Halloween Scrap busters

Here are some quick and easy Halloween scrap busting ideas, Sew Mama Sew are having a whole month of scrap using ideas, I already have several bookmarked.

First up, the ghostly trick or treat bag.

You will need (this is what I used but you can make up the measurements to fit the scraps)

2x white felt 33cm x 23cm

1x black felt 33cm x 23cm

scraps of black felt for eyes

tape or ribbon for the strap.

1. Draw a ghost shape onto one of the white pieces of felt, add a big mouth.
2. Cut out the shape and the mouth to create a hole.
3. Use zig-zag stitch and sew on the eyes.
4. Use the front piece as a template and cut out ghost shapes from the other two pieces of felt.
5. Sandwich the three pieces together, with the black in the middle. Add a few pins to hold it in place. Before you sew the edges tuck each end of the tape into the head and pin - you might want to try it on the child so you can get the right length.
6. Use zig-zag stitch and sew all the way round the edge. Finished.

Pop the candy in the ghosts mouth - whooooooo

Spooky bean bags

You will need:

felt

small felt scraps

dried beans

1. Cut out circles, you need two per bean bag, mine are 11cm diameter but they can be any size.
2. Make a face, I used iron on felt but you could sew or glue the faces on. Ebi-kun designed most of ours.
3. Place two circles together (with the face on the top, face up) Zig-zag around the edge but leave a 2" hole.
4. Fill about 75% with beans (job for a little person) the close the hole with a bit more zig-zag.

If I have time I want to make a ghost with a big mouth to the throw the bean bags into, if don't we will be using a bucket!

Ghostie Pops

I always did these with my kids classes when I was teaching and they were always a big hit.

One company I worked for were very tight with the Halloween allowance so I used tissues instead of fabric, the fabric looks better though.

What you need:

Circle of white fabric - the radius should be just a wee bit shorter than the length of the lolly

A lolly

fabric pen (or marker)

Something to tie with, I used wool this time but in the past I have used elastic bands, string and twisty ties.

Pop your lolly (wrapper still on) into the middle of the circle, gather it together and hold it at the neck.
Tie around the neck, being ambidextrous helps here, if it is a bit tricky ask a little person to hold it for you. Then ask a little person to draw on a spooky face.

WhoooOOOOooooo

And finally, a Halloween wreath.

you will need:

a plain wreath or something the right shape to cover.

Ribbon in black and orange.

1. Cut the ribbon into equal lengths, it will depend on how thick your wreath is so have a play around with a couple of pieces before chopping it all up.
2. Tie the ribbon pieces and secure with a knot, repeat all the way round. This is a perfect craft to do when you are watching TV and doesn't actually take that long.

Looking for some Fun & Fast Ghoulish Halloween Treats?
Grab the ebook and bonus labels pack too!

Scrap Busters - reusable Christmas bags

Another scrap busting project, this one I will enter into the Sew Mama Sew contest.

As much as I love gift wrap, it does produce a ridiculous amount of waste and it costs a small fortune too! Last year I was trying to figure out how to do this but with furoshoki then I decided bags would be so much easier! I thought it would be lovely not just to use recycled bags but to have the gift tag attached to the bag, then over the years you can see who the bag has been gifted to, I am thinking of doing the same with birthday bags too. Of course you could leave this element out and just make plain bags,

What you will need:

• two pieces of fabric, the same size for the bag
• some scraps to decorate the bag with
• a piece of white fabric, the same height as the bag fabric but only 1/3 as wide
• ribbon for ties
• fabric pen or stamp

You can make this any size as long as the front and back pieces are the same. First, decorate the front of your bag, or if you are using Christmas fabric you can leave it plain. I cut out a circle the raw edge appliqued it to the front.

Next, take your white piece of fabric and use a fabric pen to stamp to and from for the bag label. I decided to make a pile of these bags so I carved myself a rubber stamp, the first one I made I used a fabric pen and wrote the year on too. Then sew the label strip to the back piece of the bag.
Overlock the edges on both pieces, I don't have a proper overlocker, you could use a zig-zag stitch too.
Put the two pieces, right sides together, you need to sew the two pieces together but leave 2" unstitched at the top on both sides, marked in yellow, these will be folded over to make casing for the ribbon.
Press the seams open.
This is a little tricky at first, stitch down one side, across the bottom and up the other, you can see the stitching just inside the yellow lines. Repeat for both sides of the bag.
Fold the top over and press, stitch 1/4" from the overlocked edge so you end up with tube or casing to thread the ribbon through. Turn right side out and press.
Take a long piece of ribbon, starting on the right, thread it through the front piece of casing, when you get to the lefthand side loop it round and thread it through the back, both ends of the ribbon should be on the right.
Take another piece of ribbon and thread it from the left.
Write who your gift it for and who it is from on the back, pop your gift inside, pull the ribbons and tie.
I haven't even bought any Christmas gifts yet so this bag remains blank for now!
I have made a pile of these in different sizes and shapes.
and I have a few more awaiting ribbon...

Scrap busters

This month Sew Mama Sew are having a month of scrap busting, they have obviously been round to my house and saw that I seriously needed some scrap busting help!

So, first up on the scrap busting list is this stuffed heart. I bought Amanda Soule's (AKA Soule Mama) book, Handmade Home a couple of weeks back. To be honest, when I first got it I wasn't that excited about the book. But, oddly enough, since then I have picked it up several times and now have several projects book marked, and it has a number of projects that are perfect for the scrap down. If you read Amanda's blog you will recognise her lovely writing style and her book is very much the same. The first project I decided on was the stuffed heart, Daddy Ebi leaves for Germany today on business, so Ebi-kun and I spent a couple of hours making this. He helped to pick out the pinky/red scraps and then I showed him how to use the machine. We took it slowly, he was in charge of guiding the fabric and I was the foot pedal engineer, we made quite a team. So basically, I cut all the bits into rectangles, all the same length. We sewed them all together into two blocks. Then sewed the blocks together, cut them in half the other way and stitched them together again to get the patchwork look. I skipped the bit about adding that evil stuff know as lavender (I am allergic to it) and just stuffed it with organic wool stuffing. Ebi-kun drew lots of little notes and pictures to stuff the heart pocket with. We then hid the heart in hubby's PJ's when he was packing his case!

Thank you for all the lovely comments and emails from the top tips blog, feel free to share the link with any new mama's you know :o)