Halloween Stuff At The Dollar Store

It's my most favorite time of year again and the dollar stores are full of all things Halloween. Skulls and skeletons, eyeballs and other body parts... so many things to inspire gruesome morbid craftyness!

I found this flexible ice cube tray and knew right away that I could use it with clay. Now I have a way to make skull heads for dolls, fast and simple!

These are a couple of clay heads, baked and ready to go. I am impressed with the amount of detail these have!

I got right to work on a doll! I used a styrofoam cone as the body and twisted a couple pieces of wire together for the neck and arms. I glued a piece of scrap fabric around the styrofoam so it wouldn't shed all over the place while I worked on it.

I used a little black paint to get into all the nooks and crannies of the skull and bring out the details in it. When it was dry, I glued the skull onto the wire neck and wrapped the arms in some scrap padding just to give them a little dimension.

I cut a few pieces of fabric for the dress and used scraps of lace and trim to fancy it up a little.

I glued on some loose wool roving as hair and a couple of rhinestones in her eye sockets. I almost left her like this but I wanted her to be a bit more mysterious.

I think that the veil makes her look like she's going to her own funeral.

Denim Purse Project

This is just a very small portion of my denim stash.

I decided to make several purses all at once. They are all different but this 'assembly line' made the process go a little faster.

Charming Denim Hand Bag

Lined in light weight gray fabric with a leather strap.

Eyelet trim and silver charms complete the decoration.

Darling Denim Hand Bag

Lined in light weight gray fabric with tassel trim and a fleur de lis applique.

Pointedly Paisley Hand Bag

Lined in cotton print fabric with a suede strap

Who Do That Voodoo That You Do Soooooo Well Part I

Here is Voodoo Mama!

I started working on her awhile back and my ideas kept building on themselves.

I started out by making an armature out of heavy gauge wire that would stand up by itself. I coated it thinly in clay, then went back and added the face, hands, feet and boobies! BIG boobies!

A little paint and she is starting to look like somebody so now I need to get her dressed!

Her underwear

A skirt and a little trim around her top make her decent but I don't think there is enough definition around her waist so she definetly needs a corset.

Once I get her clothes just right it's time for my favorite part! Embellishment!!

She gets hair, of course! And jewelry! A chunky stone and bone necklace, shells and ribbons in her hair and a belt with pouches for all her little goodies.

Pincushion

When I began sewing more I realized that those little tomato pincushions that you can buy in the store are useless. It is too small and it rolls away from me everytime I try to stick a pin in it! Not that I blame it, but I needed one that could take my kind of abuse! So I saw an idea on how to make a better one and I had to give it a try.

It all started with recycling a container and that is my absolute favorite way to start any project! I removed the lid and filled the bottom with rocks to make it heavy. This one is not getting away from me!

I gathered the rest of my materials together and got to work. I chalked an outline of my design onto green ultra suede and used dots of glue to hold my purple chenille yarn in place. I love knotwork and if you're careful and get it right it always looks fabulous.

I added a few beads and starting couching with gold thread.

After the couching I went back and added seed beads in the spaces.

Once I was finished with all the embellishing on the bottom I glued it onto the container. I was too busy with the sewing machine to take any pictures of the rest of the process. I really wish I had more arms.. or maybe just more control of my toes would work! Anyway, finished photo is at the top of the post, as always.

More Recycled Denim

This is another purse I made from all those old jeans. It is much larger than the handbag and I did the whole thing in patchwork. The pocket is from the front of a pair and so it is very deep and I went a bit crazy with the beaded trim. Gathering some black lace into a circle is an easy way to make a flouncy flower.

I used a length of denim for the strap and connected it to the purse with the button from the waistband.

Black ultrasuede wrapped around both sides with some polka dot ribbon was the finishing touch.

Recycled Denim

I have a stack of old jeans that don't fit anymore or have too many holes to wear out in public. I decided to play around with some of them and made a few purses. This one is a hand bag with plenty of room for everything.  I used a leg of the jeans for the body of the bag with the hem at the top. I used the hem off the other leg for the handle.

 I positioned a back pocket and a coin pocket onto the front and trimmed them in rick-rack. Then I used the waist band with the tag and belt loops attached around the top. I finished that off with some frayed black ribbon and purple beads.

Livingroom Redo - Pillows

I decided to redecorate my livingroom and after getting the go ahead from the man of the house to add some color, I was all over it! I got out my fabric stash and started with pillows. I have a very eclectic bohemian style so my idea is no two the same and nothing should ever match! :)

 Chinese satin brocade floral print with purple satin on the back

Celtic knot outlined in gold thread

This is much darker purple than it looks here

Cream and blue silk

Soft fuzzy brown fabric with wide satin ribbon