Trick or Treat

I made some homemade smartie cookies for the trick or treaters todaywrapped in orange stripe paper bags and stuck down with halloween stickers
I love halloween x

Meet me on Monday

I hope you've all had a super halloween weekendThis week I'm generally going to be

Photographing - all my new quirky boots products and

Listing - them all in my online stores

School - hours start again on Tuesday

Coffee - and catch up with a few friends

Cleaning - dust, yep still cleaning the dust up!!!

Visiting - the outdoors with the boys for a fresh air lung filled time after school a couple of the days this week

Decorating - I can never hold myself to this one, so I'm hoping I can surprise myself and find the time this week to do what 'needs' and 'has' to be done

Sharing - some fun tutorials on a more regular basis on this my blog that I love

Selling or Donating - all the items I've been decluttering

What will you be up to this week, do share, pop on over to Jumbleberries to join in x

Halloween Party - outfits

This weekend saw our annual halloween party so I thought I'd share the spooky outfits with you
Me and lubbly partnerOur freakish friends :)Did you have some spooky fun, please let me see your outfits, i'm always up for ideas for next year :)

Tonight we are trick or treating with friends and having a halloween tea x Have fun tonight x

Halloween Party - Foooooood

*tut I had other posts scheduled but they disappeared, so dont know what happened there*

I made lots of spooky food for our party

spiced cider whoopie piescarrot muffins and lemon muffinstiny toadsand lots more like a rather large chilli which cooked in the slow cooker all day, green eyeball jelly, trifle, cheese and savoury muffins annd much more

I created the best pumpkin I have to date! Well all Twilight fans will think so anywaysand of course I couldnt leave my pooch out, he of course was his name sake Wicket the EwokI'll share the fab outfits tomorrow x

Halloween fun - autumn leaves

An extra project for you today

A couple of fun autumn leaves projects for you

I'd already seen the original project that Red Velvet did and I so wanted to create one and finally have. My own felt leaf garland
You can see the project hereI love it, so simple yet warm and colourfulAnother autumn leaves project is collecting pretty leaves that have fallen and preserving them
Collect your leaves and leave them to dry flat in a book
Gather supplies, I used some decopatch glue (but modge podge is just the same) and a paintbrush
Paint one side and leave to dry and then paint the other side and leave to dry again
You'll find that by using this glue it brings the rich colours of the leaves back which is just lovelyUse your leaves as part of a project for scrapbooking or as a decorative item around your home in autumn*I saw this project many years ago and for the life of me cannot find the link to give credit so apologies*

Enjoy creating x

Halloween fun - door wreath

Hi! I'm Lisa Swift, owner of Altered Chic, a handmade homeware and gift shop in Chesterfield. I live in the Derbyshire with my other half John and our two cats. I've been crafting since I was at school and love nothing better than spending an afternoon on a scrapbook page or creating something pretty for our home. I also own Easy Craft Projects, a crafting website that is being relaunched in 2012. I love art, pretty homes, walks in the countryside and homemade food.ft
Halloween Wreath

You will need:

1 piece of pipe insulation
Parcel Tape
2m x 30cm black organza fabric

Sewing Pins
Orange and green felt
Die cutting machine
Cuttlebugs 'pumpkin spice' die
Modge Podge, fabric glue or similar
Black sewing threadPiece of ribbon

How to make:

I used a piece of pipe insulation to create my wreath. You could use a polystyrene wreath but pipe insulation is much cheaper and can be bought from any DIY store. Mine cost just 77p! Bend it into a ring and secure the ends together using parcel tape or any other strong tape. My wreath is approximately 10” in diameter.

Cut your black organza into strips about 1” wide. You could use any black fabric but I like the sheen that organza has and although it is semi-transparent, once you have wrapped your wreath with a couple of layers you won’t see through it.

Wrap your wreath with strips of the organza, securing the ends in the back with pins. You could use a hot glue gun but I find sewing pins are easier to use and you can move them about it something doesn’t look right on your wreath. You should cover your wreath with two layers of organza.

Using more organza strips, loosely wrap them around the wreath, you need to pin each loop on the back of your wreath to keep them in place. You should be able to see what I mean from the photographs.

I also added a large bow tied with another strip of organza to the bottom of the wreath and attached any strips left over to the bottom of the wreath at the back to create the ‘tails’. Cut these to different lengths to make them more visually appealing.

To add some colour I added a string of pumpkins across my wreath. You could add any other decorations that you like (spiders, skeleton bones etc.). My pumpkins are made from felt cut using the ‘pumpkin spice’ die from Cuttlebug. I put mod podge on the back of the felt and let it dry before cutting to help stiffen it so that the leaf and vines wouldn’t tear. I used sewing thread in two lines to create the garland attach the pumpkins to the wreath.

Finally, add a loop of ribbon to the top of your wreath, securing it at the back.
A handmade halloween wreath that cost me less than £3 to make!

A HUGE thank you to Lisa for joining me this week, please pop by her blog and see her other wonderful creations and store updates

Meet me on Monday

Just a quickie this week as generally we are

plastering - we're getting there slowly!
baking - for our halloween party at the weekend
making - parts of costumes and table displays for our party also
spending - family time together as tel off work for a few days
creating - more festive treats for my online stores
walking - i feel i really need to walk at the moment
eating - healthy *apart from the party of course*
blogging - a fun crafty halloween week, i hope you all enjoy it

These are some fun russian dolls i have made for my craft fairspop on over to jumbleberries and share your week with us :)

Halloween fun - pumpkins

If anyone has seen the issue 6 of the Mollie Makes magazine then you may well recognise the pattern for my pumpkinAfter adjusting it slightly by using felt and adding my own twist (as I love outer seams) I used the large apple template and made these fun pumpkins as a decoration for my porchIf you would like to re-create these yourself just gather these supplies, orange and brown felt, brown thread and toy stuffing and guess what you can download the template from the Mollie Makes page here
Using the template and instructions just alter it slightly by sewing the seam on the outside, and add a funny face too - if you want :)
A not so spooky post by me, but still autumn and halloween all the same. If you follow this tutorial then please do link back so I can pop by and say hello xxx

Just interrupting my halloween week with a sad post - we are motor sport fans in this house, sadly today it claimed the life of a wonderful racer

RIP Marco Simoncelli

Halloween fun - spooky mug cosie

"Hi, my names Katie and I have a huge love for all things crafty. What started out with paper, glue and scissors has grown uncontrollably to hooks, needles and who knows what next!

When Deanne asked me to create something for Halloween, I knew it had to be a "Mug Cosie" inspired by Deanne herself. I fell in love with these from the Quirky Boots blog and learnt to crochet, just so I could make them myself!

So here it is, a spookylicious mug cosie to adorn any party table, fill with scrummy treats or just sit back and indulge while you wait for the door bell to ring...
I hope you enjoy this pattern, do share your creations with me as I'd love to see them. And please credit where credit is due.

Wishing you all a fabulously, "Quirky" and super creative Halloween.

Katie Berberich "

Spookylicious Mug Cosie

Fill with lolly pops or other treats for the perfect table decoration, a great addition to any Halloween Party. Or simply indulge in comfort, whilst you wait for the “Trick or Treat”.

Using “Chunky Yarn” and

a 7mm crochet hook….

Chain 9

Row 1 1 Double Chain (DC) into 2^nd stitch from hook, DC into next 7 stitches.

Row 2 *Chain 2, Treble into next stitch, Treble into next 6 stitches (til end).

Row 3/4 Chain 1, DC into next 8 stitches (til end)*

Row 5-22 Repeat (*-*), finishing with 2^nd row of Double Chains.

Row 23 Chain 25, join with DC into 1^st stitch of last (DC) row, DC into next stitch, 1 DC into each 25 stitches to create the loop and join with 7^th stitch from previous row.

Fasten off and tie in ends with a wool/tapestry needle.

To Finish:

Attach a blue button in the centre of row 4 and thread orange lace into a bow through the 3^rd row of trebles.

Katie Berberich © 2011 www.am-i-a-dreamer.blogspot.com

**I'd like to say a huge thank you to Katie for taking the time out to join in my halloween blog week x**

Festive

I am busy - honest - I really need to find some time to photograph my festive range! Heres a peek for the time been, they will be available for sale next week :)
ps the snowman is my favourite x

Spooky Fun

I'm super excited, for a little while now I've been sorting out a fun halloween blogging week

So starting from this Saturday I have a week of spooky halloween fun sorted for my blog and you my readers :)

Some great crafty ideas to share so I hope you join in with us and enjoy it as much as I have putting it all together with some help from friends

photo source

Handmade Market

I love our handmade market and how far its come, I'm certain I say that every month, but Michelle and myself are so so proud of it

We served mini crumble mince pies with the hot chocolate this monthand we always try to make the tea tables look a little prettyThis month we had another lovely bunch of stall holders
Bizzie Lizzie
Evajeanie
D A Crochet Gifts
Cherry Orchard Treats
The Cookie Box (the giraffe was snapped up by the cake makers daughter - she loved it)
Shabby Polka Dots
The gifts of nature workshop
Georgie Girl Jewellery
Hedgerow Preserves
We cant wait for our November and December markets as there going to be christmas themed x

Meet me on Monday

Has it really been a week since blogging again, wow time has flown this week, it has been productive though, lots of sewing and designing and my monthly handmade market at the weekend have kept me super busy, we've started to serve hot chocolate with mini marshmallows now the colder weather is coming inSo this week I'll mostly be
1) crocheting cushions and my charity blankies
2) inspirational coffee with friends
3) housework - as we've had a plasterer in! i'm certain you can imagine the mess
4) preparing more handmade goodies for our halloween party
5) still reading my book as didnt get much chance last week

on another note i'll also be photographing all new goodies for stores ready to reopen them in about a week and hopefully I'm going to try to squeeze in a complete photo shoot to redo all that i've made, not a total re brand but a more 'oooh look thats a quirkyboots product' kinda re brand

all of the books I rescued from my late friends house are been collected by the British Heart Foundation so they will be going to new homes very soon, another good deed done

i'm still been kind and not putting too much pressure on myself, which i'm kind of enjoying

i'm slowly going through my simple manifesto that I drew up - gutting and decluttering is good for the soul

pop on over to Jumbleberries and join in with us - will be good to see what your up too this week x

Meet me on Monday

This week - hmmmm what am I up to this week

Reading this bookDecluttering each room slowly
Taking my time doing everything, if I feel exhausted then I actually sit down for once
Trying to take some good advice from this simple manifesto, i've already started by making the decision to stop been an avon representative
Buying more notebooks, my journalling at the moment is bursting out of the seams
Walking every day in the morning, whatever the weather, need to start the day as I mean to go on
Baking a few cakes that i've been wanting to try out!
Creating more goodies for halloween and autumn, I've already started on the pumpkinsPlanting a very special plant gift
Coffee with a few friends
Attending a 'read write inc' session at school to see how Riley is been taught (Jack was taught with this and his reading spurred on, its fantastic, so hopefully Rileys speech will come on leaps and bounds)

I've spent the last week looking after myself the boys and him indoors as the tummy bug hit us pretty hard, so i've spent the last few days de-bugging by a super clean up, hopefully its worked, as dont really fancy that again!

What are you up to this week? Pop along to Jumbleberries blog and join in x

Just an update, I'm feeling much better for the rest, apart from we've been hit with a tummy bug quite badly, its going around the school and everyones dropping like flys - not nice at all.

On another note, this photo is of my weekend away with the girls, I adore it and I'm going to have it pride of place in my studioI mean can you imagine it! sunbathing in October! oh and I'm 3rd from the left in case you were wondering :)

Meet me on Monday

Well I'm getting there slowly but surely, this break is doing me really good

Talking of breaks, I've just come back from a wonderful weekend away with my crafty girls, sunbathing in October was not our list of priorities but it was certainly done, truly amazing weekend. I'll share more on that soon.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to be concentrating on

Meeting - up with friends and catching up

Sorting - out quite a few things to do with online stores

Getting - to grips with the realisation that my little man is now in full time school!

Having - a good sort out in home

Finding - out how much vampire diaries series 3 I've actually missed and play catch up

It doesnt look like much, but I'm not pushing myself to do much at the moment.

Pop on over to Jumbleberries blog and see what everyone else is doing this week!