Halloween Jack O' Lanterns from 2010

My internet was down for a few days so I was unable to continue my Halloween themed blog posts.  Nevertheless, I will continue today by posting photos of my Jack O’ Lanterns from last Halloween.  I hope you like them, and I hope you will feel free to leave any comments, suggestions for future Jack O’ Lanterns I could carve, links to websites with great pumpkin-carving ideas, and even links to photos of your own work.  Enjoy!

Mad Scientist Performing Unwanted Brain-Surgery

I got the idea for this when browsing the toy section of Dollarama.  There I came across 2 sets of doctor kits entitled “My Family Doctor,” which contained plastic stethoscopes, syringes, microscopes, medicine bottles, and even toy surgical tools.  Since both contained slightly different items, I bought both.

To create the Mad Scientist, I carved 2 small holes beside each eye so that the round eye-glasses could be attached.  It seemed appropriate to use the round eye-glasses, as every mad scientist I could picture seemed to wear round eye-glasses.  Dr. Finkelstein from A Nightmare Before Christmas is a perfect example.

I attached a small gourd for the nose and 2 larger gourds for the arms using metal skewers, and to attach the syringe and scalpel I used clear Scotch Tape.

To make the syringe look more authentic, I took it apart and inserted a metal skewer through the hole to use as a needle.  I secured the skewer in the tube or barrel using the clear Scotch Tape and replaced the blue plastic pump.

For the Brain-Surgery Victim I simply cut a hole in the top of a small pie pumpkin so that if compared to a head, it would look like the top part of the skull was removed.  Using a black Sharpie marker, I drew a frightened expression which included a quivering, screaming mouth.  I then filled the hole with the seeds and strands or “brains” from my other pumpkins.

Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage

After designing and carving this Cinderella-inspired coach, I enhanced the design by outlining the holes with a black Sharpie marker and adding green Glitter-Glue for a more magical effect.

I included 5 miniature pumpkins in the design – 4 for the 4 wheels, and one which I cut in half to use as a seat for the driver and a platform for the footman.  Attaching those 2 halves was very difficult, and in the process I tried a combination of toothpicks, Popsicle sticks, and a hot glue gun.

For the wheels I drew a design with a black Sharpie marker on the tops of 2 miniature pumpkins and used them for the wheels on the back (left) side.  Similarly, I drew an alternate design on the bottoms or the remaining 2 miniature pumpkins and used them for the front (right) side wheels.  On these, I also added a dab of the green Glitter Glue to what would be the axils of the wheels.  I connected the wheels using green Pipe Cleaners which I twisted and coiled to give the appearance of vines.

I found an artificial green vine that I attached to the stem using a hot glue gun, and also attached some artificial orange-glitter maple leaves.  I thought the orange-glitter leaves alluded to the fairy dust that accompanies any spell, such as the spell a fairy-godmother might cast on a pumpkin to turn it into a temporary vehicle for a deserving scullery maid.

I was very happy with both pumpkins, and I got a lot of compliments on both.  As I expected, girls were more impressed with Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage while boys were more impressed with the Mad Scientist Performing An Unwanted Brain Surgery.  Though both took a lot of work I was glad that everyone could appreciate at least one of my projects.

Easter Crafts

Above are four wooden hanging decorations that I bought unfinished from Dollarama. Unfortunately I do not have "before" pictures to show what they looked like before I painted them. I found them last year in the seasonal section of the store which usually includes craft decoration supplies partaining to the holliday or season. I painted them using Acrylic craft paints, some of which can be found at Dollarama as well in the craft section.


Baby Chicks

I chose to use colours typically associated with Easter and Spring such as pale pinks, purples and yellows, Lime Green, and Turquoise Blue. Though pale shades are often used in Easter decorations, I also included darker shades of pink, purple, yellow, and green because all shades are usually found in nature. Easter is closely associated with the beginning of Spring and end of Winder, new life, and thus with nature itself, so I thought it was important to include other shades typical of flowers, grass, the sky, etc ... I also outlined or drew features such as eyes using a dark, inky pen after the paint was dry.

Close-Up Images

























Easter Bunnies

For the Easter Bunnies I outlined eyes, noses, whiskers, and other details with pencil before going over them in pen. I chose to give them a cartoonish rather than realistic appearance. I also chose to use two different shades of green for the grass to add more colour. I added some flowers to the background of one decoration to make it more colourful. Since the shapes of all four decorations are those of the Easter Basket, I painted the basket handles each with three different colours of stripes. While the stripes don't actually look woven like a basket, I do think the colours chosen give the right effect. If I could redo the pieces, I would probably choose shades that compliment each other more for the handles, and would paint the stripes to look woven in the stile of baskets.

Close-Up Images

DVD Storage Box Craft Instructions

One of my goals for this blog and my eventual magazine (yes, I still plan to create one) is to include craft instructions for inexpensive projects that require re-used or recycled materials found in the home. This is important to me for two reasons:

1. The prices of craft supplies sold in stores are disgustingly high.

It seems to me that an unfinished item sold for the purpose of finishing or altering should not be so expensive. When you buy something, you are partly paying for the work or service of having it put together, painted, completed, etc ... and since raw materials are by definition not completed and meant for the buyer to complete, I believe they should be far less expensive than a completed item.

2. With the poor economy, I think it is doubly wrong to sell an unfinished, raw materials for just as much money as a finished item, if not more.

It seems to me that only the affluent can really afford craft supplies such as scrap-booking supplies, and I’ve always seen crafts as originating from the actual trades that people learned to make a living (occupations such as carpentry, pottery, quilting, etc ...) Skills that used to be learned for the sake of earning money are now near-impossible to use to make a little bit of extra money because it would be impossible to break even. Craft supply industries have become for-profit industries.

In conclusion, I would like to provide less expensive craft ideas that include recycled materials that one might normally throw away, thus saving money and promoting environmentalism and resourcefulness. My first item is a decorative storage project, entitled DVD Storage Box.

I developed this idea because I was running out of space for DVDs and wanted to use some kind of box that could:

. easily hold the remaining DVDs upright instead of sideways or lying down in piles
. be pulled out and pushed back out of sight like a drawer
. display the DVDs when pulled out so that rummaging through them would not be necessary
. appear to compliment the decor of the family room so that it would not look out of place

I thus chose the following materials:

- cardboard box left over from an 18-pack case of Coca Cola









- dark red fabric that closely resembled the red of the family room rug

- gold ribbon

- scissors

- stapler

- hot glue gun




Instructions

1. Measure the amount of fabric needed to cover the outside and inside edges of box so that no cardboard will be visible. You may also wish to cover the inside and outside bottom with the fabric.

2. Cut the desired amount of fabric.

3. Staple or hot glue fabric in place so that fabric is taut around edges. Try to keep all staples or glued areas level. Use as many staples as desired. Staples and glued areas may face outside, inside, or both if necessary to hold fabric in place.

4. Choose a ribbon that will best compliment the fabric colour and decor of the room, and measure enough to line the box so that it covers any staples or glued areas inside and outside.

5. Cut the desired length of ribbon.

6. Using the hot glue gun, glue the ribbon along a straight line all the way around the box so that it covers and hides any staples or glued areas. Do this along the inside and outside of the box. You may also wish to glue an additional line of ribbon around the box parallel to the first, as well as one along the rim. Use your best judgement and your own imagination.

This was my finished product:



It stores many of my DVDs so that they are standing upright side by side instead of lying down one on top of the other in towering piles. This box slides behind a row of DVDs kept on a shelf beneath our TV, and if we go to the side of the TV we can easily slide it in and out like a drawer. This is much neater, more attractive, and far more convenient than having the remaining DVDs stacking in piles behind the other DVDs.

Ideas for Variations

. You can also use this craft idea for CDs, Video Games, Computer Programs, and Books that you wish to keep neatly and conveniently displayed.

. You may also wish to line the box with some kind of paper like gift wrap.

. It might be interesting to try using leftover wall paper, especially if the box is used in the same room where the wallpaper is visible.

If you have any craft ideas that involve recycled or re-used raw materials, I would love to hear about them. Please share any ideas that might promote environmentalism, resourcefulness, and just plain common sense.

Some Progress

Okay, I haven’t written in a while, but I have some good news about my progress. I have managed to eat much more nutritiously for about 4 days in a row now, and have cut down on Coke significantly again. I want to try cooking a few vegetarian recipes, because I heard that eating meat actually makes any medication one takes less effective than if one did not eat meat (or if one simply ate organic meat).
I also got some more exercise recently. I walked for about 1 hour at Wal Mart on Tuesday, about 15-20 minutes on Wednesday (1404 steps), and walked for 2-3 hours today (3476 steps). I’m happy with this, as well my higher consumption of fruits and vegetables and my more frequent grooming this week.
I think I might also have made some progress in terms of my neatness/organizational issues. I had purchased a 9-cube organizer for $50.00, but realized it was too large and had to be put on casters in order to be of any use. Today I finally found what I need – 2 wooden boards with swivel casters on the bottom for the 9-cube organizer to rest on. Hopefully this will help organize some of my craft supplies.
On a more negative note, I weighed myself lately and am 210 pounds. Also, I have spent way too much money lately and really need to chill out when it comes to the craft supplies!
I have to say this though: I think craft supplies should be very inexpensive so that people who make crafts can sell them if they so desire at reasonable prices. It seems like craft companies like Michaels just assume that crafters are all just a bunch of bored, rich housewives who have an unlimited allowance from their husbands, and so use their spare time to try to imitate Martha Stewart as best they can. They price everything as though money is no object to the shoppers, who make their own decorations despite having a cook, a maid, and a nanny. I bet they purposely make it so that crafters can’t shop at their stores and actually make a profit by selling what they create. Any potential craft-buyers who look at a craft they like from an independent artist will see the price and think to themselves, “I bet if I go to Michaels I can make that myself for a lot cheaper.”
Anyways, I’m starting to think that today’s writing isn’t making a lot of sense, and that it’s really not my best writing anyways, so I’ll call it a day. Hopefully I will have my short article on Avatar up and running soon, as well as some pictures of some crafts I made, with some instructions for any readers on how to make them.

Random Thought: Has anyone else noticed that the word SCRAP contains the word CRAP? This can't be a coincidence, since scraps are often pieces of crap ...