If you visit Burda Style this week you’ll see my reversible Halloween and Thanksgiving table runner and placemat project there available for download!  (Yep, I said reversible, and it’s free too!)  It includes the basic instructions, fabric requirements, and piecing diagrams as well as the hand embroidered pattern (full sized!)

Happy Crafting,

Erin

In case you were wondering, yes, those are ALL brads!

But don’t worry I’ve made things easy for you!  Here’s the layout I did in Illustrator!  Just print it here and you’re ready to go!

I have lots of brads, and for some reason I had a TON of brass colored brads, which is weird because I think it’s safe to say I NEVER use brass colored brads on my projects!  I wondered if I could maybe, just maybe, make them any color I wanted.  Copic markers didn’t work too well, but you know what did?

How about some 99¢ nail polish!  It worked fantastic!  And for some reason the cheap nail polish comes in some great colors, including candy corn colors!  Let’s paint!

The easiest way I found to paint those little brads was to put them all into a block of craft foam.  (You don’t even have to unwrap the block from it’s plastic wrap.  Why have foam pieces all over the place if you don’t have to?)

Aren’t they cute all lined up waiting to dry?  Imagine all the colors you could make those little brass brads!  (I’ll be on the lookout now for brads in not so popular colors on clearance!)

While it’s drying, print your candy corn template and use this paper piercing tool:

I promise this paper piercer will make your job a whole lot easier!  I also use it to set my brads.  (I’ll show you how in a sec!)

Poke holes in your template directly on top of your little colored circles and add your brads.  (I set my template on top of the foam so it was easy to punch the holes in it.)  I found it easiest and faster to put in about 10 brads then turn it over and set them all at once.

To use your paper piercer to set your brads on back  just do this:

1. Use the tip of your paper piercer to start separating the brad back.

2. What it looks like after step 1.

3. Use the other end of the paper piercer to finish off setting the brad.

Keep going until you’re finished.  Honestly, setting all the brads didn’t take as long as I thought it would!

Happy Crafting!

Erin

Download here.

It also involves some slight changes when you’re sewing your pumpkin. The changes are as follows:

Once you get your pieces cut out, sew them together so you have two groups of three pieces. This will give you two halves of the pumpkin. Below is one half of the pumpkin.
Then, sew up the stem with right sides facing each other. Clip the corners and turn right side out. Stuff the pumpkin stem and then pin it in between your two halves of the pumpkin. This is shown below. It’s a little hard to see, but the stuffed pumpkin stem is between the two halves there.

Then sew along the edges and turn your pumpkin right side out. You’re pumpkin will now have a little stuffed stem on top. Continue to follow the rest of the instructions from the original post here.

*Also included in the pattern above is an alternate felt pumpkin stem pattern that is more straight.
Enjoy!

Cut a 12″ long, 1 1/2″ wide strip of the orange paper. Cut in half and this will be the base for two napkin rings.
Cut a 12″ long, 1″ wide strip of the transparency paper. Cut this one in half as well.

From here, you can make the more modern one, or the one with the ribbon.

Modern: Wrap around and staple. All done!

Ribbon: Set two eyelets about 1/4″ inside of the ends. Tie with a coordinating ribbon. Done!

These will make great, simple party decorations. Use Halloween paper, or bold geometric paper for a birthday! If your napkins are patterned, try using a colored vellum… that way you get a little of the pattern showing through.
Happy Crafting!