Halloween Wreath: Round 1 of American Crafter

Hello!

Did you guys get a chance to get over to Naptime Crafters and vote?  Voting closes Sunday at 8:00 p.m. MDT.  Don't miss it!

Here is the project that I submitted for the Halloween theme.  I left the text in there, because that's part of the experience.

Halloween:  The word usually brings to mind creepy images of ghosts, witches, mummies, skeletons, jack-o-lanterns, werewolves, zombies, vampires.  It's all good and fun, but, when it comes down to it, isn't the best part of Halloween the night of free candy?  So, here I have designed a soft, fluffy Halloween wreath with an enticing offering of candy.

Those fruity candies are pretty easy to get to, but the good stuff is up a little higher.  It needs to be reached for...earned.  So, you stretch out your hand, barely able to reach; you grab a firmer hold on that beautiful chocolate (why is that spooky music playing in the background?) and pull down firmly (wee, wee, wee, wee--read that like Psycho music)!  

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!  

It's the dreaded Monster Wreath!!!!

Now, here is the backstage pass to see how it was done.  Well...kind of see how it was done.  This was kind of a figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of project and I got so involved in it, that I forgot to take pictures once I figured something out.

I'll tell you what I can, though.

I started with a yarn wreath, using the same technique I did before, but the form was a styrofoam form I found in my craft room (good fortune!).  

Next, I found this yarn:  Fun Fur. 

It's really hard to crochet with (possible, but hard) but it works beautifully on a wreath...especially a monster wreath.  I have 2 skeins there because I wasn't sure how many it would take to cover the wreath.  It turned out that 1 covered it exactly.  I didn't glue this on the wreath, because I wanted the hair to stick out.  Tying it on worked very well.

This is the only after picture I got of it once all the yarn was wrapped. 

You can see my sketches on paper for the teeth and I was experimenting with paper to figure out how to get the eyes just right.  I'll tell you what I came up with in just a second.

To make the "Free Candy" pouch, I took a piece of felt and folded it in half lengthwise. 

Then I sewed up the two ends, creating a pocket. 

On the corners of the bottom of the pouch, I sewed a diagonal line, like this: 

That way when I turned it right side out, it stayed open a bit.

For the lettering, I free-handed the embroidery, starting with the "N" in "candy" so I could make sure it was all centered. 

Now, I cut the teeth out of craft foam. 

I did this free hand as well because I wanted them to be crooked and jagged.  

If you are doing something like this, make sure the teeth are long enough that they can be seen when they are pulled down, but short enough to not be seen when they are behind the wreath.

Also, I ended up not using these teeth because they didn't pull right.  I used 3 sets of teeth, with 2 or 3 teeth per set, tying 1 set to each eye.

To make the eyes, I ended up using 2 circles of felt, one colored to match the yarn and one white (for the eyeball).   

I stitched all the way around the top, for show, but only attached the two at the top.

That way it opens. 

They googly eye is hot glued in and the whole eye is hot glued in place.

The whole thing is rigged with fishing line.

Note:  Don't let your 3-year-old play with the fishing line when you're not watching.   

Unless you're good at untangling hard-to-see knots.

The teeth hang behind the wreath and are attached to the eyelids so that when you pull the teeth down and out of hiding, the eyes pop open.

The teeth are then attached with the fishing line to the ribbon and the candy bars (which, by the way, are just the wrappers.  I ate the chocolate.) so that when you grab the ribbon/chocolate decoy the teeth come out and the eyes pop open.  (You can see the line in these pictures.)  

The ribbon is wired.  I folded its ends and pinned it to the back, leaving enough of the fold unpinned so that it would come unfolded with it got pulled without tearing or ruining the wreath.  (Does that make sense?)  Also, wired ribbon holds the shape better.

BOO!

heehee.

There, now you have the basics.  Enough, I hope, to attempt your own and let your own creativity take over! Let me know how it goes!

Oh, and thanks for voting!

Linking up to my parties!