difficult to smooth, but not so grainy that you can’t smooth it all together and get rid of air pockets. Excess water rises to the top, so place a paper towel on top of the freshly laid and smoothed concrete and blot it. Then we firmly pressed each toe of the animal’s paw into the wet concrete. After making a print, we thoroughly washed the animal’s paw. We added glass marbles to our design which are best to add when the concrete is rather wet, so that the stones can be properly nestled into the concrete. We also added letters to our stepping stones using stamps.

Tip: The letters were best to add when the concrete was a little drier in order to avoid water pooling in the cavities of the freshly stamped letters.

Tissue Paper Flowers

For a fun party activity, why not make tissue paper flowers? If it's a holiday party, you can do them in holiday colors (ex. red and green).

To make these flowers, take a sheet of tissue paper, fold it accordion style, secure in the middle with string*, then unfold. To see detailed instructions, visit Sew Sweet Stitches. You can make a vase of flowers or a garland!

*Note: You can use raffia or floral wire to tie them.

Batik Dying: Skirt and Purse

Skirt project: We used red, purple, and black dye in that order and a paint brush. Before dying the fabric, a design was painted on with wax. After the skirt was dyed red, the excess dye was rinsed out but the wax was left on. Next, more designs were painting on with wax and the skirt was dyed purple. Then too the skirt was rinsed and allowed to dry without removing the wax. Finally, more designs were painted on with wax, and the skirt was dyed black. The skirt was rinsed with water to remove the excess dye, and then run in the washing machine on the hot cycle to remove the wax.

Note: The red dye came out more pink than red, and the black dye came out more purple than black.

Purse project: We used a star stencil, a paintbrush, and blue and yellow dye. Using the stencil as a guide, I painted wax along the inner edge of the stencil. When finished with the design, I added blue dye and yellow dye in a ratio of approx. 2 parts blue to 1 part yellow. Using two colors created a more muted color when the project was finished – I think the more different colors you mix in one dying bath, the more muted the final color of the dyed fabric will be.

Note: Before the wax was hot enough, the painting was more difficult and the wax didn't get into the fabric as well. Try to get your wax really hot so it glides across the fabric.

For those who do not know how to Batik: Get beeswax and heat until it until it's very runny. Meanwhile, you can draw your design on your fabric with a pencil (the marks will wash out). Use paintbrushes to dip into the wax and “paint” with it on your fabric. The areas you paint with wax will not absorb color when dyed. You can also use metal cookie-cutters as stencils. When you are finished painting your design, it’s time to dye the fabric. Get a large bucket. We used an old kitty litter bucket. Fill 3/4 full with water and add dye according to package directions. We used Rid dye – it’s available at Walmart and Michael’s. Immerse fabric and stir several times over the course of 20 minutes. The longer the fabric is in the dye, the richer and darker the color will be. Also, you can combine more than one packet of dye in order to get a mixed and/or more subtle color. Next, toss out the dyed water and rinse your fabric in water in the sink or bathtub to remove the excess dye. Finally, boil water and remove it from the heat source, then put your fabric into the boiled water to remove the wax. You can add a bit of detergent to the boiled water to make removing the wax easier. For us, we chose instead to remove the wax by running the fabric through the washing machine on the hot cycle. However, the wax may clog your washing machine, so weigh that risk when deciding what you do.

Notes: For us batik-dying was a multi-night project. Also, the fabric ended up lighter than when it was first pulled out of the dye bath. Be aware of that when choosing how long to leave your fabric in the dye bath.

Beginner Crochet Projects

Starbucks Cozy project: Crochet a row that is the height you want your finished cup cozy to be. Continue crocheting rows until your cozy can fit snuggly around a cup. To close and finish your project, just crochet into your original row and tie a knot or bow.

Crochet Bracelet project: Crochet about 6 chain stitches to begin this project. That will be the width of your bracelet. Turn and crochet the subsequent rows until the bracelet is a comfortable length for your wrist. To switch colors, just knot the new color of yarn to the old yarn, cut off the old yarn after your knot, and continue to crochet.

For those who do not know how to crochet: Repeatedly make a chain until you have your first row. Now you’re going to crochet the second row from right to left. Make an extra chain stitch. Now dip your needle into the top of the last loop of your first row. You will now have two loops on your needle. Next, hook yarn on your needle and drag that yarn back through only the first loop on your needle. At this point you will have two loops on your crochet hook. Now hook yarn on the end of your needle and drag that yarn through both of your loops. Now you will again have only one loop on your needle. Time to start over! Dip your needle into the top of the next loop to your left so you have two loops your needle and continue by pulling yarn through the first loop only and then through both loops. When you get to the end of your second row, flip your piece 180 degrees so you’re once again starting on your right. Make an extra chain stitch. For your third row, and any row you start after that, dip your needle in under the V-shape of your last regular stitch. You will now have one V and one loop on your needle. Pull yarn under the V only, resutling in two loops on your needle. Pull the yarn through both loops and get ready for your next stitch! Dip in under the next V-shape and continue!!

For those with advanced crochet skills: Check out Stacy's website, Crochet Kitten!

Clocks

We bought clockwork kits from the craft store and wood (for the base) from the hardware store. We drilled a central hole through the base before decorating.

To decorate the base, cut strips of tissue or scrapbook paper and use mod podge to secure them.

Use clear acrylic spray to seal clock and add shine.

Paint edge of clock with acrylic paint. Glue coins or buttons for numbers. Use letter stickers as desired.

*Note: This was a two-night project.

Easter Eggs

Coloring Easter Eggs: Get food-coloring, plastic cups (for placing the eggs and dye in), eggs, and electrical tape. Use the tape to block out shapes/designs on your eggs. The taped parts won’t get dyed. You can also layer the effect – dye the whole egg, tape off some parts, then re-dip the egg in a different color. Another idea is to do gradients. Dip bottom half of egg in one color, wait one minute, and then dip the other half in a different color. You can get cool effects using even more colors.

For those who do not know how to hard-boil an egg: place eggs in small to medium-sized pot filled 3/4 full with water. Add 1 teaspoon vinegar to pot to deter eggshell cracking. Bring water to boil. Let eggs boil for 10 minutes. Turn water off. Let eggs sit in the pot in the hot water for 10 more minutes. Drain water from pot. Place eggs in strainer and run cold water over them for 1 minute to halt cooking.

Valentine’s Day Cookies

We followed the same process as we did for the Christmas cookies except that this time we also used a pink gel icing. The gel icing was not as fun because it dried more clear than pink.

Note: Just like with the slim shape of the Christmas candy cane cookies, the lips-shaped Valentine’s Day cookies wound up more dry and less fun to eat. The lips shape also did not allow for as much creative freedom as the heart shape.