HALLOWEEN FUN

Who doesn't love Halloween? Well, actually, LOTS of people don't love Halloween - but I think it's a darned fun holiday. Autumn colors, make-believe, celebration of the harvest... plus, there's chocolate. How can you go wrong?

This year, I learned how to make clay pots using fire crackers to blow them up from the inside. After a bit of experimentation (OK, a LOT of experimentation, in which I blew clay all over my back yard), I discovered how to make the pots circular, and how to keep them from blowing bits of clay in ragged chunks off the top. I used this "skill" to make several little firecracker pumpkins, miniature jackolanterns that can hold a candle.

The firecracker pumpkins look gorgeous when lighted, just like their much larger vegetable counterparts. Their small scale allows them to be displayed either alone, or in a group with other Halloween decor, and look equally fab either way!

Carving these little pumpkins was surprisingly time consuming. I would have thought that their small size and like of slime and seeds on the interior would make them a fast finish - but as it often happens, I was wrong. Of course, it COULD be that the patterns I chose for the jackolantern face were more elaborate than they needed to be - but who can resist a pumpkin cat? Not me.

I had the most fun with these pieces making the stems. To create a realistic looking vine, I rolled the clay in a press mold I made of a weathered piece of wood. The pattern on the vines looks like a real plant - because it is!

Anyway, these adorable little candleholders are now for sale in my Etsy shop. Hop on over there and see what else I stock that might make your Halloween holiday MAGICAL!