David of the Gnomes Halloween

I love dressing up for Halloween and my husband always grew a beard for deer hunting, until we struck a compromise. Now, every other year I have the challenge of coming up with costumes that work with a beard. I started searching online and Pinterest for bearded characters and stumbled upon David the Gnome!

I loved this show when I was in kindergarten :) I set to work planning out the important elements/how I was going to make them for the costumes and searching for the perfect shade of blues for each part.

I created the hats out of tag board and added a stretchy chin strap. I used a circle punch on a stickie note and used make up to create little cheek spots. I made the belt pouch out of felt. I made a simple beard out of chunky yarn. Otherwise, David's outfit was a purchased sweater and khaki pants. I picked up a skirt pattern for JoAnn's and I sewed the skirt (first time ever sewing with a pattern and it didn't turn out perfect but it worked). I borrowed my sister-in-law's wedding dress kremlin to puff out the skirt. I added felt decals to a white shirt with felt and found a purple hair hanky to complete the Lisa outfit. 

I think we turned out pretty darn good and we won best couples costume at the party! The effort was all worth it. :)

Pacman Drilled Jack-O-Lantern

On Halloween I got the jack-o-lantern bug and wanted to try making my own drilled pumpkin. I only saw pictures and from my experience here's what I learned...

Supplies Needed:

Drill

7/32" Inch Drill Bit

1/2" Inch Drill Bit

Knife

Spoon

Washable Marker

My first pumpkin was Mrs. Pacman. You gut the pumpkin like normal, cutting the top and removing the guts. To make the circle I used a cereal bowl and traced it with a washable marker so once I finished the drilling it would wipe clean. I used a 3/16" sized drill bit. I think that ended up being too small so the light couldn't shine through it as easily. For the eyes I used a 1/2" drill bit.

The second pumpkin was Pacman and I used a 7/32" sized drill bit instead and it turned out brighter. I didn't want to make the holes too big.

The third pumpkin was a ghost and my husband drilled it. He really liked making it. It was fast, not too messy, and fun using power tools! I traced half of the same bowl for Mr. & Mrs. but only traced half and then free handed the bottom of it.

Here is the finished products! (You can  see I'm being watched while I'm taking the picture. That's my fur aby, Laya, rocking her orange "Bad to the Bone" shirt for Halloween.)

Thanks for doin' it with me ~ Jamie