Upcycled Halloween craft - tic-tac-toe.

Walter has delighted us with his projects for over a year now - and I really really love what he does for Halloween! I'm not sure if you remember his fun jack-o-lantern magnets or his cute Halloween cupcake pedestal tutorials, but those are a must see. He's back again with a recycled project to have a little bit of fun this Halloween, and I love it. Here's how he made his Halloween tic-tac-toe.

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As you may know, I too adore Halloween and the imagery. I have been wanting to create a recycled craft tutorial for some time and this "Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe" item is super FUN to make.

Supplies:

Sometimes making stuff from discarded items can be surprisingly good . . . I am so pleased with the way this traditional, fun game came out. This is how I made it:

• Any Mod Podge will work . . . I used Gloss and Mod Podge Dimensional Magic.
• 10 plastic caps, washed and dry! Mine came from the Almond Milk I drink and have a 1" opening.
• 1" Friskars Circle Paper punch
• Halloween themed rubber stamps
• Paintbrush
• Mod Podge tools
• 6" x 6" jewelry box, got mine at a yard sale . . . you can buy newer unfinished boxes available at most craft stores

I created a 6" x 6" digital image using vintage Halloween ephemera and had a laser copy made. If you don't have Photoshop skills, no problem - use scrapbook paper with pre-printed graphics! Divide the square box by three vertically and three horizontally and Mod Podge your grid to your liking. I then decoupaged the the sides of the lid and sides of the box with, orange and black textured cardstock.

It looks so good! Next, seal the whole box with Mod Podge for a durable finish. TIP: I used the NEW silicone Mod Podge mat. WOW, I love this product!!! This mat is fantastic! I use to decoupage on old discarded newspapers. No more unwanted "image transfers" on my decoupage items . . . and clean up is so easy! I hope Plaid introduces bigger sizes in the future.

For the game pieces I created two (1" square) designs with some Halloween themed rubber stamps (skull and jack o' lantern) and used my 1" Friskar Circle paper punch to cut out the images. Decoupage the images into the cap, let dry and repeat!

***You want to make sure the insert is fully coated with Mod Podge, including the sides or the Dimensional Magic will seep into the image. I tripled coated my game pieces. Then I added the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic and let dry over night. They came out AWESOME; it looks like I used a resin coat without the mixing and toxic smell. 

The game pieces are stored inside the box for storage . . . genius! Project completed! Let's play Halloween tic-tac-toe on family game night! This is a great craft for children and parents - a far cry from playing video games and no interaction with family members. I plan on making another with my niece and nephew and introducing them to a game of tic-tac-toe. Happy Halloween!

Don't forget to visit Walter's Etsy shop or follow him on his blog, Facebook and Twitter.

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Halloween clothespin wreath.

I'm not sure if any of you use clothespins in real life, but they are awesome for crafting. This wreath by Kaysi is a great example of why you need them in your stash. And if you have them in your stash, you need to bring them out immediately and make a wreath. I love Kaysi's method in particular because it's budget friendly - there are some reused materials involved and it doesn't take a ton of paper to get great results. Visit her to learn how and see more pictures. She used a special formula with schparkle, so be sure to check it out.

Clothes pins Halloween wreath at Keeping It Simple

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Mod Podge Halloween faux mosaic.

There are, on occasion, those projects that are very time consuming but are completely worth it in the end. It's like the time I painted acorns. That was a labor of love. But the truth is that time consuming crafts can be worth it and also SO relaxing. I imagine that was the case with this amazing Halloween mosaic from Melissa. You can tell she spent a lot of time on it but the results were oh-so-worth it. You can adapt this mosaic process to any holiday or image (I'm thinking of doing my pug Roxie). Melissa's tutorial makes it easy to understand, so head over there and then get your mosaic on ASAP.

Halloween faux mosaic with Mod Podge at The Happier Homemaker

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Mod Podge kids craft - a haunted house.

Halloween is such a fun holiday - don't forget to include the kids in the craft-ivities. Krissy has a great way to do it, and you'll get to use some fun formulas of Mod Podge as well. She started with a cardboard house base, threw in some paper and Mod Podge (love the new Kids Wash Out formula that comes out of clothing!) and then put it all together. The finished result is so cute and you can tell everyone had a blast. Visit Krissy and her blog below to learn how it came together.

Haunted house kids craft at B-Inspired Mama

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Ghostly Halloween candy display.

Let's be honest, friends - Halloween is an excuse to eat as much candy as possible. I only lament the fact that whatever I eat that day goes straight to my butt. I just need Halloween to be the day that there are no consequences to my eating actions!

Lyuba made this candy bowl display to celebrate the sweet part of Halloween, and the ghost part too. Her display has a special touch with the very special Glow-in-the-Dark Mod Podge, and I think it's delightful. What a cute way to pass out candy, don't you think? Visit her to see more pictures and to check out the glowing for yourself.

Ghostly Halloween candy display with Mod Podge at Will Cook For Smiles

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Vintage card Halloween banner.

We're getting down the the Halloween decorating wire, so it's time to break out the big guns and do a quicky banner project. By "big guns" I mean The Graphics Fairy, which is what Justine used as the vintage cards on this banner. She did some fancy footwork and used a special Mod Podge formula to bring it all together. You'll have to visit her below to find out. Isn't it cute?

Vintage card Halloween banner at Sew Country Chick

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Cute coffin dog bed.

Hello dog lovers! You are going to find this project simply fabulous - because it's a dog bed that looks like a coffin. If you can get your dog to lie on their back with a cape the entire night of Halloween, you've got it made for the trick-or-treater entertainment. My pug Roxie would never personally stand for that. She's all about treats and less about tricks!

This budget project was made with cardboard, fabric and Mod Podge, so you won't end up breaking the bank to get your funny dog bed. Visit Erika to get the how-to.

Halloween DIY dog bed coffin at Sew Doggy Style

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Halloween candle wraps.

I am a huge fan of The Graphics Fairy. If you need a graphic to Mod Podge, Karen is the person that you want to visit! She is amazing because she supplies her graphics for free. Isn't that nice? Anyhoo, she recently put some graphics together that you can use to wrap LED candles. Which is nice because you don't have to worry about your house going up into flames before a major holiday. She used some Glow-in-the-Dark Mod Podge and Dimensional Magic as well - making an awesome display. Head over to Karen's blog to learn how she did it.

Halloween candle covers with Mod Podge at The Graphics Fairy

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BOO Halloween letters.

I just love Trish and Bonnie - they are so creative! I saw these Halloween "BOO" letters and was tickled. I love the chevron paper, but it was the boingy bats on the springs that really thrilled me and made me look twice. Those bats? They glow, thanks to Glow-in-the-Dark Mod Podge. This fancy display is actually quite easy to make. You just need to follow the tutorial at the link below.

Stackable BOO Halloween letters at Uncommon Designs

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Easy decoupage: Halloween plate with skull napkins.

Cathie and Steve's passion for crafting always shows so well with their Halloween ideas. It's their favorite and you can tell! This time it's using napkins from the dollar store and a clear glass plate - and I love how the book pages slightly show through the skulls, which makes it look like the plates were meant to be this way. Which is obviously the case. There's a whole set of goodies that you need to see. Click through to learn how Cathie made this plate as well as to see the other project ideas.

DIY Halloween plate with skull napkins at Cathie Filian

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Glow-in-the-dark skeleton decor using dowel rods.

So . . . what does one do when they have some dowel rods laying around, they want to make a Halloween project AND they want to use Glow-in-the-Dark Mod Podge? Well, they make glow-in-the-dark skeleton decor, of course! This spooky plaque has a skeleton face made entirely of painted dowel rods, and as you can see, he glows in low light.

Here he is in the light. I love the interesting effect of the dowel rods as his face and am so happy with how it turned out. My friend Chris saw my idea as I was initially working on it and wasn't so sure - and I can't blame her - but it turned out just like I saw it in my head. Don't you love when that happens? Here's how to make a glow-in-the-dark dowel rod skeleton for yourself.

Gather These Supplies

Wood plaque
Mod Podge Matte
Mod Podge Glow-in-the-Dark
FolkArt acrylic paint - Pure Black, Lime Green, Titanium White
Skull graphic - large enough to fit on your plaque
Dowel rods - an assortment of sizes from 1/16" to 1/4"
Scissors
Pencil
Paintbrush - large and small
Saw and miter box
Craft glue

Print out a skull graphic to fit your plaque (look for free clip art or design your own). Start cutting the dowel rods to fit the skeleton face. How do you do that, you ask?

Get a handy dandy miter box and saw and start . . . sawing. I got this for $15 at Home Depot. This is my first saw and I'm so proud of myself. My friend Sherrie attached it to a desk with some clamps so that I could saw with ease.

I used a pencil to mark where to saw, then alternated size of dowel rods as I worked. I sawed some pieces at an angle and some straight - I tried to follow the shape of the skeleton face as best I could.

Here's the entire thing covered.

Now paint all the dowel rods white. It doesn't matter if they shift left or right on the paper, as long as they stay in the same order vertically.

While the dowel rods are drying/you are in the midst of painting them, paint the top of the plaque with Lime Green. Let it dry.

This is how you will get the dowel rods in the right place. Slide them off of the skull design, making sure that they stay in the right order vertically. Then cut out the skull face from the paper and trace onto the center of the plaque with a pencil.

Then starting at the bottom, glue the dowel rods to fit the pencil template using craft glue. Having the template makes it very easy. Once you have glue all of the dowel rods down, coat all of the them with white again to touch them up.

Don't worry if the white paint goes onto the green a little bit - we're going to touch that up too.

I had no idea how to get the mouth, nose and eyes onto the dowel rods. Then I realized I could cut out those areas and use the skull face as a stencil. So that's what I did.

I used a smaller brush to paint in the black eyes, nose and mouth. It takes a little bit, but it's fun to do the detail work (at least for me). Let that dry.

Paint the edge and back of the plaque with black and let that dry.

Then turn the plaque over and touch up the green. After that, put at least 4 - 5 coats of Mod Podge Glow-in-the-Dark on the skeleton face, but ONLY on the white parts. Let dry. You need this many coats to get a decent glow.

Paint the rest of the plaque (not the skeleton) with Matte Mod Podge. Let that dry.

Supercharge your skeleton face by putting it under a light, then shut the lights out and let it glow! It wears off after a a few minutes, but it's totally worth it.

And of course I just like it sitting out on the table as regular Halloween decor, smiling.

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"Boo" fabric pumpkins.

Not everybody likes scary home decor for Halloween - in fact a lot of people like simple and pretty. And that is the category that these pumpkins fit into for me. All Crystal did was head to the dollar store and buy some inexpensive foam pumpkins, then she added fabric (with Mod Podge), letters and bows. These would be perfect for a tablescape or your mantle, and I daresay that the older children can even help with these! If you're game, head over to Crystal's blog to see how they were done.

Mod Podge fabric pumpkins at A Pumpkin and a Princess

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Mod Podge monster blocks.

This is such a fun idea from Allison at No Time for Flashcards - she's found a way to get her children involved in a craft, make it holiday themed and have it be a fun learning game when it's done. Triple word score, my friends! Get your Mod Podge, some wood blocks and let your children go to town. They will have a blast making these monster themed blocks and then playing adults in a game of memory . . . because we all know that kids have better memories, so don't be embarrassed if you get beaten by your four year old. Check out Allison's tutorial below to learn how they were made.

Monster blocks and memory game for Halloween at No Time for Flashcards

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Mod Podge turquoise pumpkins.

If you love turquoise as much as I do, then you are going to love these pumpkins. At first I didn't even think they were real because the shades are so interesting . . . but a quick look at the project revealed that they are in fact real, and were painted at Brave Girls Club! I've actually been to Brave Girls Club and it's amazing experience. Amazing experience, amazing pumpkins - what more could you ask for? Visit BCG to see how they did it, and to learn more about this awesome art camp for women (you NEED to go!).

Beautiful turquoise pumpkins at Brave Girls Club

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