Halloween is in the air!

Labor Day weekend is always the opening of the Halloween season for me. Granted, I've been devouring any and all fall catalogs that land in my mailbox and I've been shopping online (which I'll be writing about later) and jotting down ideas all summer, but I don't actually start any project until Labor Day weekend. Except this Labor Day weekend, that it. The weather was cool and rainy, which I love, but didn't allow me to work on projects outside like I had hoped.

Since I was stuck in the house, I ventured downstairs (where there are real-life spiders! EEK!) and began sorting boxes of indoor decorations. I took inventory and set aside those items that needed some repair or re-working. Of course, the cats had to inspect what I was doing.






I also decided to make some Halloween jewelry for myself this year. I've been having too much fun shopping on Etsy for supplies. Recently, I bought some amazing lampwork beads from Glasstastic Treasures. Not only is the craftsmanship amazing, but the artist, Jamie, is very sweet and personable.
I love these beads so much. I must have taken them out a dozen times only to put them away because I wasn't sure what to do with them. I finally decided that simple is better since I really wanted to showcase the beads. This is what I made with her amazing beads:

"Boil, boil, toil & trouble..."
Witch's cauldron bead on sterling silver chain accented with peridot and black glass beads.


"Eye See You"
Eyeball beads with red glass briolettes and blue Swarovski crystals.


"Like my manicure?"
Monster fingers on hand-formed ear wires.


I also made this cute little pendant from a witchy pin-up image on Shrinky-Dinks. Remember those? I've been having so much fun with them lately!

"If the broom fits..."
Shrinky-Dink pendant with citrine drop and black glass.


And finally, I made this pendant, which prompted my husband to call me a "spider hypocrite."

"Caught in a Web"
Fire agate and pewter spider charm.


The weeks ahead will be busy getting ready for October. I don't have many big projects planned, but I have many small ideas swimming around in my head. I just hope I have time for it all!

Happy haunting!




© 2008 Haunted Yard

Coffin Purse

A few years ago, I wanted a fun coffin purse to carry around for the month of October. I googled around for some coffin purse patterns, but everything was either too small, or not sturdy enough for me. So, I designed and made my own. I sketched out a simple toe-pincher coffin in the size I wanted my purse to be. I transferred the sketch to 1/8" black foam board. I decided to make my purse about four inches deep with a 1 inch hinged lid. I cut out the lid and sides to match and glued the whole thing together with a little hot glue. I wasn't too worried about making the edges clean because I was covering the whole thing in a very cool black fabric that looked like tooled leather. I added an handle, some brass hinges and a little dagger to keep the whole thing closed, and my purse was complete.





I get tons of compliments on it, but for the past two years, I've been carrying around my coffin with my regular checkbook and wallet, and this year I wanted something a little more seasonal for the purse. Enter my new shopping obsession...ETSY! Etsy is an online shop for all things handmade. A quick search for "Halloween" found these adorable little mini-wallets from Carol, aka quiltlady50:

Monster Eyes Mini-Wallet
Dancing Skeleton Mini-Wallets

Carol and I began corresponding, and she graciously agreed to make me a custom checkbook cover wallet for the coffin purse. She showed me her Halloween fabrics and I chose the fabric I wanted for each. The results were better than I could have imagined! This year I will be proudly showing off my coffin purse with very cool and unique Halloween themed accessories.




If you have a chance, be sure to check out the rest of Carol's Halloween themed items (and more!) in her shop at Etsy.