Halloween Polka Dots

Last year, I opened up my Autumn/Halloween decorations box in anticipation of setting up all of my fun decorations and inviting the holiday mood.

I was sorely disappointed.

The box was filled with old costumes, most of them saved from shows I have done (just in case), a paper lantern, a pumpkin treat bucket, and a witch hat.  

That was it.  

I don't know why it took me so long to realize I am so lacking in the Halloween decoration department.  Last year was our second Halloween in this house.  But, the year before I was 8 1/2 months pregnant.  That may have had something to do with it. 

Anyway, I made a goal last year to spend some time collecting or making more decorations.  I hit the clearance at Target on November 1 and got a few fun items, but, other than that, my collection is still pretty sad.

Enter the new blog and the accompanying motivation to make stuff!

The first thing I did, was gather up some felt:

This is my felt stash.  I look at that pile and think, "Wow, I have a lot of felt!" at the same time I'm thinking, "Wow, I need more felt!"  These are the complexities of my mind.

I pulled out the colors that seemed Halloweenish.  I didn't really want to stick with just orange and black.  While they are good colors, I like to pull in other colors too, to brighten things up a little.  Also, I didn't have much orange and black felt.

Anyway, I used that roll of tape as a template and trace the inside of it, several, several, several times, on the felt, like so: 

Then I cut them out.  

Now, let me make sure you know that what follows is not my original idea.  I have seen it in several different places and I filed it away in my mind long, long before I ever thought I would do a blog.  So, I don't have any inspiration to refer you to.  But, if my little explanation doesn't help, do a search for "felt circle garland" and you will find all sorts of help.

*UPDATE*  My sister, Erin, reminded me where I originally saw the felt circle garland idea!  My cousin's wife, Lori, has a fantastic blog.  They have a a beautiful family and have a lot of fun together.  Also, she is a master at family movie making!  I always want to go hang out with them whenever I read her blog.

Anyway, she made a circle garland and posted the tutorial here.  Her's is a bit more complex than mine and, as a result, more sophisticated.  It's very pretty.  Go check it out!

Ok, back to my post.

Here's what I did.

First, I piled all the dots in a basket.

I wanted to be sure I was using them randomly.

So, I reached in and randomly pulled out one dot at a time.

I sewed a straight line from one end of the dot to the other, but before I reached the end I put the next dot in line.  

As I reached the end, I lift the foot just a little to let the next dot in and then kept on sewing without cutting the thread in between. 

I kept doing that, sewing continuously, until I ran out of dots.

That's it!  The result is a fun felt dot garland!

And, since pictures always look better when taken outside, here is the result hanging on the dead tree (because it's Halloween) in my yard. 

And here it is hanging over the doorway to my kitchen. 

Any ideas what I should put on that little empty stretch of wall?

Happy Halloween!

P.S.  I just finished my project for American Crafter!  I'm so nervous!  Voting opens on Friday morning and I'll definitely put up a reminder.  Spread the word and get those voting fingers ready!

Linking up!