Carey Burns

Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe Stalemate!! I have made a few checkers games for people using bottle caps, photos of them or their children, and a special UV resin, but I never made one for myself. With this month’s challenge, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the resin, so I decided to make a fun Tic-Tac-Toe game using bottle caps and domed stickers. Supplies: 6x6 wooden square Black acrylic paint Your favorite paper tape (I used Tim Holtz® tissue tape) Glossy Accents™ Bottle caps (12 total) Scrapbook paper in opposing colors and/or patterns Domed stickers (12 total) Waxed paper Felt Tools: The goods Paint brush Palette A quarter Pencil Scissors The How: Not the neatest painter I started off painting the wooden square first so I could make the playing pieces while it dried. Time management is a good thing! I made sure to paint the top and sides of the square but left the bottom unpainted because that wou...

Blood Sample Ornaments I wonder how many people will try this one... I’ve had these microscope slides and frames in my craft bin for years and rediscovered them while looking for supplies for another craft. At first I wanted to make something with scrapbook paper and my “Other People’s Family” photos, but then I looked at all the bloody jars I made and decided to make blood samples. Maybe they're the favorites of a very meticulous vampire...maybe they're part of a murder investigation...maybe they're from a mad scientist's lab.. Yesterday I spent a good chunk of my day testing out alcohol ink on the glass, with Glossy Accents, with regular white glue, with dry glue…just to make sure this would work. The ink on clean glass looked the most gruesome. Cautions: These should only be used indoors so the glass doesn’t get broken. Take care when handling the glass slides so that you don’t get cut. The alcohol inks do have fumes—use them in a well-ventilated area and k...

The Spider's Wreath Simple yet sinister I hate spiders. I do. Big or small...I do not like them. I knew I wanted to do a creepy wreath and nothing says creepy to me than a big, fat, fuzzy spider. This spider I found reminds me of the one the hubs and I encountered in the desert while camping once...yeah, creepy. Supplies: Grapevine wreath Halloween drape Fake spider 4 silk flowers Black wire Tools: Wire cutters The How: When I planned out most of this month, I wanted to use things I had on hand. A few years back I tried my hand at a spooky snake wreath and the end result was languishing in the basement. So I removed the snakes and had myself a wreath. What you will need... That grapevine really likes to snag things! I opened the Halloween fabric drape (scored at the dollar store!) and wound it over and under the wreath. This was tricky because the grapevine kept tangling with the open webbing of the fabric. Once I had it draped t...

Patchwork Pumpkin One patchwork pumpkin! I woke up feeling not so great today and stayed in bed too long, but hey, gotta craft something... My calendar said it was Decoupage Pumpkin Day, so I had no choice. Supplies: Mod Podge or your favorite glue/glaze medium Scraps of patterned paper Paper pulp pumpkin Acrylic paint (brown) Waxed paper Tools: Paint brush Palette Cup or tub to hold the Mod Podge Your hands The How: Some goodies you need I bought this paper pulp pumpkin on clearance last year and I have one more that will (I think) be in the challenge next week. I also had a plastic tub from deli leftovers so I washed and dried it to be my Podge holder. I placed a large piece of waxed paper down under the pumpkin to catch any drips. I ripped up pieces of patterned paper and dipped a piece in the Podge. I tried to remove any excess and then slapped the paper on the pumpkin, smoothing it down and covering the exposed surface with Podge. It was messy and it ...

Stabbed Pumpkin He had it coming! When I was thinking of crafts for this month, I planned on making blood-spattered pumpkins for home. I stumbled upon a lone cheese spreader in a drawer and I knew I wanted to make the pumpkin the victim of a serious stab wound. Supplies: Small fake pumpkin Cheese spreader with a plain handle (or a small knife) Silver acrylic paint Red alcohol ink (I used Tim Holtz ® Adirondack ® by Ranger®) Paint brush Paint palette Waxed paper The How: This craft was deceptively easy! Before you begin, make sure you lay out a piece of waxed paper to cover Your supplies, madam... your work surface. Cuts like buttah.. I stabbed my cheese spreader into the foam heart of the pumpkin partway through. That's not a knife... I squeezed a small amount of silver paint onto my palette and painted a thin coat over the “blade” of the spreader to make it look like a knife. I let...