Homemade Halloween... A Guest Post & Giveaway from Haus of Girls! :)

Our last guest post comes from the fab Marta from Haus of Girls!! :) She is teaching us how to make an adorable Halloween banner. I am thinking I'll need to whip one of these up before Andrew's Halloween party, right? And of course, pop back over at noon for the last giveaway as well! xoxox Holly

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Hello to all you Mommy Holly fans! My name is Marta and I am stopping in from Haus of Girls where I can be found documenting my crazy life as a Midwestern Momma of three girls.

I am a fabric stalking, antique loving, diet coke chugging, treadmill running, daycare providing, pig tail making, sporty spice type of girl who has recently tapped into my creative side. I taught myself how to sew and make almost anything I see. I now create, sew, and make things on a daily basis. Today, I am so very excited to share a super fun and easy project that I did a few weeks ago.An easy (no sew option) Halloween Bunting.
Boo! Enjoy and please let me know if you make one of your own.I'd love to see your fabulous creations!

And in honor of Halloween, I would love to give away one of my "Polka Dot Pumpkin" tees that I currently have in my etsy shop. I have a size 12 month onesie all ready to go to a new home! Thank you and good luck!

Last Sunday it was rainy and yucky outside so I decided to make the most of our day stuck inside and create something fun to add to our Halloween decor.

Using random scraps I already had lying around the house, I whipped up a Halloween bunting for our front door.
Nothing fancy.
Just simple and cute.

Our black front door makes for the perfect backdrop for some spooktacular orange fun and I’m sure yours would too.

Take advantage of your next rainy day and make one for yourself.
Here’s what you do.

Grab two different fabrics. One for the “flags” and one for the letters.

Measure out your three triangles for the flags.
I made mine approximately 6 inches across and 7 inches long.
(I am not precise. Ever. I eyeball everything and it always works out fine. Perfection is not the goal, but more of the act of creating!)

Cut out three flags.

Iron them and re-cut any parts that look crazy.

While ironing, glance up at your fave family picture from last year and ponder when you can get them taken again this year.

Next, take your letter fabric and cut out a little bit smaller size of strong heat and bond.

Iron the heat and bond onto the wrong side of your letter fabric.
Easy peasy.

Next, trace your letters.
You can easily do this by printing off your choice of letters, cutting them out and using that as a template.
Trace the letters BACKWARDS onto your heat and bond paper that you ironed onto the fabric.

Cut out your letters.

Then you should have something spooktacular like this.
Boo!

Lay the letters down onto your flags where you want them.

Then iron.
Remember, I’m all about simplicity.

End result.
No sewing required!

Finally, I pinned the flags reversed and upside down on top of a striped ribbon. I found it worked well to line the flags up with the bottom stripe.
I’m all about finding tricks to make sure I sew in a straight line.

Here it is pinned ready to be sewn.

Start on your first letter, mine was the “b,” and sew your way down towards the last “o” until all three flags are sewn on. (If you don’t sew, just hot glue the flags on! Even easier!)

String your fabulousness across your front door welcoming Halloween with a hint of homemade creativity.

Spooky!

Halloween countdown: 16 days.
Crazy.

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Thank you so much Marta!! :)

If you would like to enter to win the adorable 12 month onesie, leave a comment on this post! For an extra entry, follow Marta's blog! Or visit her cute Etsy shop and let me know what you love the most!! :) Winner will be announced tomorrow!

See you all at noon! :) xo!

Homemade Halloween... A Guest Post from Blessed Little Nest! :)

Hello again friends, and happy Friday!
Today is the last day of my Homemade Halloween week!
I have had such fun, and am walking away from this week with so many fabulous ideas for the coming weeks to prepare for a spooky and handmade holiday! :) I am so happy to share with you another few guest posts for the week from Heather at Blessed Little Nest, Marta from Haus of Girls at ten o'clock, and come back at noon for the last gorgeous giveaway from Wild Olive! All winners will be announced tomorrow, so good luck!!
xoxox Holly

PS.

If you are looking for the Follow Me Friday post, it's here. Link up- and we will be back to normal next week! :)
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Hi there Mommy Holly readers!

My name is Heather from Blessed Little Nest and I am

so excited to be hanging out with you guys today.

I adore Holly, and her love of Halloween and paper
completely inspired this easy DIY project.

...Supplies...

Vintage book pages
Straw wreath
Stapler
Scissors
Sewing Pins
Wide ribbon for hanging
Embroidery Floss or Twine (yarn would work, too)
Random Bits for Embellishments- buttons, tags, etc.

1. I used pages from a vintage book and cut then into sections
that were 2" wide. Then I folded them in half.
2. Next I cut the folded paper into 1" sections.
3. With the fold of the paper in my hand, I cut the corners off
the other end so I could create a triangle. I made eleven.
4. Then I slid my string into the fold of the triangles and used
the stapler to secure them. I placed mine about an inch apart.
Tada! You just created mini vintage paper buntings!!



Use your pins to attach the bunting to your wreath.



Add a loop of ribbon for hanging and embellish as you like.
I decided to add orange buttons to my pins and jazzed up my office
tag with a little black marker and a hand cut pumpkin.

Simple. Graphic. Festive.

Thank you so much for having me over Holly!
I loved being a part of this fun week.

Homemade Halloween... A Guest Post & Giveaway from Bringing Up Burns! :)

Good morning, blog friends! Welcome to another day of handmade fabulousness!! Today we have a super fun tutorial from Erin at Bringing Up Burns who is so creative! :) And make sure to enter her giveaway... details at the end of the post! Another giveaway will be today at noon, don't miss it!
xoxox Holly
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Hello fellow Mommy Holly readers!

I'm Erin from Bringing Up Burns.

When I'm not busy "bringing up" my goblins, I love to create, sew, bake, blog, run and read. I also gather ruffles and twirl rosettes to fill my shop, Haute Blue B, with fabulousness.

Today, I'm going to show you how to make one of my most popular items.

A Haute Ruffle Tank...with a Haunted twist!

You'll need:

One tank top

Two 1/8 yard pieces of Chiffon (Halloween themed if you want!)

sewing machine & accessories

Take your first piece of Chiffon and cut it into a 3 inch wide strip the length of the fabric (usually 54 inches)

Take your second piece of Chiffon and cut it into a 2 inch wide strip.

Set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length.

And the tightest tension!

Place the 2 inch strip on top of the 3 inch strip so that one edge matches up. Fold the raw end under.

Begin sewing down the right side about an inch in from the edge. Remember to back stitch when you start!

As you stitch, the tight tension and long stitch length should work to automatically ruffle up your two layers of chiffon nice and neat!

Continue down the length of the fabrics until you are almost to the bottom end.

Again, fold under the raw end, and then finish stitching, remembering to back stitch when you are done!

Adjust your stitch length and tension back to normal and then stitch your ruffle to your tank. I like to add it to one shoulder and a little down the neckline. Try to stitch right over the gathering stitch. You'll probably have to go slow and stop and start a bit to keep the ruffle from bunching up!

Super cute! Easy! Festive! and Fun!

You can use the same technique to make ruffles out of light weight cotton too!

As long as your fabric is not to heavy, it should ruffle easily.

Here's another example of a tank I made using cotton ruffles and some Rolled Rosettes!

So...What do you think of the Haute Ruffle Tank? I'm quite taken with the Haunted Twist.

Since my girls are too big for these tanks, I'd love to give them away to Mommy Holly readers! Do you know a little size 2T-4T someone who would look cute in these tanks? Let Holly know in the comments and she'll pick two winners. I'll mail them ASAP so your goblin can be HAUTE this Halloween!

Happy Haunting!

~Erin
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Thank you for a fab tutorial, Erin!! I want to make a pile of these tanks for myself! :) Like Erin said, if you'd like to be entered to win one of these fun tanks, leave a comment on this post.
You can get some extra entries, as well! Here's how:
1. Visit Erin's blog here and become a follower!
2. Follow her on Twitter.
3. Visit her shop here and tell me your favorite item! {The Sassafras shoe is the cutest, seriously!}

Good luck, good luck to all of you!!
Winners will be announced on Saturday! :)
See you at noon, xo!