Skeleton papercraft project

I printed out and assembled this little skeleton-zombie guy just for kicks. At 2 1/2" tall, he's a very threatening presence. I believe he might enjoy hiding in the medicine cabinet or the cereal cupboard. To make him (he's part of the "Halloween Night" set), and other Halloween papercrafts, visit Canon's Halloween printables site.

Update for those having trouble finding the template: Click here. Scroll down to "Halloween Decoration" and find "Halloween Night." This printable document contains many characters (cat, pumpkin, etc.) and a house you can build. The skeleton is on one of the pages. Click A4 or Letter, depending on what your country's standard paper size is, to download the PDF. When the template is downloaded, print page 3, the instructions, and page 8, the skeleton body parts.

Painted pumpkin ideas

Check out the cool painted pumpkin ideas over at Parents magazine. I like the white versions for their untraditionalness. Untraditionality. Nontraditiation.

(Images by James Baigrie for Parents)

Spooky packing tape transfers

Here's a quick and easy Halloween project: votive candle holders with packing tape transferred images. You'll need clear packing tape and access to a laser printer to make these.

First, select the image you'd like to apply to your candle holder. (Check here for scary vintage clip art, like this spider, bat, crow, skull, aardvark, or search the database for other illustrations.)

With a laser printer, print your images out 2" high (or to fit within the size of the clear packing tape you have.) An inkjet printer won't work for this project, so don't even think about it!

Laminate the front of your image with packing tape. Use your thumbnail to burnish your image onto the tape, making sure the parts with toner are stuck down well. Then trim the picture down to size. You can either cut carefully around your image now, or just cut out a square and trim it later. Doing it now is probably easier.

Soak the image in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes. Then rub the wet paper fibers off the back until you're left with just clear packing tape and toner.

The tape will still be slightly sticky, so you can directly apply it to a candle holder, or for a more permanent solution, adhere it with Mod Podge, acrylic gel medium, or other glue.

Happy Halloween!

If you like Halloween, I'm pretty sure you'll need to immediately download some wallpaper and get your computer looking festive. Pick from this big gallery at Smashing Magazine, or grab Eleanor Grosch's latest creations.

And then if you need a last minute card, download this freebie designed by Emily at Inside a Black Apple.

Pumpkin decorating ideas

I've sifted through the magazine sites and rounded up some unique pumpkin carving, painting, and decorating tutorials. For your inspiration:

Hallmark's Fantasy Pumpkins (above)
23 Pumpkins to Paint and Decorate at Better Homes and Gardens
More pumpkin decorating ideas from Martha Stewart
Martha's Papier-Mache Pumpkins (not real pumpkins, but I'll include them because they're cute!)
Sunset Magazine's Leafy Pumpkins (love the Harlequin designs)
A gallery of No-Carve Pumpkins at Good Housekeeping
Country Living's Unique Pumpkin Carving Ideas

And if you're looking for pumpkin carving stencils, check out this post from last year.

(Image from hallmarkmagazine.com)

Halloween photo fun

Happy Halloween! For your enjoyment, some delightfully creepy images:

This photo is from the Barbie Murders series by etsy seller Wildemoon. Buy a print here or see the other tragic Barbie victims.

Here's an entry in the "Deadly Cute" Photoshop contest at Worth1000, where innocent little animals are retouched into nasty creatures. Via Boing Boing.

Pumpkin carving stencils

Blog reader Christina emailed me about these cool World Wildlife Fund pumpkin stencils you can download from HP right here. Which prompted me to search for more downloadable stencils. Check these out:

• Stencils from Hersheys and Pumpkin Masters
• Some nice carving and decorating ideas from Parents.com
• Some odd, dramatic, and/or gruesome carving ideas at Extreme Pumpkins (here's my fave)
• Tips on everything from carving to lighting to photographing your jack-o-lantern at Pumpkin Carving 101

(Images from HP)