This post is about some awesome window silhouettes my partner and I made for Halloween in 2013! They are really eye-catching outside! 

First, here is what the finished product looks like.

Black poster board  (I got mine at Staples.)   
Green tissue paper  (I used bright lime green tissue paper 20” x 30”, which I got here.)
Paper
Pencil
Eraser
Ruler
Scissors
Scotch tape

For the poster board, I believe I got size 20” x 28”. I used the poster board that is similar to very thick cardstock, not the poster board that is super-duper thick and made of foam. 

Note that a lot of poster board at Staples is one color on the front and a different color on the back. Be sure to get poster board that is black on both sides so you can enjoy the silhouette effect both inside and outside your home.

1. First, you should figure out what characters you want to make. I thought of cute characters and how I wanted them to interact. I loosely sketched out the features I wanted them to have. My partner has a knack for sketching, so he redrew the characters and cleaned them up. 

2. We looked at our poster board and our windows to figure out how big we wanted to make our silhouettes.

3. We drew grids on the sketches and our poster board, and then we drew the characters onto the poster board. If you aren’t familiar with scale drawing using a grid, you can find a how-to article here and an example here.

Scale drawing is a process that can take a couple of minutes. When I was working on this project, I ended up using a different scale for each character. 

I didn't know I would be writing a post when I did this project, so I am trying to remember some details. I am going to give you an example, but my numbers are only approximations. For example, I looked at my window (about 58 inches tall) and decided I wanted my skeleton to be about 38 inches tall (about 25 inches from the top of the head to the bottom of the spine). I decided that based on the size of my sketch (a little more than 7 inches tall) and the size I wanted the silhouette to be, that 1:4 would be a good ratio. So, I drew a 1-inch grid on my sketch, and a 4-inch grid on my poster board. Then I copied what was in each square of the sketch into each square on the poster board.

Don't worry about getting gridlines on your silhouettes. They don't stand out on the black poster board.

If you compare the sketch of the skeleton to the silhouette of the skeleton, you can probably tell that we made additional edits. My talented partner made some adjustments as he was transferring the sketches to the poster board, and he made some edits to my poster board drawings as well. I will add that my partner is not a trained artist, he just has a little bit more practice than I do, because he used to sketch for fun back in the day. This is totally a project you could do well with no real artistic experience!

4. We cut out our silhouettes.

5. We used scotch tape to affix the pieces to the inside of the window. (It all came off pretty easily after Halloween, even though the sun often heated the tape. I did go over the windows with Method glass cleaner and a rag to get some of the sticky off.)

6. We neatly taped a layer of green tissue paper over the silhouettes, trying not to overlap too much.

7. On Halloween, we put an extra lamp behind the window to get the silhouettes to stand out. 

That’s it! The tissue paper over the window gave the whole room a creepy green hue leading up to Halloween. It's the kind of thing a kid would probably love to have in their room!

This is a decoration I want to use for years to come! I stored some of the pieces in a manilla file folder, but some of the pieces are too large for that. I made a makeshift portfolio using three manilla file folders, two thick foam poster boards, and tape.  

Martha Stewart has made some great silhouettes. It's out of stock now, but you can see her headless woman silhouette here and spooky bird silhouettes here.
You can find my Pinterest board, Halloween Silhouettes, here.
If you aren’t familiar with scale drawing using a grid, you can find a how-to article here and an example here.

You can download some of my partner's sketches for free below.

Try making Halloween window silhouettes of your own and share your results in the comments below!

Warm wishes,

Alex

This post is about the cute little pumpkin amigurumi I made for Halloween this year. I am new to amigurumi, and crochet in general, but I truly love it! This pumpkin was my second project. Below I link to the many resources I recently used as a beginner. I used other crafters’ patterns to make this amigurumi.

First, here is what the finished product looks like! It measures 2.75 inches high x 2.25 inches wide. I used wool worsted weight yarn and a 4.5 mm (size 7) hook.

• Reading patterns  (find a guide here)
  
• Mark your rounds  (find tutorial here)
• Count your stitches  (find tutorial here)
• Slip knot  (find tutorial here)
  
• Magic ring  (find tutorial here)
• Crochet under both loops  (find tutorial here)
• Single crochet  (find tutorial here)
• Single crochet increase  (find tutorial here)
• Single crochet decrease  (find tutorial here)
• Double crochet  (find tutorial here)
  
• Half double crochet  (find tutorials here and here)
  
• Crochet chain  (find tutorial here)
  
• Crochet into the chain  (for example, single crochet into the 2nd chain from the hook)  (find tutorial here, a blog post here, and another tutorial with helpful explanations here) 
  
• Crochet into the opposite side of the chain  (find tutorial here)
• Attaching pieces  (find tutorial here)
• Fastening off  (find tutorial here)

A great resource is “A Beginner’s Guide to Amigurumi” by Stacey Trock at freshstitches.com, which you can download for free here. It helps to know when you're watching the tutorials that the "working yarn" is the string that is attached to the yarn ball and the "tail" is the string that dangles loosely.

Also, beginners should note that most amigurumi pieces are made by crocheting in the round, as opposed to crocheting in rows. Your work will naturally turn as you crochet; however, you will not be "turning the work." You turn a work when you reach the end of a straight row, chain one to four stitches, flip the work over, and start to crochet a new row in the opposite direction. There's nothing special you need to know about crocheting in the round except how to start, and that is why I recommend the magic ring tutorial above.

THE BODY:

The video tutorial for the body can be found here. I found it easy to write out the instructions as I followed the video, so I can just use a written pattern next time. 

THE STEM AND LEAF:

The pattern for the stem and the leaf can be downloaded for free here. The thing I love about the leaf is that I get a chance to practice different skills. The leaf involves crocheting into the chain (which I hadn’t used before, because I used the magic ring method), single crochet, double crochet, half double crochet, and crocheting in the opposite side of the chain. I’ve made two leaves now, and I love how perfect they turn out with that cute little dimple in the middle.

Here is a tip for beginners about using the magic ring. Many patterns will read:

With Main Color, chain 2.
Round 1: Single crochet 6 times in 2nd chain from hook.

In my experience, if you use the magic ring, you should replace these steps with the following:

Round 1: Single crochet 6 times in the magic ring, pull on the tail (the piece of yarn that is not attached to the yarn ball) until the ring is closed tightly.

You don’t want to make a chain, because you are making the magic ring instead.

The video tutorial for the body can be found here.
The pattern for the stem and the leaf can be downloaded for free here.
Many amigurumi tips can be found on freshstitches.com here.
A great resource is “A Beginner’s Guide to Amigurumi” by Stacey Trock at freshstitches.com, which you can download for free here.

Try making a little pumpkin of your own and share your results in the comments below!

Warm wishes,

Alex