DIY Framed Silhouettes in 5 Minutes Tops!!

Love doing funky silhouettes of the kids? I sure do. I recently did a more advanced version of it in Adobe Illustrator. This powerful software allows you to do traces of photos that are then turned into vector art as shown above...I will explain all the photos shown by detail. This takes about 5 minutes tops. I promise. 

Open Adobe Illustrator (I'm using the CS5 Version). Go to the window tab and select tools. You should then see the long tool box on the left (below). Click on the arrow on the left (black arrow) and click the image with it. 

See my little RED arrows throughout the tutorial. Take notice that the frame selection around the image looks different with the white arrow and the black arrow.

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DIY Photo shoot: Use Nature's Backdrop

Just spent the most amazing day with the kids-It was such a beautiful autumn day...I took them trick or treating at the children's museum and boy did they have a blast. Just as we were leaving the museum, I spotted an office building that had the prettiest heap of colorful leaves. We pulled over and had the kids play with the leaves. I remember doing the same thing as a kid in Queens, NY.

My little son took his bag and sat quietly under a tree with his treats (background). I just kept snapping photos while they played (or sat). I love natural, non posed photos. Especially with children being...children.

Get out there and use nature as your backdrop. Sometimes it's prettier than going to a studio. Cheaper too! Be sure to get the most out of daylight. It's the BEST light to shoot in. 

Below is a photo from an iPhone my hubby took while I was snapping the kids. You don't always need a big fancy camera to get great photos. You can use your simple point and shoot camera or camera phone and still get an awesome photo. Daylight, again, is key. 

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FUNNY Marshmallow Teeth Jacko-Lanterns

This has got to be the most easiest and effective craft ever...I didn't plan on making this a craft for the blog but it turned out so cute and it was soooo easy to do. This was actually the very first time I have ever carved a real pumpkin. Ever. I was surprised at how easy it was. I always feared the mess and the pain it would cause my wrists while cutting the features out because I suffer from pain and numbness in my wrists. I purposely bought an older, stale pumpkin just so that it would be easier to carve out. Ha...It worked! Go ahead and carve out your features and any design you want. The kids had fun watching me make a silly, happy face pumpkin.

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DIY Transform Tea Cup with Baking Clay ~ Fun Craft Project!

Ever wonder what you can do to upcycle those old, mis-matched tea cups? Below is a teacup that was once part of a 16 piece dish set. It was our very first dish set as a married couple and it kinda hurt to just toss it away. It was the only item left out of the entire set so I decided to keep it. The cup is very small so I don't even use it since all of our new cups are much larger and white.

Below, is a photo of the tea cup before it's transformation...Let me show you how to make it into a charming little teapot planter (above).

Things you will need:

1. Old teacup
2. Baking or air dry clay (I used Super Sculpey  baking clay)
3. Oven

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Our Adorable PUMPKIN Family!

I couldn't resist. I love putting googly eyes on everything and this was just another opportunity! I also wanted to add ears and feet to our lovely pumpkin family. I choose cute little pumpkins that represented us in size order.

Things you will need:

1. Little pumpkins of different sizes
2. Baby carrots
3. Toothpicks

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CraftyMoods BEST Halloween Decor & Costume Ideas

SPOOKY DIY Ghosts for Halloween...

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DIY Sparkly Holiday Earrings

Hello! I just wanted to share a quick fashion trick that I did for an upcoming party. I have a pretty tan dress with hints of gold and I wanted to accessorize it with the perfect gold hoop earrings. I have tons of faded jewelry that I absolutely love and can't seem to throw away...I hate when they live such a short golden or silver life! Here is what I did to fix one pair...

Below are the before and after versions.

Things you will need:

1. Shiny trimmings or strands of sequins
2. Gold or silver jewelry wires (thread also works)
3. Faded hoops

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