Homemade Halloween Cards

Once I figured out that I would be moving to Philadelphia, one of the things I looked forward to the most was sending (and receiving) mail to different family members back in California. I mean, I love getting mail, especially packages, so wouldn't other people like receiving mail too?

Earlier this month my mom sent me a Halloween card (which she does for most holidays) that I appreciated. My little cousin Abby also sent me a picture she colored for Halloween that she was really proud of. It made my wheels start turning and I thought about how cool it would be if I sent holiday cards to my siblings and little cousin as well. I didn't really do anything with this thought though, until last weekend when several relatives came and visited. I was thanking Abby for the Halloween card she sent me, and she asked me to send her one too. Okay Abby, you got it! Since I had been thinking about sending cards anyway, I put my plan into action. I knew I wanted them to be homemade, while using supplies I already had on hand.

I cut up some kraft paper for the foundation of the cards and went digging through the fabric scraps box. Initially each card was going to have a single Halloween character on it. But then I thought, why not include more characters, but make them simpler. So that's what I did. I freehand cut out pumpkins, bats, ghosts, and crescent moons out of scrap fabric, then sewed one of each onto every card. I also glued sequin eyes onto the ghosts to make them look a little most ghostly.

I wasn't too worried about perfection for this project. I would've finished the cards a lot sooner had I simply glued the fabric onto the cards, but I really liked the look of the stitches. I didn't want all of the cards to be exactly the same, rather I wanted a more one-of-a-kind feel to them (while still having the same basic design). I think the unevenness of the stitches, different colored sequined eyes, and the freehand cutting helped accomplish this feel. Perhaps Thanksgiving cards are in the future? One thing is for sure though, I bet I can keep the post office in business!