Something Witchy This Way Comes

 

I love Halloween! I enjoyed every minute of this summer, but I will admit that I get unreasonably excited when I see the Halloween merchandise start sneaking into stores in the middle of August. And I have to say that, in my humble opinion at least, Halloween seems to be celebrated with a little more panache here in New England than it does in other places I’ve lived! Maybe it’s because New Englander’s have an unfair advantage in that there seem to be far more cool and creepy old cemeteries scattered about, and that whole ‘witch trial’ thing they have in their past. Whatever the reason, Halloween decorations are everywhere and I want in on the fun!!!

This year I had planned to throw a Halloween party, but certain things have come up, so I thought that instead I would share a week of Halloweeny things with you. And to start off. . . . a little something I’ve been wanting to do since I made all those fairies for Amelia’s birthday party! See for yourself . . . .

 

For the witch, you’ll need: black pipe cleaners, a round wooden bead for the face, another (any shape is fine, I used a pear shaped one.) bead for the body, a scrap of velour or some other non-raveling fabric for the skirt, embroidery floss for the hair and a sharpie to mark her face, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s hat, you’ll need: cardstock, a nickel, stiff sparkly felt, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s broom, you’ll need: a brown pipe cleaner, thin twine, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s hat, cut out a fan shape from a scrap of cardstock.

 

I just fiddled with it until I got the right shape.

 

Roll it into a cone and trim the edges if needed.

 

Flatten the cardstock back out and trace it and also trace a nickel onto some stiff felt.

 

Here are the cut out pieces.

 

For instructions on how to make the body of the fairy/witch, please click here.

 

For the skirt, I just used a lid from a jar to trace out a circle of velour, then I snipped a small hole in the center and threaded it onto the witch.

 

Run some hot glue around the top of the body bead and press the skirt down into place. (otherwise she’ll look like she’s got on a poodle skirt, not at all spooky!)

 

Run some hot glue around the top of the head bead and press the hair down into place. Let your inner hair stylist out ;)

 

Roll the fan-shaped piece of felt into a cone.

 

Holding it by the point, dab a bit of hot glue onto the corner of the bottom edge of the cone.

 

Press into place. You shouldn’t need any more glue than that, but feel free to dab a bit into the tip of the cone if it refuses to behave.

 

Glue alone the bottom edge of the cone.

 

Plop it onto the base of the hat.

 

After it’s dried, take a pair of scissors and poke a hole in the bottom. Make it a largish hole so it will sit nicely on the witch’s head.

 

Speaking of the witch’s head, dab a bit of glue there and . . . .

 

Pop the hat on! Straight up or at a jaunty angle, it’s up to you.

 

For the broom: take a length of brown pipe cleaner  (Maybe a half a pipe cleaner), and a wad of twine (wrap it around your fingers several times to make the bristles of the broom.).

 

Bend it in half and catch twine in the center.

 

Twist the pipe cleaner together tightly at the base to catch the twine.

 

Finish twisting the broom handle. I like to fold over the tip and pinch it down so there’s nothing sharp and pointy sticking out.

 

Cut the loops of the twine to form the bristles. Dab some hot glue in the center and  . . .

 

Pinch it together and hold it for a second while it sets.

 

Cut a small length of twine and dab some more glue at the base of the broom handle.

 

Twist the twine around the glue, making sure to get the end down tightly. Trim the ends of the bristles.

 

Lay the broom on the end of the witch’s arm.

 

Fold her ‘hand’ over and pinch tightly.

 

Fold over one more time to make it secure.

 

Draw a face on with a sharpie.

 

She’s done! Isn’t she cute!?

 

If you do make a witch, I’d LOVE to share your pictures here! Just email them to me and I’ll add them to this post! Happy Witching :)