Halloween kitty desktop wallpaper

Happy Halloween! In honor of the day, I amused myself making cats when I'm supposed to be working. If you want either of these kitties as desktops, grab them here:

Download dark cats (1680x1050 px)
Download light cats (1680x1050 px)

Artwork for personal use only, as always! Have a fun evening, and may you eat lots of chocolate.

Last-minute Halloween paper crafts

It's not too late to make a last-minute Halloween paper toy! Get the fam printing and folding these free DIY projects tonight.
Retro pumpkin treat basket at My Paper Crane
Little desk dracula by Samantha Eynon (scroll down on the page to find him)
Cute Halloween menagerie from Happy Thought

Excellent pumpkin carving tools

When asked recently if I wanted to test a set of Grampa Bardeen's pumpkin carving tools, I declined. Then I read more about the product and was charmed by the quality and the story.

The family of grandpa Paul Bardeen has created a fabulous set of tools modeled after the ones he used to use. Blades and scoops come in various sizes for speedy cutting and finer details. The handles are some sort of very hard plastic, and all saw teeth are treated with Teflon to protect them and make them slide more easily. Every tool in the box is WAY safer than using knives. Which I have done in the past and will never go back.

Included in the carving kit are cutting patterns and poking tools to trace designs onto pumpkins. My favorite part was the newspaper insert with instructions and a family history with photos from the 1940s.




Last night I tried out the tool set. Instead of cutting around the stem of the pumpkin, I followed the suggestion in the instructions to cut a 5-6 inch hole in the bottom of the pumpkin. This way it's easy to set the pumpkin over a light source resting on a flat surface. And the top stays intact and looks nice.


I cut the bottom circle in half so I could push it in and then pull it out. Then the tedious, slimey part: scraping out the guts. The scooping/scraping tool worked great for that, though it does get a little slippery.


Try to refrain from eating the raw innards, though they do look delicious.


I wanted to make a design in which I could try the drilling tools. These come in three sizes and allow you to cut perfectly round holes by twisting the tool. So I sketched a very How About Orange design with retro-looking flowers, and drilled all the holes first. Piece of cake. My favorite part!

(Note— a fine-tip dry erase marker works great for drawing designs directly onto pumpkins, and it wipes off easily.)

After drilling holes, I cut the straight lines and larger shapes with the various saw tools. It works well to move the saws up and down like a sewing needle; they cut easily through the pumpkin rind.


I carved as the sun set, and when I finished, I set the pumpkin over a couple of LED flickering tea lights. Behold the cuteness!

And then I moved the pumpkin to an uneven part of the bench and turned my back for an instant. In that instant, the pumpkin tipped over, rolled off the bench, and smashed on the sidewalk.

I stared in horror, and then started giggling uncontrollably because there's something very satisfying about smashing a pumpkin, even accidentally.

It's okay. I'll make more and recruit the neighbors to help.

If you want to start a carving tradition with your family or friends, get Grampa Bardeen's carving kit here at Amazon. Find more info and carving tips at GrandpaBardeen.com. The set is high quality and will last for years and years, I'm guessing. You could use it all autumn long to make pretty lanterns for your porch steps or decorations for Thanksgiving. Carve simple leaf shapes or abstract designs, and your pumpkins don't have to be just for Halloween.

Update: A request has been made for a photo of the deceased pumpkin. Here it is. May it rest in peace.

Make a paper desk zombie

Speaking of zombies, designer Tiffany Radowick recently sent me a link to a little zombie paper toy you can make. Push down on his head to change his expression. Funny! Get the free printable file right here on the Creativello blog. (And grab the Thanksgiving turkey template while you're there, too.)

Free printables for Halloween packaging

Some of my favorite Halloween freebies this year are in the packaging category:
Download an iron-on graphic for treat bags at Used Everywhere
Get a set of four awesome, retro wine bottle labels from Elegance & Enchantment
Print out adorable ghost gift wrap by Design is Yay

Origami skeleton hand

I got a huge kick out of making this creepy origami skeleton hand! It's actually pretty easy, just lots of layers of paper to fold at once. Learn how in this video by Jo Nakashima; design by Jeremy Shafer. I will leave it on Alex's keyboard.

Origami jack-o-lantern

Heh. I made a pumpkin. Follow along with this origami tutorial by TCGames to learn how. It has turned into Halloween origami week at How About Orange.

Intermediate origami bat for Halloween

Here's another paper bat decoration, a little more difficult than in the previous post. This origami design is by Protogenius, demonstrated here on YouTube. My attempt at it has a big head, small wings, and something is funky with his feet! But he's a bat, all right. The cool thing is this model is a glorified paper airplane and (sort of) flies, plus it'll hang upside down from a string stretched across a doorway because the feet fold over and function like hooks.

This origami bat is made from a letter-sized sheet of paper. Follow along with the video tutorial, Part 1 and Part 2.

Easy origami bat for Halloween

Bats lend themselves to paper folding since their bodies can be easily reduced to flat planes. Here's a very simple version by Nick Robinson that you can fold in a minute or two. I followed this good video tutorial.

Picture this: you make a couple bats along with the video to memorize the steps. Then put on your favorite Halloweenish movie and fold an entire colony of bats. You could crank out dozens, hundreds! (Depending on how engrossed you get in the movie. Beetlejuice yields 65 bats. Batman Begins yields 2 bats.) Then tape strings of bats to fishing line or invisible thread and hang garlands from the ceiling. Or stick them to the wall in a huge group with a little ball of poster putty or loop of painter's tape at the bottom point of each bat.

Tips: If you end up with a little edge of white showing around the bat's head, color it black with a marker. Find packs of black origami paper for a few bucks at Amazon.

Make paper Halloween monsters

Happy Halloween! Doesn't your desk need a paper monster in a Halloween costume? You'd rather make these than get any work done, wouldn't you? Scout Creative has designed printable templates you can download for free.

Update: Scout Creative's website is no longer available.

Print your own Halloween mask

Need a last-minute, do-it-yourself Halloween costume? Freelance illustrator Sarah Clark has created free masks you can download, print, and assemble. There are three designs to choose from with one more coming soon. Get them here at Cut & Fold Costumes. (Access to the files requires setting up a free account at Scribd, the document sharing site.)

Have a fun weekend, everyone!

Printable Halloween paper dolls

I don't have kids, but this is too cute not to share. Download free, printable cone-shaped paper dolls with interchangeable Halloween costumes from Mr. Printables. You'll need the girl bodies from here, and the Halloween costumes from here. You can also make all the dress-up outfits below. Adorable.

I think my niece would really get into these. If you know some little girls, maybe they'd like to play with cone girls, too! Rumor has it cone boys are coming soon.

Make glow-in-the-dark Halloween art

I tried out some Glow-in-the-Dark Mod Podge for this Halloween DIY project. In daylight, prints look normal. In the dark, they glow! At least for a little while. The Mod Podge coating on these needs charging up in light. I was a bit disappointed to see that the glow fades in five minutes or so. But hey, it's a fun five minutes.

And I must confess that the photo above is fake. Sorry! It's like I've turned my blog into the National Enquirer. My auto-focusing camera refused to snap pictures at such low light, so I carefully Photoshopped a simulation. I considered adding an alien monkey boy to the image, but opted for realism. The glowing areas on the prints might look slightly more brush-strokey in real life, but this is pretty accurate.

If you want to try making your own glowing prints, you'll need white cardstock, a brush, Glow-in-the-Dark Mod Podge, and a printer or black Sharpie.

Brush a piece of light-weight cardstock with 5 or 6 coats of Mod Podge, letting each coat dry in between. The paper ends up glossy and sort of leathery feeling. It still looks white, but you can see brush strokes if you hold it in the light at the right angle.

Then print out black-and-white images on the treated paper. The areas covered by black toner won't glow since the Mod Podge is masked.

I used the vampire bat and spider from Clip Art Etc., a great resource for vintage clipart.

You could also try a black Sharpie, or glue on black paper cutouts. Or brush a canvas with Mod Podge and then paint a black design on top.

Stitched Halloween wall decorations

Hey, while we're on the subject of cross stitch, have you seen the stitched Halloween wall art at Decor Hacks? Find the tutorial right here.
(Via Curbly.)

In other news, I just attempted to fold this origami spider. The video tutorial is good... except I used regular printer paper which is too thick. Use origami paper, or there will be too much bulk to deal with and the spider's rear will stick straight up in the air. My spider now lives in my trash can where he will be joined by other garbage and hauled off to the recycler. Origami fail.

Create vampire and zombie photo effects

PicMonkey, the online image editor, has just released a variety Halloween effects you can apply to your photos. Wish you looked like a Twilight cast member? Here's your chance. Turn people into vampires, zombies, and monsters. Add moody backgrounds or dramatic lighting. Or create Halloween labels or invitations using frames, cutouts, and text. Test it right here!

A bonanza of Halloween printable labels

Want to thrill the kids with creepy Halloween treats? Hostess with the Mostess is offering a huge array of well-designed labels for gross party food. (Well, gross, but not as gross as this. Shudder.) Get jar and candy labels here and drink labels and flags here.

Cheap trash bag Halloween decorating

In a burst of festivity, I decided we should have some Halloween decorations in the house. Something 1) dramatic, 2) super cheap, and 3) didn't require me to go to the store. Behold: trash bag spiderwebs.

To make these, lay a trash bag out flat. Trim off the side and bottom seams so you're left with two big rectangles of plastic. Cut each piece into an approximate square (eyeballing it is fine.) Each square will make one spider web.

Fold one of the squares in half diagonally to form a triangle. Fold that triangle in half two more times to narrow it. This is slippery stuff, so use a few pieces of tape to fasten the layers together where the loose folded edges come together. It will help hold the shape together when you're cutting. (If any of the tape turns out to be on the web itself after you've cut it out, remove the pieces before unfolding or the web won't be able to open up.)

Use a black Sharpie to sketch some guides on the plastic: draw a "stem" from the folded point out to the end of your triangle. Then sketch some scallops that come off the stem, like in the diagram below. With a scissors, cut out the negative shapes and unfold your web. Tape several webs together and add extra strips of plastic to connect them if you like.

Halloween printables: free invitations and papertoys

You and the kids can print and assemble cute (and free!) Halloween goodies, compliments of the generous people of the internet. Get a massive "Boo"-themed party set by Love Party Printables, featured at Catch My Party. Or make paper Frankensteins by Bob Canada. Find a Halloween treat box template from Draw! Pilgrim—the link is at the bottom of Pilgrim's post.

How to make origami bats

Wet-fold realistic 3D bats for Halloween! Michael LaFosse has a video demonstration at the Peabody Essex Museum's origami site. To get to the bat video, click "Fold more models," then "Origami Now" and you'll see the "Happy Goodluck Bat." (They will ward off the zombies and vampires that might try to get you.) Click the bat picture.

Even if you don't make any bats yourself, it's mesmerizing to watch an expert do origami. He makes it look so easy, with none of the consternation, fumbling, and frustrated sighs I like to incorporate into my origami attempts.

Free halloween papercraft calendar

The ladies and gentlemen of Scout Creative (you might remember them from their previous incarnation, The Curiosity Group) have released another printable calendar of the month. October's build-it-yourself edition features a collection of spooky heads, arms and bodies. Mix and match to make your own hideous little creature. Get it here!