Exploring the many uses of patterns for other craft projects.
#58706
These were prototypes. I rather disappointingly only managed five. I wanted them to be covered in vines etc but it was a useful experiment and went down well with trick or treaters.

Each one contained "TRICK"

Will be more refined for next year. Lit using LEDs. Kept one and photographed today - just about glowing after a week.

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Last edited by nosferatu on Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By ghostface
#58707
Ok now that is awesome!!!
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By monstermash
#58732
Thats a brilliant idea Nos, I can see Grinch crackers appearing too for the next holiday. Did you put a snap inside too? The kids coming to your door are lucky, they get a handful of monkey nuts and a mouldy tangerine from me!
A fairly recent tradition of ours has been making personalised christmas crackers but I might have to start making halloween ones as well.
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By CorpseBride
#58737
I love this! Crackers are a huge part of my family's holiday traditions, be it Halloween, Christmas, whatever...we always do crackers! I love the idea of making your own. Have any wise words of wisdom to share?? Do you have the "snap" thing in there?

P.S - I love that you cut out the facial features! Looks awesome. The glow stick is a wicked idea. At first glance I thought it was shiny paper behind it until I read a little more.
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By SuperSonic
#58744
Splendid idea nos! How would one go about making these? And if anyone knows this, where do you get the "snap" thingys?
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By nosferatu
#58764
They are extremely easy to make.

I went to Hobbycraft which is the UK's version of Michaels - more expensive, less choice version.

I bought some card stock, A3 size about 200gsm - anything heavier is difficult to rip and I bought a bag of 50 Cracker Snaps.

I already had a pattern - there's loads of them on the net or Michaels will probably sell a stencil.

Then all you need is a bit of glue. The cracker pattern is relatively easy to cut out. If you can carve a pumpkin, you can carve these easily. Then it is a simple case of assembly.

I was going to decorate mine with the vines and laughing pumpkin-tazoa that accompany the Spirit logo but ran out of time. The LED is housed in a small chamber that covers the cut out holes and is glued into position before assembly.

The 4 T o T's that pulled one thought they were great and a really novel idea. Like I said, I wish I had embellished them more and made a lot more.

The trick to the whole thing was having "Trick" inside otherwise the sweets would scatter all over the place.

Easy to make......I've already cut some templates for Christmas and ordered yet more different colour LEDs. They would look good for Christmas for anyone who has a silver theme and decorations.


If you like the crackers, then you might like these.

I introduced my son to Star Wars today. Last night, I made these, one for popcorn and one for M&M's. He was only interested in the popcorn boxes until they were empty and Star Wars lasted about 12 minutes. We ended up watching Postman Pat instead.

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By ghostface
#58769
Love the popcorn bags!
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By monstermash
#58778
Postman Pat has always been on the darkside. Mwahahaha!
How have you filled them without the sweets/popcorn creating shadows all over the pattern. They look really cool! Great for themed movie nights.
If they had these at the cinema I wouldn't mind paying £8 for corn!
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By nosferatu
#58780
I used the same method as when I made Oogie Boogie Birthday Treat Boxes. Once the pattern was cut, small acetate square over the back, then a slim three sided white box to house the LED on top of that. A box within a box so to speak Keeps the food/ goodies separate from the light.The inner box doesn't take up much room and still leaves plenty of space for popcorn, sweets etc.

The original idea stems from Ryan who had themed confectionery for his movie nights. I would post a link but I can't find the thread. Again, they were a trial. Planning on watching NBC and Corpse Bride or Cars in the run up to Xmas with our children and the neighbour's children so thought it would add to the experience if they each had their own little treat box

These proven difficult to photograph for some reason. The LED's created a smear effect no matter what I did. Now empty, they look pretty cool glowing on the mantelpiece.

I did 27 Oogie Boogie Boxes for my daughter's birthday party which was held the day before Halloween (used 4 with just white LED'S in first pumpkin picture) and they were a massive, massive hit. Ten days on and my daughter's is still glowing....just.
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By CorpseBride
#58805
Those are amazing Nos!! A huge inspiration. My son's 4th birthday is in Feb and we are doing a pirate party. The pirate patterns on the site here would look great as lit up treat bags. So where can I get the light thingamajiggers?? :lol: Did you make the bags too?
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By nosferatu
#58833
Yeah, I made the boxes out of 240g card stock. Again a simple box template, pattern backed by clear acetate and a small white box to house and reflect the light whilst separating it from the gifts. Boxes are about 14cms high by 10cm square which leaves plenty of space for loot gifts.

This thread has all you need to know about the LED's. So simple but very effective.

http://www.zombiepumpkins.com/forum/vie ... php?t=5751

They would be brilliant for a pirate theme. I've used the stencils before for party bags

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They were a big hit as the party was just before Halloween and were also used as Trick or Treat Bags

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By ghostface
#58866
Awesome bags, Nos!
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By purple1worm
#59163
Great work! I especially love the popcorn and m&m's treat bags!