Green Halloween Crafts Revisited

Remember when I told you about some cute Halloween crafts you could make using items you could find around the house?

I have perfected the madness.

For the Book Page Pumpkin, I ended up using this tutorial from Creations By Kara.<!--more-->

If you attempt this project, please note that you don't have to take apart the book at all. Leave the binding on. That was my first mistake the first time I tried it. The second time I tried it, it worked like a charm. This is how I created my Book Page Pumpkin.

First, I bought a book from the dollar store.
Then, I tore off just the cover. I cut the cover to use as a template.

Using a sharp exacto knife, I cut around the template. It would cut through maybe 5 pages at a time.

I tore off the pieces on the edges as I went, and I ended up with a tiny little round-paged book.

I did an impromptu painting session using Baby T's watercolors. I just held the book closed and painted the edges, using a lot of water so it would bleed into the page a little bit.

Then, I opened the book, face-down on the table, put some hot glue in the binding, and glued in a piece of a stick that Baby T had picked up outside at some point. (He later pointed at the pumpkin and demanded his stick back.)

I took the first and the last pages--the ones you see here--and glued them together. I used hot glue because it gives instant results.

When I stood the pumpkin up, there were some pages that fluffed out beautifully, but there were large gaps between other pages.

I just stuck some hot glue very close to the binding and arranged the pages a little closer together in those spots.

Then, I got all crazy and wrapped some yarn around the stick, hot glued pieces of yarn and wool cut in leaf shapes to the bottom, and voila.

Check it out next time you're in the shop!

Green Halloween Crafts - Pumpkins from Twine, Books, and Wool

The other day, Liz and I were sharing ideas about how to have a green Halloween party. To take it one step further, what about making some green crafts to use as decorations? Buying a real pumpkin is a waste if you don't compost it when you're done. And even then, it seems pointless to buy food just to let it rot on your doorstep. (Don't get me wrong--I have 2 pumpkins on my very cute doorstep, but I would like to make some more eco-friendly decorations).

I was inspired by some great crafts I found online, and I was going to make them so I could share with you, but they are not as easy to make as they look. So I'm passing along the ideas, but I admit--they are not my own. Here are some pictures and links to tutorials, as well as instructions for how not to do these crafts, and pictures of my failures. Gather your materials over the weekend, though: Next week I'm posting video tutorials to my successful versions!