A Very Dollar Tree Halloween

I know- I say it all the time.  This just might be the thousandth time I've said it- but I'ma say it again:  I LOVE HALLOWEEN! 

And I love the Dollar Tree.

Halloween and the Dee-Tee.  What's there not to be happy about?  Yeah, it's passing eight-two degrees outside and heading towards ninety, outdoors.  Global warming isn't real, my ass.  Why, I remember when I was fourteen years old and it was COLD by October 1. 

What the hell was I talking about?

Oh yeah!  This year's exciting "Kory K's Dee-Tee Halloween Crafts Spectacular!"   Hmmm.  Maybe I should call it a "Spooktacular," since I'm going to cliche retro obviousness.  Ha.  You know, in the way, at Easter, someone always calls something "EGGS-CITING!" 

I don't think I had my blog o' fun last Halloween- so I thought I'd start off with a project I did LAST year and posted to my gallery over at Scrapbook.com. 

What was it?  Well- CHECK IT OUT!

I made the photo collage up there with the terrific app for iPad- ScrapPad.  I love that app-  get it!  But if it doesn't explain it all to you- I'll tell you a little bit more:

I bought one of the little 'Christmas Houses' from the Dollar Tree - and with the help of some fitty cent acrylic paints, turned it into an adorable little Haunted Crackhouse!

If you'd like to try it yourself- it's pretty basic-  just use brown and black paints to darken it up and scarify the place.  (I recommend using your finger to rub the paint on and around to get the best effects- paintbrushes are for classy people like Thomas Kincaid, may he rest in peace.)  ((But you might need a paintbrush for little areas.))

I might do another this year-  I need a HALLOWEEN VILLAGE! 

-k

Halloween Cards!

I found myself with a spare ninety minutes, yesterday!

An entire hour and a half all to myself, before I had to head back downtown for more rehearsal.  That's right- we open the first show of the season IN ONE WEEK.  Two days ago, the director fell ten feet to the stage floor.  Why was he on top of the set and how did he fall to the ground?  I don't know.  What I do know is that he must be part cat, as he somehold tucked and rolled and walked away.  Six more days of rehearsal and the show opens and I'll have a little more time to myself!  Hurray! 

Sooooo- what did I do with my ninety minutes, last night?  I made Halloween cards!  Yeahp.  Continuing with my love for all things Halloween, I grabbed my brand new 6X6 paper pad from MY MIND'S EYE and my new Tim Holtz stamps and had some fun.

I love to emboss.  The 'Happy Halloween' up there was embossed using Martha Stewart's embossing powder- which seems to work the 'best' for me- it melts so smooth and gives such a professional touch.  It's a wonder I made another card, after this one- I spent about fifteen minutes running my finger over the embossing.

I made this one with a stamped scrap of tissue paper (left over from a project that I've yet to show you!).  I used two strips of My Mind's Eye paper which was left over from the next card I'ma show you, a strip of Mr. Holtz's Halloween tissue tape, two little staples- all on a base made from a dark silvery-gray cardstock which I stamped a 'screen' background onto with Archival Ink.

My last card is my favorite.  I stamped a tag cut from Mr. Holtz's 'Tiny Tabs and Tags' die with an image from the new My Mind's Eye Halloween stamp set.  I cut a strip off the My Mind's Eye paper and flipped it over and covered the seam with a bit of black ribbon.  I tied the jute cord around and into a bow onto the tag and a button from Prima (which I colored black with a Distress Marker- it was blue). 

Where did I get that classy jute cord, you ask?  FROM THE DOLLAR TREE! 

Yeahp- that's right.  I found yet more craft supplies down at Da Dee Tee.  It seems, lately, that I'm finding more craft supplies at non-craft stores.  In fact, I'm working up a blog idea post all about that- but until then, if you're in need of some classy jute cord- perfect for Halloween AND Christmas- head down to the DT, fight through the crowd of humanity and grab some craft supplies.

later!

-kory

Dollar Tree Treasure Box!

Earlier today, while suffering through an especially horrendous day at work, I spent some time cruising around one of my favorite online hangouts- the forum at SCRAPBOOK.COM.   On my favorite forum, one of my favorite online scrapbook personalities, Miss Henri, was writing about her family's Easter plans.  In a matter of minutes, I decided that *I* needed an old-fashioned childhood Easter, too!  I quickly e-mailed my Mom with my demands.  On my lunch hour, I ran out to buy some EASTER SUNDAY supplies!

I decided that I would be in charge of table decor and Easter baskets for all of my Easter Sunday participants.  Willing or not, my Mom will hide my (soon to be) beautifully colored eggs and willing or not, my friends will hunt for these eggs!

I headed straight to DOLLAR TREE.  That's right- The Dee Tee!

I bought six baskets, a vase, six chocolate bunnies, and many rolls of ribbon- in different colors- I couldn't decide if all baskets should have the same colored ribbon or if each should be a little different...

While staggering through the aisles, I spotted something- YES!!  One of my favorite things is back in stock at the Dee Tee!

What is it?!

PLAIN.  WOODEN.  BOXES.

I LOVE these things!  Around Christmas, I found lots of them - and once I'd fixed them up a bit, used them to 'wrap' Christmas presents.  I put the present inside, then tied a classy black string around the box.  Very simple, but looked great.  Then, the person got their present AND a nice box they could use to store jewelry, money, or pills or other medicinal/birth control needs.

So how did I fix them up?  With some acrylic paint, scrapbook paper, and some Mod-Podge!

Here's one box that I made for myself.  No, I don't use it to store contraceptives.  Silly.  I use it to hold my spare Cricut blades!

Ain't that purty?  I love that paper from My Mind's Eye.  I need to find more!

Here's another view:

Yeahp.  Cute.  And so cheap.  Dollar for the box, then just a piece of paper from your stash!

I have so much fun making these, that I'm gonna go make another right now!

-kory

Gettin' down 'n dirty at the Dollar Tree Party!

Where do you go, when you're supposedly living paycheck to paycheck, struggling and living the hard life, just so you can 'buy a little goody' when it's FINALLY payday?  For those of you who frequent the forum at Scrapbook.com, you'll know what that's about.   Hahaha.  Seriously, tho, the 'buy a little goody' is what cracked me up.   I've pimp-slapped people for saying things half as stupid as that- but, I digress.

Many of you already know that the Dollar Tree is one of my favorite places to shop.  It's one of the happiest places on earth.  Happiest because everything costs one dollar, not because you have to fight the dirty and/or crazy people who are pushing past you to get to the frozen food section.  I try to throw up my hands and say, "I'm not here for the paper thin dollar steaks!"  But they never ever listen.

Yes, you have to look past all the crap- but there are many surprising nice or useful things within that mass of humanity!

Tonight, I'd like to show you some of the most useful finds from the Dee-Tee, as I call it.

First, the flexible chopping mats.  These are terrific.  Two of these little dears in one package.  That makes them fifty cents each.  Before I got my non-stick craft sheet, I was using these with my Distress Inks.  And also as a cutting board, when I used my Exacto knife.  I still keep these on my table- they're just the right size, and you don't worry if you screw them up-  so they're also great to have around in case you have a few guests who want to play, too.  Each person gets a cutting/gluing/inking mat!

And see?  They must've known what I had in mind, too- even the packaging says 'Crafts.'  Useful!

Next up is another one of my favorite Dee-Tee crafting supplies!  The twine!

This twine is incredible- it's soft, it's off-white, it's a dollar.  You can use it to add a great vintage touch to something- as an accent or to tie on a few charms.  You can also make a little pool of Distress Stain on your mat, mist the twine with a little water- and rub the twine in it- and SURPRISE!  Custom colored twine!  420 feet of twine.  That's 128m, for you people who live in those classy places.  Glad it's printed in big-ass letters on the package, or my metric-challenged trailer park soul couldn't have told you.

There's more in the way of supplies at the Dee-Tee, but there's also great, cheap storage options, too!  For the next few options, I had to push eight of a woman's ten kids out of the way- they were lined up and blocking the entire damn aisle.

First up, these nicely plain glass vases- perfect for a slowly expanding collection of paper tapes!

Pretty, too, huh?

Now this next thing- I must also credit the Scrapbooks Etc magazine out right now- which featured this same damn thing.  But, they didn't mention that you could buy these retro sugar jars at the Dollar Tree- and I've been using these jars to stash stuff in, ever since one walked out of the Waffle House with me. For real.  It just followed me home on its own two feet.

Here, it holds a big handful of orphaned ribbon.  By that, I mean scraps or ribbons without spools.  This is their little support group.  They meet in a sugar jar and wait to be used.

Here's an empty (except for one string I put in, to demonstrate) jar that I'm going to fill with twine- as I'm always using it, and it'll be nice to have it right on my worktable but out of harm's way.  The Scrapbooks Etc. magazine shows these filled with Baker's Twine.  What will be the next hot thing once this Baker's Twine craze winds down a little bit?

The last thing I have to show you tonight is this great little easel- perfect to display a nifty card or rather thin mini-book!

Not good at using your imagination?  What kind of crafter are you?  Why are you HERE?  Alright, alright, here- I'll put that card I made last week on it, so you can get the full effect.

That's sexy, isn't it?

So, there you have it- the very first DOWN WITH THE DEE-TEE ROUND UP at The Kory K. SCRAPiVERSE.  There'll be more.  Cuz you can't keep my ass out of that place.  DOLLAR POWER!  Okay, Daddy gonna take a Benadryl and call it a night.  Sleep tight, my hookahs!