Let's Draw! Candy Corn...that's also a Vampire!

Let's Draw! A...Vampire Candy Corn because...why not? 

Let me show you how in less than two minutes:

See? Wasn't that super easy and fun?! 

Want to draw more Kooky Candy Corns? Well, just tap the link for a download to this drawing sheet and enjoy!

Let's Draw Candy Corn!

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DIY: Skull Planter!

I spotted the coolest planter ever the other night at Cracker Barrel: it was a large plastic skull planter and I just had to have it!

Until I saw the $40 price tag.

Then I remembered how a while back I made TONS of Halloween decor with one of my long forgotten favorite art supplies: CELLUCLAY. You can check out all of those creations (well, most of them anyway), here. 

Here's the how-to video!

The process is super easy! All you need is Celluclay and a plastic planter...and acrylic paint. That's it! Oh...and maybe a cute little plant. This is one I scored at Walmart years ago on sale. It was so sad and almost dead that I named it Peanut. Peanut is now living it's best life in my brand new skull planter!

Part of the magic is in the painting when it comes to this kind of thing. I used a base coat of gray and then added a darker gray to the eye sockets and the nostrils to really deepen the look. Then I used diluted off white paint to go over that in the light areas. Finally I used a dry brush and white paint to add the highlights. 

I won't be leaving this outside. Celluclay, since it's waterbased, would probably not fair well outdoors. 

So in my over-crowded plant window, she will go!

Thanks for letting me share! I actually think I need to make more of these. Why, I have no idea! But it was just so fun and Halloween season is my absolute favorite!

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DIY: Embroidered Eyeball Earrings!

We were traveling to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando this weekend (our very favorite thing ever) and I decided to take an airplane craft with me. I love to take little embroidery projects with me because they are lightweight and easy to transport. Earrings are my favorite things to embroider: they are quick and easy to make and super lightweight to wear. I've made several now and I've shared the process on each in this blog post!

I broke down the steps so you can make your own!

Now if these eyeball earrings of mine are giving you a little deja vu...that might be because I recently shared an eyeball necklace DIY!

If you wanna go bigger with your eyeball theme, then I have a video on how to create these eyeball ornaments right here!

I even made an eyeball dress! It's one of my favorites. You can check it out here. 

I am in love with these! I now feel like I need a whole set of Halloween embroidered earrings. I'm thinking skulls, pumpkins, ghosts...you name it!  

I also think that if you need a simple intro to embroidery project, this might be it! You can also check out all of my fibers projects here! 

Please do lemme know if you make some eyeball earrings so we can be twinsies! Have fun!

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14 of My Favorite Fall Art Lessons

It's officially my favorite time of the year: FALL! I love it mostly because I'm super into Halloween and all things spooky. I also love that the days are finally cooler...but I do hate that I have less daylight time. Regardless! Fall's my fave and this here post is full of my fave fall art lessons...

AND, like usual, these lessons are free and if you tap the link, you'll be lead to the lesson post which has all the details and (usually) a video for you to share with your students. 

So...here you have it: My Favorite Fall Art Lessons!

Let's kick things off with this Van Gogh-inspired haunted house! My students, especially my older ones, LOVE making spooky drawings. All the details can be found right here.

Who doesn't love MONSTERS for this spooky season?! I've got several in this blog post, starting with this one. I created this as a sub plan and my sub and kids loved it! Full video lesson here. 

This lesson was one I came up with years ago that I love doing with my third graders and up! Weaving is always a hit. Here's the video lesson here. AND a book I wrote with all sorts of fibers lessons like this one. 

Can you believe this is first grade?! I KNOW! Lesson with video and contemporary artist connection here!

I always do paper weaving with first grade and sometimes second graders at the start of the school year. This one is always a favorite. All the details here!

These leaves are PRINTED...with markers! An easy and fun printmaking activity that you can find out all the details about here. Complete with lesson video. 

Sunflowers are perfect this time of year. You can find tons of these flowers at Dollar Tree and they are perfect for making these Andy Warhol-inspired prints. 

One of my favorite things for this time of year: BLACK LIGHT. It's spooky and fun and the kids LOVE it! This lesson on monsters where we used neon paint and oil pastels was a hit with my fourth graders. Lesson and video here. 

Need a collage and shape lesson? WITH contemporary artists connections? Here you go!

Back in olden times, we didn't have these fancy things called Gelli-Plates. No, y'all, we had to make our own! And I share how in this post but...I wouldn't recommend it. It's not vegan-friendly. It's labor-intensive. And they don't last very long. So...splurge on those gelli-plates cuz you can still do this process!

Fall is the perfect time to paint landscapes! Here's an oldie (this lesson is almost 10 years old!) but one that I still love. 

Y'all, talk about a throwback: this lesson is from 2012! But it's one I have done for years because the results are always amazing. Check it out!

Do you have a class that's jsut ahead of the rest for some reason?! Need a fun lesson that they'll love? Here you go, video included!

I'll have more Halloween-ie lessons coming at you next week but until then...here's a fun collage project I know your kids will enjoy!

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DIY: An Eyeball Necklace for Halloween!

I just finished making my third Halloween craft of the season! I shared my new Halloween dress in this blog, complete with a video tutorial, here. Then I made another dress...which you can see a sneak peek of in this photo. I can't wait to share it with you but until then...let's make an eyeball necklace! Here's what you'll need:

* Large wooden beads

* White and black acrylic paint

* Skewers

* High gloss Mod-Podge

* An assortment of beads

* Elastic string

* Paint markers

* Flat paintbrush

And here's a little how-to:

My only real tips: 

* Work on these in batches. This will allow dry time between the white paint, the iris, the pupils, the highlights and the red veins. Thankfully, the paint markers dry quickly!

* Lay out your design on a plate. This will keep the beads from rolling all over the place.

* Don't worry about 'mess-ups'. In the end, no one will notice a wonky circle or a misplaced bloody vein. Trust me! 

* Have fun! Do this as a craft while watching your favorite horror flick or listening to a spooky podcast to get you in the mood!

Making these necklaces on elastic means I can easily put them together! And slide 'em over my big ole head.

I already debuted my necklace with my new dress at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios! It was fun to dress all creepy for the occasion. 

You'll have to know if you decide to give these a try! And stay tuned...I have so many Halloweenie crafts coming your way. 

Until then...I have my eye on you!

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Simple Embroidery for Day of the Dead

Last Friday, I hosted a Halloween craft night and it was a whole lot of fun. We created super simple embroidery and needle felted decorations. My theme for mine was Day of the Dead but, since I was hosting a bunch of art teachers, I decided to just share the basics and leave the options and creativity up to them. Here's what they came up with: 

 So fun, right?! After sharing these images on my Instagram, I got a lot of questions about embroidery and needle felting basics. This project is all about the basics so I thought I'd create a little easy-peasy tutorial for you and the crafty folks in your life. I do believe children as young as 7 years old could handle this craft with you by their side. Here you go:

If you are not familiar with Day of the Dead and would like to read more, you might want to start here. 

 Supplies needed:

* Embroidery hoop (ours were about 6" wide)
* Fabric (scraps work great for the background!)
* Embroidery floss
* Embroidery or chenille needle
* Craft store felt in a variety of colors

Optional:
* Wool Roving
* Needle felting tool
* Needle felting cushion

 Instead of needle felting, you could always just glue on flowers, jewels or Halloween decor! The fun part on craft night was having a ton of supplies on hand for everyone and just seeing what all they could dream up!

 I like to keep my Calaveras (skulls) in the hoops and then hang them that way. I have a Halloween Tree (yes, I'm that person) and they look so cute on there.

I hope that tutorial helps. Have a wonderful time creating!

If you like this, you might want to grab MY BOOK, right here!

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DIY: Top Favorite Fall Crafts

Fall is my very favorite. Halloween is my very favorite. If you've been around this blog for a couple of sessions then you know that it's this time of year that I'm usually firing up the hot glue gun, busting out the Celluclay and creating things that go bump in the night. This year...well, I'm just a little busy with other things to craft any spooky goodness. However, I do believe I'm pretty well stocked in all things frightening. So I thought I'd put them all together in one big ole blog post! All links will take you back to the original post which, more than likely, will have a how-to video. Happy Crafting!

1. Probably one of my all time favorite fall creations were these Zombie Head Planters. This was at the height of Walking Dead/Zombie popularity (remember when EVERY movie was a zombie movie?! Not that I'm complaining but, really, how many zombies movies do we need?!). I loved creating the expressions for these dead dudes!

2. These Halloween miniature pieces were fun to craft on an afternoon. The pumpkin dude was created from paper clay found at the craft store. And the little painting was a copy of a vintage Halloween creation. 

3. UGH, THIS PHOTO MAKES ME LOVE HALLOWEEN SO MUCH! I created these creepy heads with Styrofoam head forms found at Joann's, cheesecloth and liquid starch. That creepy mummy just might be my favorite.

4. The things you can do with that liquid starch and cheesecloth combo, y'all! This was a vintage music box thingie that I transformed into Frank and his Bride. Can I get a gig where I just sit around and make Halloween stuff 24/7? BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE AMAZING! 

5. When I found this old jewelry box at the thrift store, I KNEW I had to make it into a book of spells. Weird? Probably! But I'm telling you, Celluclay is magical and you can make just about anything with it!

6. On that same thrifting trip, I found a bunch of bottles and decided to craft potion bottles from them!

7. I've got my eye on you. All of 'em! How-to video included in this creep-tastic EYE POPPING blog post...sorry, I had to. 

8. What I really love most about creating is taking something boring and transforming it into something insane. This was a little "Country Store" bird house type thing...that I completely spook-i-fied. I love the little light at the top! Details here. 

9. Wow, you're such a chatterbox! Did I mention that I love creating with Celluclay? Okay, lemme tell you what it is: it's basically a paper pulp type of clay. It comes in dry form and all you do is add water. I love to add it to an armature, whether it be one I made or one I've thrifted. Once the creation is dry, I usually paint them all black and dry brush the color on top...I love the antiqued look it gives. Details on these guys can be found here. 

10. Yes, in case you are wondering, that IS a candy corn tree. More deets on that in a second. First, can we talk about that eye-popping dude? Loved creating those creepy skulls!

11. Gangster Bats! Beware...they'll give you an offer you can't refuse. 

12. The Halloween creation that started it all...these guys! I made them back in 2015 and they are still my most favorite thing! LOOK at those faces, so silly and happy. Details here.

13. The Bride has ALWAYS been my favorite...mostly because I find the actress, Elsa Lancaster, so striking! This was so much fun to paint...I need to paint more, I miss it. Mixing all those different tones tho? NOT my favorite!

14. Is it even fall without Day of the Dead creations?! I think not...they speak to my love of color on these cloudy days filled with crunchy brown leaves. These planters were so fun to paint!

15. We travel a lot during the fall...mostly to our haunted house events. I love to have a craft on hand to work on and embroidery is usually my go-to. This reversible necklace was created during one of our Halloween adventures.

16. Hosting craft nights is one of my favorite things...something I don't make the time to do right now...but hope to in the near future! My artsy friends and I created these guys on a craft night a couple years ago and they are still my favorite. 

17. Decorating a candy corn tree counts as a fall craft, right?! This tree is from Treetopia and it's just about the best thing ever. I have a rainbow version in my art room!

18. I've never officially blogged about my Hitchhiking Ghosts painting inspired by Disney's The Haunted Mansion because I felt like I never finished it! But I kinda don't mind it in it's ghastly ghostly state...and I'm pretty sure I'm just too lazy to finish it.

And there you have it! My Top 18 Fave Fall Crafts! I'll be continuing this lil series with my fave fall art projects for kids and, of course, my fave fall ensembles. Yay! It's fall, y'all! 

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