Haunted House How-To

Hi, my name is Tara and I'm addicted to...You thought I was going to say fluff didn't you? Well, you're right, but I was actually going to say ScrapbookSteals - yes, another addiction. If you are into any kind of scrapbooking, paper crafts, card making, ribbons, super cute embellishments, and nifty little tools, you should really check out ScrapbookSteals! They are part of a whole Steals network with KidSteals and BabySteals - both of those also rather addiction forming.

So, what does this have to do with a Haunted House How-To? Pretty much 95% of my craft supplies come from ScrapbookSteals and one of my little Haunted Houses was featured on their blog today!! Super excited about that!!

Anyway, I figured what better day to post my Haunted House How-To. So, here we go...

The easiest way to make the house is to start off with a milk carton and then download Template 2 for the window, moon, and roof.

If you don't have a milk carton, you can make the house base out of poster board by using Template 1 (Print two copies). Then go ahead and download Template 2 for everything else. There's no template for the door, but you can make that any shape and size you'd like.

Template 1 (Print 2)

Template 2

If you're using Template 1, make sure to add a couple tabs to the triangle part of the house. This will make it easier to attach the roof. I just drew mine on and then cut around them...

Attach the two copies of Template 1 so that it looks like this... 

Leave a little hangover on one of the side so you can attach it to the other side of the house. It's also a good idea to cut the roof out of posterboard.

Here's what the house should look like after it's cut and folded, but before it's glued together. To attach everything together, I used a combination of Glue Dots and Xyron Photo Mount Tape to create a strong bond.

After you have the house structure together (or a milk carton ready) it's time for the fun part - decorating!

Almost all of the papers and embellishments I used for these houses came from My Mind's Eye Boo to You and the Spider's Web Collections that I purchased from Scrapbook Steals.

The first house was made with a milk carton. Besides the MME Spider's Web papers, I also used a little bit of paper from the Teresa Collins Welcome Home collection. To hide the spout of the milk carton, I just wrapped a little piece of paper around it and created a chimney. Then I attached the moon cutout to the chimney using Glue Dots.

The pumpkins, tree, and cat were all cut out of the Spider's Web collection papers.

The second house I made using the template. Again, I mainly used the Spider's Web papers, but I also used some American Crafts Glitter Cardstock for the moon and window panes, glitter black foam for the window frame and door, and Doodlebugs embellishments and ribbon for the flowers and doorknob.

I used some Pebbles Chalk to distress the window, door, and roof. The flower stems were made by cutting the ribbon into strips and then fraying it just a little bit.

 

My XYRON 1.5" and 2.5" Create-a-Sticker machines worked great for attaching the little embellishments to the house.

I made the spooky welcome sign using the Teresa Collins Welcome Home paper again and then I used a baby handprints stamp and some red ink for the bloody handprints. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about using a baby stamp for bloody handprints...

If you cut open the door and window panes, these houses make great luminaries when you put them over a battery operated candle.

I also made a little kid-friendly haunted house for little man by using papers & embellishments from My Mind's Eye Boo to You Collection...

If you haven't already, you definitely should over to the ScrapbookSteals Facebook page. It really is like one big happy family over there. I've made some fabulous friends thanks to ScrapbookSteals and you are absolutely going to love the SS ladies! 


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Googly Eyes

This might not be the most intricate page I have done, but it's definitely the most fun I've had after finishing a page! It's all because of the googly eyes! I made them out of some baby food jar lids and packaging from some scrapbook embellishments. The button 'pupils' move around whenever the page is moved and I seriously can't stop shaking the page!!

Of course I want to share all the fun I'm having! So I'm including a small tutorial at the end of the post.

But, before we get to the instructions...here are some close-ups of the page...

I used some foam adhesive to give one of the flowers a little lift.

 Close up of the googlies. hee hee!

I also used the foam adhesive on the buttons to help them stand out a bit more.

Now to the fun part...

I started with two baby food jar lids,

two small plastic packages that some brads and embellishments came in,

Aleene's clear tacky glue,

two buttons,

paper

First, I cut out two pieces of paper to fit the inside of the lid and two pieces of the packaging for the outside of the lid. This is what will hold the button inside the lid so make sure it is a tad bit bigger than the diameter of the lid.

To assemble the eyes, just glue the paper to the inside of the lid,

set the button on the paper,

put a line of tacky glue around the lip of the lid (try not to let it drip into the lid because you might end up accidently gluing your lid to the jar).

Place the plastic circle onto the lid and let the glue dry.

To cover up the lid lip, I just went around the edge of the plastic circle with a black marker. Plus this helped give some definition to the eyes. If you want to cover up the sides of the lid, a small strip of ribbon works perfect!

Finish it up by adhering the eyes to the page with some regular sized glue dots and your googlies are ready for a good shakin'!

Weaving Ribbon

One of my all time favorite sites - ScrapbookSteals.com - is gearing up for another online crop on May 21st. Usually they post challenges for us to work on during the crop, but this time they posted some challenges early! I L-O-V-E these challenges because it gives me that extra little kick in the behind to get my scrap on!

I don't need many excuses to use ribbon, so I jumped right on the ribbon challenge! I wanted to do something a little different with it though, and I thought weaving some of my American Crafts ribbon would be perfect for this layout...

I started by tracing and cutting the circles, letters, and number. Then I layed out the ribbons going in one direction on the back side of the paper and secured them using mini glue dots. *Here's a little tip - don't adhere the ribbon until you are sure of the placement...those little dots have a lot of sticky power! Once the first set of ribbons is in place, you can start weaving. I just used my fingers to pull the ribbon up and under, but tweezers would've saved a bunch of time!

Once you have all your ribbon weaved and placed where you want, go ahead and secure the ends down with some more mini glue dots.

This is what your weave should look like when you turn your paper over...

Just trim away the excess ribbon and embellish however you want. Here are some close up pics...

As you can see, the ribbon weave works great with any kind of shape.

I ended up with a 2 page layout so I could show some journaling. I used basically the same technique with the ribbon weaving on the top and bottom of the page, just with some larger American Craft ribbon.

I would love to see some of your designs using the ribbon weave technique! Just post a link in the comment section to your pictures. :)

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Storage for Border Embellishments

I have a hard time finding ways to store my border embellishments for scrapbooking. I've either been storing them in the bags made for 12x12 papers or a spaghetti noodle holder...

The bags were great, because the embellishments were completely covered so they wouldn't get dirty or dusty, but if I wasn't careful, they would get bent up in the bags. The noodle holder was wonderful because they didn't get bent, but I had no way to cover them except for putting a plastic bag over them...not very attractive.

While grocery shopping a couple days ago, I noticed these super stack Pringles (that I happened to have a coupon for) and I thought that this container would be perfect for storing borders. Is it sad that I buy food items just to reuse their containers for something else???

The can still wasn't quite tall enough, so I did have to make some modifications...

I started by washing and drying the can and lid. I unrolled the cardboard at the top of the can,

Then I cut 2, 2 inch sections off a paper towel roll. You could also use a toilet paper roll, but the paper towel ones are usually thicker.

I made one cut in each of the paper towel roll sections to make it lay flat and then taped each section onto the top of the can...

I folded over the top of the cardboard and taped it down to give the lid a little better grip when it's on the can. I went a little tape crazy, but I wanted to make sure the top of the can was nice and sturdy...

This is what the can looks like after the paper towel roll sections are taped down...

I used some paper from American Crafts Blue Skies Collection to cover the can and I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to attach the paper to the can, but you could probably use a glue gun or any other sturdy glue. If you roll the paper before hand, it will have a nice curve to it that makes it easier to attach to the can.

You will probably have just a little bit of overhang on the top of the container. I folded this over and taped it to the inside of the can and then I glued a piece of scrap paper into the inside to cover up all the tape.

Cut a piece of ribbon 8-10 inches long and attach to the can using a stapler. To reinforce the ribbon, I used two staples criss-crossed over each other and then I added a couple stickers to hide the staples.

Pop on the lid when your done and this makes a great little storage container for your borders that's pretty enough to hang up and easy to grab for scrapbooking on-the-go.