July Challenge Day #27

While trying to think of a way to use the pom poms I started making a few days ago, I saw this giraffe fabric in my sewing room and the light bulb went on over my head.  "Of course! A giraffe ninni monster!" I said to myself. (You can get the pattern and find out more about ninnis at RevoluzZza.)

Halloween Wreath

Here's the wonderfully creepy-cute mummy ninni monster I received from my partner Bunnie Boo in a recent craft swap on Craftster:

The heart under the wrappings, the stitched mouth, and especially that crazy red eye make me love him so much I HAD to find a way to display him prominently for Halloween, so I decided to make him the focal point of a wreath for my front door.  Here's the final product:

It came out great, right?  All it took was a quick trip to my local JoAnn's store.  The Halloween decorations were on sale, so I only spent $13 there--that was my cheapest visit to that store, ever!  Here's what I got (and what you will need if you want to make a similar wreath):  a wire wreath form, 1 1/2 yards of black, stretchy, sparkly fabric, a package of Martha Stewart bat cutouts, and a package of "spiderwebs" with plastic spiders.  I also used polyester quilt batting and cotton cheesecloth, both of which I had on hand already.

If I had found a black wreath, I would have used that for my base, but there weren't any in the store, so I made my own black wreath by first wrapping the wire frame with quilt batting strips...

...then cutting the black fabric into strips and wrapping that over the batting.  I sewed everything in place (because glue guns get messy and the glue is permanent, and I like to have the option of changing things later if I wish.)

I loosely wrapped strips of cheesecloth around the wreath for a "festive" look, then arranged the mummy, spiderwebs, spiders and bats.

I make excuses to go in and out my front door just so I can look at my wonderful mummy-ninni wreath now!  It's the creepiest thing I've ever made, and I love it!

Witchy Ninni

My friend Susan and I couldn't let October come and go with out hosting some sort of Halloween-themed craft swap on Craftster, so we re-visited our old friend, the ninni monster, to see what all the craftters would do to give him a Halloween or fall-inspired makeover.   The gallery of ninnis is just starting to fill up with ninni mummies and trick-or-treaters, and there is one little green witch that I especially like (because I made her!)

Most ninnis don't have a nose--it really changed her look--but a witch needs a big crooked nose!

I really impressed myself with the broom I made for my witch.  I had seen other people make Harry-Potter-style magic wands using a wooden dowel and hot glue, so that's what I did for the broomstick.

Then I gave it two coats of paint--a lighter one under a darker one.  I rubbed the top coat a bit before it dried to let some of the lighter paint show through.

I was going for a gnarled-tree look, and I think I got it!  The broom "straws" are made from gardening twine, as is her hair.  The hat is wool felt, and the wart on her nose is a bead.

You can make your own ninni with the free pattern from the RevoluzZza website.  It's very simple, suitable for beginner sewists.  Susan and I have found ninnis to be addictive, because there are so many ways you can change the basic pattern.   Go ahead, give it a try!