No tricks. Just Treats.

Happy Halloween!  I don't know why I love this holiday so much.  I have a very overactive imagination, so I am not big on scary movies and ghost stories and such.  But what's not to love about a holiday that you can wear whatever you want and eat all the candy you want?

I typically decorate the front of our house with all sorts of spider webs and orange and purple lights, but time got the best of me this year.  I am going to try to convince Mr. Bean to sit outside like a Halloween lawn ornament and scare trick-or-treaters as they go by, but he's not as into Halloween as I am.  My brother's neighbor does that every year. He doesn't yell 'boo' or anything.  He just sits at the door dressed like a grim reaper and every once in a while reaches over and taps an unsuspecting kid on the shoulder as his wife hands out candy. He's gotten a reputation for it, so it's always fun to see the lines of kids that walk up to his door and run away screaming.

Every year, I like to make a little something for Mr. Bean's coworkers.  This year, I decorated some jars of apple butter that my grandma made.  My grandma cans stuff like a madwoman, so every time my dad goes up to visit her, he brings back about 10 cases of items she's canned.  It'd be a nice gesture if it was just once a year, but my dad goes to see her about 6 times a year.  We got jelly, salsa, apple butter and preserves coming out of our ears!!  I've been able to avoid getting a surplus of jars at my house, but this last time my dad got crafty on me.  He was basically unloading cases while I wasn't looking and took off before I could object.  Talk about trick-or-treat!  So, what do you do with 5 cases of apple butter?  You decorate them!   I don't know about you, but seeing a bunch of mason jars makes me just want to slap some ribbon on them. 

My grandma is the type of grandma that wants everyone to call her 'Grandma'.  So, I thought it'd be cute to make some "Made by Grandma" labels for her jars.

I printed out the text onto large shipping labels and used my Curvy Cutter to cut them down into circles.   You don't see it here, but I added my name on the label for it to read "Made by Selina's Grandma".  I wanted it to look like an afterthought, so I hand wrote it.  You'll see it in the final pics.

 

 Then, I made tags using black cardstock and my signature white pen.  

I used a plate to cut burlap into circles to go over the jars.  Here is where having a mom that's a work horse helps.  When you get tired of cutting, she'll do it for you.  :)  I went with burlap because I love the texture it adds to any project. 

Next, I basically assembled everything on each jar and tied it with ribbon using a rubber band to keep the burlap in place.  I used what I had in my craft room, so I chose a purple and orange color scheme.  Who says Halloween always has to be black and orange? 

That's it!  I have a few more to make to give to some friends.  I didn't know apple butter was so popular until I started giving it away.  Good for me because I only got rid of one case today!

Alright, back to work. I want to get home and clean up. I have quite a bit of cleaning up to do at home.  The state of my craft room is about as scary as any horror movie I've ever seen.  It spooks me every time I walk in there.  It's like Nightmare on Bean Street.  ;)

Hope everyone has a spook-tacular Halloween!