The Swell Life: October 2011

10/31/11

10 Day of the Dead Inspirations

Halloween has come and gone, but I'm so excited that the color and beauty of the holiday moves onto Dia De Los Muertos! I thought it would be fun to scour the web for some incredible Day of the Dead Eye Candy. I'm so inspired by the amazing imagery, DIY's, and products you can find that fill my brain with all kinds of creative ideas!

From the top, left to right, here's some inspiration to get you in the festive Dia De Los Muertos spirit!

Sugar Skull Coloring Pages from Etsy seller Thaneeya McArdle

Sugar Skull Popsicle Soaps from SoapyLove on Flickr

Sugar Skull Nails by Pixie Polish from the Scene Core blog (includes video tute too!)

Papel Picado Street photo via Zamorano Arts

Calavera Sandwich via Croqzine

Dia De Los Muertos cake from Mahogany Images

Day of the Dead Jewelry by Viva Gail Beads

Amazing Sugar Skull Face Paint Photography by Peter Holliday on Flickr

Sugar Skull Embroidery by Craftster user Love and a Sandwich

Papel Picado Throw Pillow by Shop Sugarsnap on Etsy

Do you have a favorite?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

My Duncan Ceramics Halloween costume

Well, here's the big reveal of this year's costume! I am a Duncan® Ceramics lollipop/sunburst/cool ceramic wheels in front of the iLoveToCreate headquarters! Here's a great blog post from Mid Centuria featuring more photos of the cool Duncan® Ceramics facade by Stan Bitters.

I took a picture of it, enlarged and tiled it, and put it on a cardboard with some of my favorite Tacky Spray. I then used some Tulip® Body Art paint on my face to replicate the center. While I don't think I look exactly like the wheel, I think it's pretty darn close.

What did you dress up as this year for Halloween??

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Great Last Minute Costume Ideas

I'm all about the last-minute costume...something super easy to execute, but way clever! Since today is the last day to celebrate Halloween, if you're still hankering for a costume idea, might I suggest one of these? They will take you all of 15 minutes to an hour to execute and they are super funny!

Psycho Shower costume from College Humor
Rosie The Riveter from What I Wore
Price is Right Costume from a Million Things I Love
Lego Costume via Craftzine

And here's a deviled egg costume I did a few years back that's also super easy to execute...check it out!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

10/29/11

Sugar Skull Pumpkin & Crafts for Dia De Los Muertos

Every once in a while, I'm asked to create projects for my work. It's not too, too often, but usually it is in association with my favorite holiday...you guessed it Halloween! Anyway, here's one of the cute projects I created using Puffy Paint that's a hybrid Day of the Dead/Halloween creation I wanted to share. We make TONS of projects for everything from packaging, tradeshows, presentations, and more and not everything moves forward. This was one such project, but it was too adorable not to share!

It blends together my love for Halloween and the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos as it is known in Mexico. It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd and honors family members who have died, while celebrating their life in a fun, colorful way! Here's a video by my friend Kathy Cano-Murillo, a.k.a. The Crafty Chica, explaining the celebration.

She also shows a lot of fun Sugar Skull Ideas! I love how crafty Dia De Los Muertos is.

Here's some of my fave Sugar skulls I've seen!!!

Sugar Skull Cookies from Children Playing with Fire

Sugar Skull Face Paint from Anna Marie

Sugar Skull Chair from RainbowNSkulls on Craftsy

Soft Sculpture Sugar Skull from Crafty Chica

Do you celebrate Dia De Los Muertos each year? Last year was the first time that I participated in any festivities (at a local coffee shop here in Fresno) . It was really cool!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

10/27/11

Halloween Candy Overload

I don't know about you, but I've been eating WAY too much Halloween candy. These last three months of the year should be called the "Most gluttonous time of year". Ack! I gotta get it together!

I spotted tonight the Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses at WalGreen's. I totally resisted, but they were quite a steal at 99¢ for a bag. I love these things. I find that they are those LOVE/HATE candies. I personally love them, what about you? I love them so much, in fact, that I made a Mary Jane wreath last year out of them...see?

The other day while at Winco, the had so much cute bulk Halloween candy. It was the cheapo chocolates, but the packaging was totally spooky, creepy, and adorable!

Icky body party candy wrappers!

Cute and goofy wrappers!

Foil Jack-o-lanterns!

I like TURTLES, I mean ZOMBIES!

And I made an observation at the store...do you really think you'll need energy shots after eating all this candy? I don't think so.

Overall, my favorite candy at Halloween time is anything Chocolate! I love peanut buttery stuff and Mr. Goodbars! Yum!

What is your favorite?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

10/26/11

My Halloween Curio/Display

A while back William's mom gave me this really fabulous shelf/curio. It was really dirty and a dirty brown. I spiffed it up with some black paint and decided to display some of my cute Halloween accents in it! I really love the way it looks and I think it will be fun to decorate with other non-seasonal accents.

Here's a few detail photos of my seasonal décor and pumpkins!

This is a fun accent I won from a contest on Amy Locurto's site a few years ago. It was supposed to plug into a USB port, but it didn't work. It makes a super cute decoration even though it doesn't light up.

I bought these frames for a $1 last year at Michaels. I put in some spooky illustrations by Andrew of Ogner Stump. I think they are pretty darn fantastic.

You may remember this pumpkin from my colorful pumpkin blog post a few days ago. I accented it with some plastic spider rings.

Here's another detail. I used Collage Pauge on that pumpkin with candy corn tissue paper by Hallmark. I also accented with tiny mirror balls - I love them!

My friend Diane got me this cute cat figurine a few years back. He's so goofy.

This was a thrift store find from a few weeks ago. It was only a $1. I love thrift store scores!

Everything is better with eyeballs, don't you think?

Next year, I'm going to have to get my display up sooner, so I can enjoy it longer! I get so busy with my Halloween projects, that I never have time to put up all my décor. Hopefully next year, I'll have a house and can have a party!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Linking up at:
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Forged Foil Pumpkins

Want something sparkly and fun for Halloween, that will take you into the Thanksgiving season? Here's a pretty and rustic way to add some flash to your pumpkins in just minutes and it's using my fave craft supply...Tacky Glue! This is actually a classic Tacky Glue technique created by Aleene in the 50's or 60's. I got to use up some cute little candy wrappers that I bought at Sur La Table a while back. I was excited to have the perfect project to use them on! OK, let's get started!

Supplies
– mini pumpkins
– foil squares (buy them in the candy aisle or use save your candy foil wrappers)
– Aleene's Original Tacky Glue
– black paint (I used Tulip® Fabric Spray Paint and it worked perfect!)
– foam brush

Instructions
1. Crinkle the little foil squares. Don't roll it into a ball, just gently crinkle and reflatten out.

2. Generously apply Tacky Glue and glue to pumpkin. Cover entire pumpkin area except stem.

3. Give the pumpkin an aged look by applying a bit of paint (add paint to random areas all over of pumpkin)

4. Use a paper towel to rub off paint.

There you have it! Simple and pretty pumpkins in minutes.

It will make such a pretty mantel display or be the perfect fall accent for your table centerpiece!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

I linked up at the following parties!

Weekend Wrapup at TaterTots and Jello

10/24/11

Terrorific Tuesday Blog Hop Time!

Welcome to another Terrorific Tuesday Blog Hop party! Can you believe October is almost over? It makes me really, really sad since it is both my birthday month and spooky, fun Halloween month! I guess I'll just have to file all the wonderful ideas shared on Terrorific Tuesdays away for next year, huh?

For this last edition of Terrorific Tuesdays, I want to leave you with a very special Halloween bout presented to you by my kitten Dexter, and Vlad, the lovable vampire (he's so ugly he's cute).

Here's all you have to do to join the blog hop fun!

– Post your projects relating to Halloween or Fall; Use the Linky Tool below and add your blog link (this is a Halloween blog hop, so please don't post unrelated projects)

– Add the Terrorific Tuesday Blog Hop button to the post on your blog (a text link is ok too):

– Click the "Get Code" button below and add the code to the end of your project that you are featuring this week. This will generate more readership and linkage back to all our bloggers.

– Please comment on atleast two blog posts. Let's support other crafters and creators out there!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Bright, Colorful, and Messy pumpkins

Tonight, I wanted to make some fun, colorful pumpkins. I think I succeeded, but my craftsmanship is less than I desired. I have a really bad problem of not waiting until everything is dry and I touch my puffy paint pumpkins way too soon! Bad, bad idea. I must get better at this.

They're still bright and lively and will make for some fun eye candy. Maybe next time, I'll be a little bit more patient! On the ones you see, I did a basecoat of acrylic paint first, then went back in with puffy paint (you can use Scribbles or Tulip® 3D Fashion Paint) and drew lines, swirls, and dots with the back end of my brush.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. I linked this project up here:

Skip to my Lou's Made by You Mondays

10/23/11

Spooky Halloween Pillows

I'm one lucky gal! Last week, my parents were in town and my mom (the most talented seamstress I know) and I were on a mission to craft it up! While I worked on the candy corn onesie, she whipped up these wonderful and whimsical pillows for me! We had made a trip to our local quilting shop, Quilters Paradise in Clovis, CA. I instantly fell in love with this print called "Haunted House" by Alexander Henry. I love the illustrations and they have a very funky/cool retro vibe! In fact, all of the Alexander Henry Halloween fabrics were just divine. It was so hard to choose! I paired this pattern up with the "Spooktakular Too" polka dot print by Debbie Taylor Kerman for Henry Glass Fabrics. Sewed up with pom pom trims in black and orange, I think they turned out absolutely darling.

Here's some more cute details!

Everytime I see a black cat, I'm drawn. I have a warm spot because of my black cat Pixie.

It's true, pom poms make everything better. My new kitten agrees. Let's hope he doesn't tear these up!

I love the detail of the illustration down to her striped sleeves and wart on her chin!

Here's another view! I paired it up with my font tablecloth/makeshift slipcover. Last year, my friend Silvia helped me decorate my living room (blogged here)and gave me the idea to use the tablecloth this way. I think it's genius!

Thanks Mom for the darling pillows. I absolutely love and cherish them!!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

10/21/11

Terrorific Tuesday Picks of the Week

Another week, another great set of Halloween ideas! People are so clever and creative this time of year. I think we all get a little colder and more nesting-like and want to just create, don't you? I just love the spooky mantle (above) from A We Meenit. I can't wait till I have my own mantle and can decorate like this!

How adorable is this polka dot pumpkin in an embroidery hoop from Little Lulu's nest? It's soooo sweet!

Yeah, I gotta thing for polka dots! That's why this cute polka dot printable from Oceans of Notions caught my eye!

This spooky tree by Freaking Craft is, well, uh, SPOOKY! She shares the easy, quick revamp on her blog! She made it for pennies!!

Musings from Kim K has fun potion ideas and cute ephemera decorating ideas. I just love this little Halloween party hat. She used a hat from the dollar store as her template!

Join me next week, Wednesday, October 25th all day for the last installment of the Terrorific Tuesday blog hop. I hope you'll link up and add your project. It might just get featured like these did!

If you were featured above, get your button to add to your blog here:

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

10/20/11

My first Libby's Pumpkin Roll

Tonight, for the first time in my life, I successfully executed my first pumpkin roll. I followed the Libby's pumpkin pie roll recipe. I saw excellent reviews for it and figured that I couldn't go wrong. I've always been a little nervous about making one. I wasn't quite sure how it would go together and if I'd actually be able to roll it up, but I did, and it was an excellent treat that I'd make again. I kinda think my walnuts should have been facing in towards the center of the cream cheese, but in the big scheme of things, I think it is a-ok. It would taste the same, either way!

Here's the Libby's Pumpkin Roll Recipe I followed (via AllRecipes.com)...

Libby's® Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Cook Time:
15 Min
Ready In:
15 Min

Original Recipe Yield 10 servings

Ingredients
– 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
– 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 3 large eggs
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
– 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
– 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
– 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
– 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1. PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
2. COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
3. BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4. BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

And a word to the wise, you can totally use a cookie sheet for this (the kind with a lip all the way around the pan). It is essentially the same thing as a jelly roll.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Halloween projects that I would LOVE to create!

Today I wanted to share with you some super cute and funky projects made at my work iLoveToCreate! Now, while I craft at home on my own time, at work, I'm a graphic designer and social media coordinator. So, I don't craft much on the job. We do; however, have a slew of cool craft designers and bloggers that make wonderful, fabulous projects that are all kinds of fun! The shoes, above, for example were by my co-worker and fab friend PattieWack. I just LOVE them. It really want to make my own pair for Halloween!! Check out the polka dot glitter shoe tutorial on the blog.

I just LOVE this Glow-in-the-Dark corset iLoveToCreate blogger Maya Murillo made from a t-shirt! Actually it is a t-shirt, but when the lights are off it looks like a glowing corset. Cool huh?

I have always been amazed by Alisa Burke's artistry and these pretty pumpkins have always been one of my fave pumpkin projects! So sophisticated for someone who isn't a big Halloween person (I'm not sure how that would actually be possible, but I'm thinking there might be people out there).

And there's so many adorable projects on iLoveToCreate.com! I just love this Skeleton Love bag by Allee Marderosian and Mummy Mania Water Bottle Wraps Here's some more fun Halloween projects to add to your list before it's too late to make them!

What projects have you been making leading up to the big day?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

#Attribution1 { display:none; }