I’ve been thinking about pumpkins a lot, especially so close to Halloween. The whole month of October seems dedicated to these wonderful orange fruit that have so much character. According to the top paragraph that appears when you Google pumpkins, they “are members of the enormously diverse Cucurbitaceae family, which contains more than 100 genera and over 700 species” including other squash and gourds. Continuing with my research, I discovered that gourds may have been planted and carved as early as 8,000 BCE. Our American Jack o’ Lantern tradition comes from Celtic Irish traditions of carving scary faces, but they used turnips and other root vegetables. It wasn’t until colonists arrived to the Americas that pumpkins were used as Jack o’ Lanterns. Can you imagine carving into a turnip? It sure would be difficult, but then again maybe a better use for turnips than actually eating them… (no offense to turnip lovers!). Here are some more pumpkin facts from the History Channel.

Glorified squash really..

Don’t mind the mate in the background 😛

I’ve been saving toilet paper rolls for the past few weeks intending to do something with them. Our bathroom looks like we are living during the Great Depression and we may have to warm ourselves up by burning them in the fire place (this could end up happening some day).

If you google TP Rolls and Halloween, a wonderful variety of ideas come up. My brother and sister in law and nieces were visiting this past weekend, and I thought it would be a perfect time to experiment with the rolls and see what we could make, using some of the googled ideas as a starting point. The main benefits for TP roll crafts: free and easy. You may need to invest in some acrylic paint, pipe cleaners and googly eyes, but that’s about it!

“Helllooooo there, nobody puts ghost in the corner!”

Children’s heads in photos prove that children made these crafts!

Here is a list of some creatures we made, using paint, googly eyes, glue, cardboard and pipe cleaners:

• Bats

• Pumpkin Heads

• Mummies

• Ghosts

• Monsters

• Spiders

Googly eyes make the world a better place…

Yes, that’s a second green monster, not a repeat photo.

Bat and Spider! A power couple!

Mummies certainly look confused about being alive…

Purple guy is so happy!

What else what can make with TP rolls? Basically anything. You can use them for Christmas crafts, Fourth of July, Easter, Lughnasadh, Diwali, Mother’s Day, Summer, Spring, list goes to infinity. TP rolls are like the most useful base for any crafts that I’ve ever found, besides the fact that they are cardboard and everything soaks and destroys them. But you get my point…

With the fall weather changing constantly, you can never be sure if you’ll be hot or cold. That’s why its good to have a little shrug ready to take with you to work, the park, or pumpkin hunting.

This is a simple sewing project that my friend found on Pintrest. It’s very easy and I even sewed it by hand! Because I don’t have a sewing machine (shocking for a modern domestica, I know!).

Here is the tutorial by Cut Out and Keep. The instructions are very simple so I thought there was no need to re-write them. However here are some tips or ideas I had:

• You can use a T-shirt or a long sleeved top, but you want it to be slightly loose. If its too tight, then the shrug will be even tighter. 
• Once you have pulled the ribbon through the casing, sew it in one spot at the top of your shirt, were your neck will be. That way when you wash it the ribbon won’t come out. Trust me, redoing the ribbon every time you wash is no fun.
• You could sew this shrug to a strapless or spaghetti strap dress in order to give it sleeves. 
• For a fun look, add pom poms, tassels or other fun things to the ends of the ribbon.

Hand sewn!

Decorating for Halloween is really fun. But like most holidays, it can get expensive super fast. Here are some options for decorations that you can make for free or almost no money. And some involve reusing plastic bags, yay!

Hooded Figure

• Brown, black or gray fabric. You can use an old bed-spread, thick sheet, etc. 
• Triangular trellis
• Tree branches
• Short stick or wood dowel
• Lots of plastic bags, and one black bag
• Wire for attachments
• Remnants of black tulle or netting
• Plastic Tupperware you don’t mind cutting, or a Baseball cap
• Safety pins

Selecting the branches took some considerations, because you need them to handle the pressure and weight of the fabric. However if they are too heavy, they may topple the whole figure over. Once I found them, I attached them to my trellis with some wire.

I am now very knowledgeable in tree branch selection.

Ignore the pretty flowers hanging from the ceiling…

To make the head, I stuffed my black bag with several other plastic bags until it was full and rounded. This is a great way to reuse those plastic bags that are dirty or torn! I stuck the wood dowel in the center of the bag, and then tied the bag around the dowel. I also used some tape to make sure the head was stable. To make the hood drape over the head at the proper angle, I needed an edge for it to drape over. I actually used a bike helmet visor that is detachable for this, but you can also cut a plastic Tupperware container or use a baseball cap.

Actually, he’s facing away from us because it’s hard to tell where a plastic bag is looking.

The head is then ready to be attached to the trellis with more wire. I draped the black tulle over the plastic bag head to add the effect of smoke or emptiness and draped the fabric over the whole thing. This step took some adjusting and I also used some safety pins to make the hood, and make sure it draped nicely over the head.

Close-up!

Creepy Owl

• Plastic bags
• Black trash bag
• Felt scraps in white, red and orange
• Wire
• Glow in the dark spray paint, optional
• Glue

This was is pretty easy and was a quick idea I had after making the head for the Hooded Figure. I stuffed one plastic bag with the other bags until I had a slightly oval shape. It’s better if you stuff a sturdier plastic bag, because the trash bag is too easily ripped. I then placed the stuffed bag inside the trash bag, and tied the leftover bag in a not and tucked it in. I cut two large circles of white felt and spray painted them with glow in the dark paint, but this isn’t necessary. I cut two smaller circles in red, and a triangle in orange. Finally, I glued the face on the body and attached my owl with wire to a tree limb.

• Black netting
• Black foam sheets
• One white foam sheet
• Wire

Another easy but very cool one. I cut several bats of different shapes and sizes from the black foam freehand, but you can find several templates of bats online. I also cut a round-ish moon out of white (just because I can’t be bothered to get a dinner plate to use as a template doesn’t mean you can’t!). I attached all the bats in random spots on the black netting by poking a hole on each side of the bat and looping the wire through it and the netting, and twisting the ends (the netting I used was actually from Lowes and meant to be draped over plants to protect them). I also attached my moon with some bats around it. I hung the whole net from my roof, and whala! When I’m done, I simply fold the net until next year and don’t have to individually attach each bat to my walls. The net could also be placed so it’s free hanging and people have to walk through it, or between it. 

You could attach spiders and other creepy crawlies instead.

Little Personality Ghosts

• Plastic bottles
• White sheet
• Black paint
• Thread or rope

They’re having a party! And you’re invited….

I made a graveyard scene this year for $0! It included many of the projects above. It’s true that I happened to have many of the materials available. For example, my gravestones are gray paving stones which would normally be a little expensive to buy. But you can still have a great setup for little to no money if you think outside the box.

My graveyard scene: Come, stay a while… Or forever! Muahaha.