Needle Felted Monster Cactus

A long, long, long time ago Lady M asked me how long it takes to make one of these felty things and I had no idea.  This is the one project where I actually paid attention to the time.   In total, it took three hours, that included snacks, drinks, chatting and moving the eyeballs three or four times.

All you see here took an hour and a half and most of that was spent on the details.  Making the flower took the rest of the time because I felted each petal individually and it's harder to needle felt thin flat objects.  Sometimes wet felting is a better option for thin pieces but you do have to wait for them to dry.

Size wise you can see what three hours got me.  There's a trade off with size, obviously the larger an object the more stabbing that's involved.  But it's easier to do the detail work, which gets fussier the smaller you go.

This is what he would look like with flaming red curly locks.

I should say for safety purposes you should never needle felt distracted, angry or under the influence.  The needles are very sharp.   That being said, we generally have cocktails on Stabby Nights and on this particular night we had Raspberry Mimosas which were quite yummy and as a bonus I now have this awesome bottle to use for potions.  

The inspiration for this cactus came from Woolbuddies.  I don't have any experience with the kits, but the book is awesome and I think the style is easy for beginners to pick up.  Many of my stabby friends started out making the simpler Woolbuddy creatures.  There are a few how-to videos that are worth checking out.  The frog and the penguin are favorite among my friends.   

Creepmas Monster

Like I said in my previous post the Creepmas Monster had a late arrival this year.  But as one neighbor exclaimed it was "Worth the wait!!!" [Note: Neighbor is still two exclamation points shy of insanity...but really it's a slippery slope once you get past that 3rd one.]

Another neighbor managed to get a picture of the elusive beast out in the wild.   

In previous years I've always painstakingly pinned garland, lights, ornaments etc onto to my ghillie suit, which then needed to be unpinned because all the lights and sparkle kind of ruin the camouflage effect for Halloween.  I've known for some time I need to do things differently but wasn't sure how.  Then Spooky Little Halloween did a post on Halloween Christmas Garland.

I picked up some plain garland on sale.  I hate to say it but I felt bad for Christmas.  The store shelves were empty, raped of their Christmas cheer and it was still a week before Christmas.

I zipped tied a bunch of stuff to the garland and wore that over the ghillie suit. It's still a work in progress, I had like ten minutes to throw this together.  This week all sorts of stuff has gone wrong, I think there are Gremlins behind it.  But I have some good solid ideas for next year and it was so quick and easy to glam up the ghillie suit and undo it afterward.  Never let it be said the Creepmas Monster doesn't know how to accessorize.  

Also new this year Halloween clearance Krampus (devil) horns!  I had been thinking of making my own, but figured I'd be time and money ahead buying these.

A couple more pictures I didn't get around to sharing during Creepmas:

Our local CVS has a Creepmassy sense of humor.  Meet Fergot McFlushot.  

And at the grocery store they were selling Grincsfa Trees.  

I guess now it's time to start being blissful and merry or a sugar plum or something...

Monster Zucchini Cake Pops

I might have mentioned already that I've been plagued with an overabundance of zucchini this year.  There is only so much we can eat, freeze or give away, so I've been coming up with new ways to force it on others.  These were a big hit at the craft party.  My husband, who doesn't like eating plants, has not been a big fan of my zucchini endeavors.  So when I heard him say, "Wow these are really good. And I know there's zucchini in them, but they're still really good."  Well lets just say that's when I knew they were golden.  

And in other news I discovered there is a children's show that did a "Dawn of the Zucchini" episode about zombie zucchini.  There is a preview on NickJr.  

Wallykazam! - Nick Jr.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake Pops

2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 medium)

1/2 cup frosting*
colored candy melts
candy eyes
chocolate jimmies (optional)


Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
Spread zucchini between paper towels to remove excess juice.
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into medium bowl.
Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
Mix in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions.
Mix in grated zucchini.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.


Let cake cool and then crumble.  Mix with 1/4 cup of your favorite frosting and add more frosting a tablespoon at time until it forms a firm dough.  Form into balls and then coat** with candy melts.  Microwave additional candy melts in a small plastic freezer bag.  Snip off the end and use to glue on candy eyes and jimmies.

*Below is the frosting I used.  Even making a fourth of it was too much, so maybe a sixth?  Because so little is needed, next time I would go with something with a bit more chocolate. I think a ganache that's not completely set would be perfect.

Chocolate Frosting

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream or milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Microwave chocolate and whipping cream in med glass bowl 1 minute stirring after 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
Cool 30 min. or until room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Add butter gradually, beating with electric mixer on high speed until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy after each addition

**I tried dipping these. I tried the fork thing.  I just can't do it.  Not cake pops, not truffles, not if my life depended on it.  I find it easier to roll them in the coating by hand. Really, really clean hands to be exact. They obviously don't turn out all smooth and perfect, but no one cares, they really don't.

Last note, to make just a regular chocolate zucchini cake I mix a half cup of dark chocolate chunks, a half cup of semi-sweet chips and a half cup of white chocolate chips together.  One cup goes in the cake batter and the remaining half cup gets sprinkle on top.  It adds about 5 more minutes of cooking time with all that. 

This is the label I used.  Font is Misfits by Ravenous Media

Craft Party 2017

At the party someone asked me how many years I've been doing this and I couldn't remember off the top of my head.  Going back through old photos I realized this was our 10th year of official organized Halloween crafting. I guess I missed the opportunity to have a "10th Anniversary" party.  I can't believe I've gotten away with inflicting my addiction onto my friends for an entire decade.

The one thing you can count on every year is me not getting pictures of everything. This year I totally outdid myself and took crappy pictures besides.  I apologize to everyone who's creations look less than what they are due to my sorry photography.

It wouldn't be a Halloween craft party without potion bottles. 
There were glittery potions,

...disgusting concoctions,

...and just plain spooky bottles, 

 

Flowers might not seem spooky until you realize
that's a pile of bones at the bottom of the jar.

...and new this year, creepy bottles inspired by Russian crafters. Not that the Russian's are the only one's doing this, but more often then not I find myself on Russian craft sites.  You can check out my Craft Party 2017 pinterest board to see a few examples or search on "altered bottles".  This is what we came up with.

 

The best and worst thing about these bottles is you can use almost anything.  Sometimes having limitless choices can be a bit daunting, but this is a great way to use up odd bits of stuff.  These bottles used a variety of tissue paper, netting, twine, cord, beaded garland, old or broken jewelry, beads, glass gems, shells, dried lentils & seeds, faux flowers, and plastic critters & bones.  I am happy to see my salt dough skulls and wire components I made practicing with a wire jig finally getting used for something. 

Vampire Blood and Life Renewal labels courtesy of Love Manor. 

There were more fashionista skeletons this year.  I think the outfits were even more elaborate than last year if that's possible.  This a great way to use up fabric scraps and old Barbie clothes.  Nothing goes with gold pants like a Madonna style bustier and although it's hard to tell, the gal next to her is pregnant will a smaller rubber skeleton.  Congratulations, I guess?  

I like this bottle cap & cork top hat.  

Another great hat and who doesn't like furry gogo boots?

What this guy lacks in fashionable attire he makes up for with his interesting array of friends.  Bonus points for using a leftover piece of fence from an old project as a ladder to stand on (can't see in this picture).

There were also skeletons in jars.  Which is a nice way to display your favorite skelly, like this mermaid from last year's party.

A couple of our younger patrons came up with these jar ideas. 

The pictures don't do them justice, but I loved them so much I had to make my own.  I really like how the water doesn't cover the skeleton. I imaged it was low tide with the sea foam (sesame seeds) swirling around him.  I couldn't get the right sea levels on mine and ended up filling the jar.  Another nice thing about using jars, is the skeleton is protected. I had to snap a few joints to get mine posed right. They aren't broken all the way through, but they definitely wouldn't survive long if he was being man handled.  There was some leftover chain with tiny medallions that I piled up to look like treasure.  You can't take it with you, but that doesn't stop some from trying. 

This was a plastic bendy skeleton, partially spray painted. I like the two-face effect. You have to be careful when using spray paint on plastic, even if it's paint & primer or it says it's specifically for plastic. He's one of those plastics that doesn't play well with spray paint and as a result he will be forever sticky, but he looks so dementedly cool.  I'd be curious to see him sprinkled with black sand or glitter on the sticky bits for a little texture.

Here are some silhouette lantern jars.  Lightly spray painted in the inside and designs copied on the outside with black paint pens.  I'm glad to see more salt dough skulls finding a purpose.  I wish I wouldn't have tried to get the skulls into the first picture because it's not a good view of the four cats below.  The cat clipart can be found at ClipArtQueen. The "Eek" is from TheDiyVillage. The owl I found at FaveCrafts and the other cat is on pinterest.

One last creation is this Lost City. 

I forgot the actual name, but it's not Atlantis, because that's underwater.  

And now for the only reason my husband comes up from the basement while all this is going on, the food.

People brought some awesome goodies.  Monsters & mummies, spidery treats and other creepy delights.  There was a really pretty fall decorated cake, but I didn't think to take a picture until after I had already hacked it to pieces.  Seriously I shouldn't be allowed to cut cake, ever.

I have to admire these spider cookies, because I too once fell for the old “use a toothpick to drag out ‘legs’ from melted choc chips” and mine didn't turn out nearly as well as these.  There is a whole story about the photoshopped cookie that's plastered across the internet and has led to millions of chocolate chip cookies being decimated by toothpicks. 

I have zucchini up the wazoo this year, which is slightly more uncomfortable than it sounds.  So I might have made a few things with zucchini.  I'll post recipes later.  

I made Candied Lizard Skin (left) with one of my neighbors regular green zucchini and Frog Skin (right) with some of mine.  I should explain that mine is of the 8 ball variety, which as the name suggests is round and should be picked when it's about the size of an 8 ball.  This year my zucchini is having an identity crisis and has been more yellow than green.  

I also saved the syrup they were cooked in because it was bright green and purty.  I poured it into a beaker and set it by the food.  Halfway through the party I hear, "Mom can I drink this green stuff?" After I said yes I hear a bunch of others say, "Ooh I want to try it too!"  It wasn't until they had all tried it that I told them it was zucchini syrup.  Yeah, I'm a special kind of evil.

Alien Zucchini Ball

These are chocolate zucchini cake pops.

Since I had candy melts in other colors than the usual red and green, I decided to go for a bruised, decaying rat look. It ended up looking more like tie dye rat. 

And then I dropped the mold before I had poured the bottom, which wouldn't have been a total disaster, except this was "fancy rat" with raspberry blood, so it totally cracked and started to ooze. I sealed the bottom by laying it on top of a pool of melted red candy melts.  My husband had a great idea of adding more red candy blood to cover the cracks, which probably would've looked really good, but I think eating wise would've been too much candy melt.

Everyone at the party was very polite and lied and said my rat looked great and the cracks added character.

I do like how the raspberry blood oozed from the nostrils.
Too bad I would never be able to recreate that in a million years.  

I still had leftover purple and green melts so I decided to make Crunchy Beetle cookies in honor of Glenda Glinka:Witch-At-Large, one of my favorite books as kid. She's a bored witch who decides to amuse herself by turning into a little girl.  She's not sure what "PTA" cookies are so she decides to make her favorites in purple and green with lots of beetles.  I didn't actually want to bake anything so I dipped Oreo cookies and topped them with chocolate covered pecan roaches. 

One last thing just for fun.  I don't really decorate for the party.  Generally anything I display is a past project for inspiration or guidance.  Any other macabre stuff has probably been there all year.  The exception to that is the bathroom.  I saw this on Halloween Forum  and I knew I had to do it.

I used about 100 roaches.  Most of them are behind the door so people don't notice them right away.  There are a few strategically placed near where people would normally touch things like the light switch. Roaches are truly the gift that keeps on giving.  They freak people out even after they know they are there.  Roaches are magical that way. 

I use Loctite Fun Tak Mounting Putty. It comes cleanly off painted walls and does a great job holding the roaches. The only downside is it's blue and you can definitely see it from an angle, but trust me that's not what people see first. I did try Scotch Clear Mounting Squares, but they weren't strong enough.

And so that's what happened. I want to thank everyone for helping me make this a success year after year.