Halloween Crafting

Wanting practicality post-Halloween, I bought a $1 reusable orange shopping bag from Michael's to use for trick-or-treating. Cole didn't complain initially but he did express sadness that he wasn't getting a cool, decorated tote as in years past.

So naturally, the night before Halloween I decided to paint his tote. I don't have befores as I didn't even think about documenting the progress until it was well under way (whoops!).

Inspired by some wacky Halloween themed stickers Cole had gotten, Cole and I decided to put a black cat on one side and a black bat on the opposite.
 
I free-handed both the cat and the bat onto white printer paper. I then cut out the pieces and used a pen to trace around them onto the shopping tote.

From there I took acrylic paints and began working, taking care to place a piece of cardboard inside the bag for any bleed-through. I would absolutely recommend that as there was bleed-through.
 
My cat could use an extra coat, but here it is in all of its furry glory. The cat has yellow eyes which are then covered with glow-in-the-dark acrylic paint. Please excuse the horribly cluttered kitchen table. I was so busy that I simply didn't take the ten minutes I daily do before bed to de-clutter and the kitchen table happens to be a hot spot for junk.

I wanted something more than just animals or drawings/paintings. So I asked Cole's permission to add a message.

I then thought to free-hand "Trick or Treat" but with the letters formed as candies. It was tedious. It took a long time to draw them moderately sized and then to cut them out. I think the hardest part was painting them. They were quite small and I only had a set of children's paintbrushes to work with.

 I spent a lot of hours between coats and drying to swap to an alternate color. What was supposed to be a quick project turned into a labor of love, although not near as meticulous as the stockings I made two Christmases' past. The skull on the T, the crescent moon C and the bat's eyes all have a layer of glow-in-the-dark paint.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the bag. We trick or treated and had a great Halloween. I've since decided to seal the painting and retire the bag for use on future Halloweens.