5 ways to celebrate National Donut Day!

5 ways to celebrate National Donut Day!

Galentine's Day party

Why we love National Donut Day

We are firm believers in the power and transcendence of creating. Okay, maybe that sounds a little hokey, but are we wrong? We wholeheartedly believe as we create with our hands we get in touch with our soul, and as we get in touch with our soul we live a more abundant life. Creating something beautiful or delicious and putting it out into the world is an act of courage and celebration, and we are BIG FANS of all of the above. The donut lassies, pioneers of National Donut Day, are perfect examples of the good and lasting impact that can come from creating. Continue reading to discover their incredible story and how you can celebrate this fantastic holiday for yourself!

The Story of National Donut Day

During World War 1, a group of Salvation Army volunteers left with the American First Division of soldiers with the directive of providing the troops with entertainment and support. After arriving at camp and inventorying their limited supplies, these women realized they had a good amount of flour, grease, sugar, and baking powder: the perfect ingredients for donuts.

They brilliantly used wine bottles and shell casings from large guns as rolling pins and put smaller shells to use by using them to cut out donut holes (innovation at its peak). They eventually fried anywhere between 2,500 to 9,000 donuts a day, supplying soldiers with a little taste and comfort of home. 

As you celebrate National Donut Day this year, we hope you take a second to remember the incredible donut lassies and their stories. And what better way to honor them and one of our favorite food groups than to create something fabulous? We’ve put together some of our favorite donut crafts and recipes here to help you have the best National Donut Day yet!

National Donut Day Crafts and Recipes

1. Donut Flower Bouquet

Donut Flower Bouquet

Our cut-and-attach donut bouquet is a cute and simple way to dress up your favorite donuts! With minimal supplies, this is probably one of the easiest bouquets you’ll ever make and the yummiest your friends will ever receive. Beware, because once you try a donut bouquet you may never return to traditional floral arrangements again. 

2. DIY Donut Rug

If you have a bit more time and are looking for a way to incorporate donuts into your decor, look no further! This donut rug is exactly what you need. If you can get your hands on an Ikea rug, spray and acrylic paints, blue tape, and a paintbrush, you’re ready to get going. 

3. Donut Garland

Can a holiday be properly celebrated without a themed garland? I mean, Donut Day is simply not Donut Day without a garland. Luckily, we’ve created a donut garland template to help you celebrate this most important holiday in the style it deserves. All you’ll need is the template, scissors, string, a needle, a glue stick, and a hole punch. 

4. Mini Baked Donuts

Before you write off making donuts as being too demanding and time intensive (oh awkward, was I the only one doing that?), check out these awesome baked mini donuts! They are just small enough to eat 5 at a time (because we know eating just one donut is like eating just one Oreo; impossible. Don’t try to tell me otherwise) and are healthier than your average donut with zero processed sugar and no frying. This guilt-free donut recipe is likely to become one of your Donut Day favorites. 

5. Donut Macarons

If you’re ready to zhuzh up your National Donut Day celebrations and are feeling a bit ambitious, these donut macarons are perfect for you! These yummy French treats have achieved mega-popularity status in the past couple of years, and this pairing of the decidedly American donut with the French macaron is one of our favorite French-American duos yet.

We are outspoken, lifelong, shout-it-from-the-rooftops advocates of the goodness that is put into someone’s life and the world at large when an individual takes the time to simply create. The Donut Lassies were champions of this and used their creative skills to lift the people around them. This Donut Day, we hope you’re able to create something fun or delicious and share it with the people around you because sharing is caring! Just be careful to save a couple (or 10) donuts for yourself.

Happy donut-ing! 

Handmade Gift Ideas for Father’s Day

Handmade Gift Ideas for Father’s Day

Father’s Day is a day dedicated to celebrating the hard work and devotion of fathers everywhere. Whether here in the States, or halfway across the continent, the men in our lives deserve some recognition. Running to the store last minute and spending $400 on a tool belt might sound tempting. Here at Lars, we offer a handmade approach without breaking the bank. Here are some handmade gift ideas to get those creative wheels turning!

Handmade Card

There’s something special about receiving a handmade card from your children. It’s knowing they did it all themselves that makes you so proud! It’s also a great way for them to express their creativity. Simultaneously, expressing gratitude for the hardworking dad in their lives. We created some printable cards to make the process a bit easier.

Bow Tie or Tie

Father's day tie and bowtie pattern DIY

Ties and bow ties are a classic gift. A classic gift made all the more meaningful when made by you! The best part is that they aren’t too tricky to make. Find your favorite fabric and get making! Here’s how to make a bow tie and a regular tie.

Sports Donuts

Father's Day Sports Donuts

If I know anything, there are two things dads undeniably love – eating food and watching a good game of sports. Why not combine the two with a delicious Father’s Day treat? Sports-themed donuts are sure to capture his heart and his taste-buds! Here’s how to make some sports donuts.

Lollipop Ribbon

LolliPOP Father's Day prize ribbons

Turn a lollipop into a winner by creating a ribbon! Such a fun and easy way to provide some sugar in an award winning form!

Customizable Portrait

We’ve made some impressive crafts over the years. This one takes the cake! It’s perfect to do with your kids.  All you need is to cut, arrange and glue to make a customizable portrait of your father/grandfather/uncle. You can get the templates and tutorial here.

Origami Gift Boxes

These Origami Shirt Gift Bags are a creative way to box up some goodies. Just fold the shirt, put some small treats in, and you’re ready to go! Here’s how to make the origami shirt bags.

DIY Picnic Tote

DIY picnic blanket

This is for all the nature-loving dads out there! Try your hand at a DIY Picnic Tote. It doubles as a picnic blanket and a blanket perfect for late-night stargazing! I personalized mine by putting my dad’s face on it–hahahaha! Find out how I made it here.

Handmade gifts are a perfect way to show your dad you love and appreciate him on Father’s Day. Go ahead and send this post to someone who could use it;) Ha!

Do you have a go-to handmade gift idea for dad? I’d love to hear about it! Leave me a comment!

Try other Father’s Day projects

If you like this article, you might also like:

Handmade gift ideas for Mother’s Day

Handmade Gift Ideas to give for Mother’s Day

Personally, I love the idea of receiving a handmade gift from my child–it’s a great way to mark their skills as they get older too! Here are some great handmade gift ideas for Mother’s Day.

  1. Handmade Cards

A handmade card is a classic gift that never gets old. Making a card yourself allows you to express your creativity and personalize the card to your mom’s liking. You can use various materials such as construction paper, glitter, markers, and stickers to create a beautiful card. You can also add a heartfelt message or quote to express your love and gratitude.

We have a variety of printable Mother’s Day cards as well as printable cards that are perfect for adding in a gift card. Our printable Mother’s Day collection, above, can be found here. Our printable gift card can be found here.

Mother's Day Gift Card HolderMother's Day gift card

And this gift card one can be found here.

  1. DIY Jewelry

If your mom loves jewelry, a handmade piece would be an excellent gift idea. You can make a necklace, bracelet, or pair of earrings using beads, wire, and other materials. You can also customize the jewelry by incorporating her favorite colors or birthstone.

Brittany is wearing a white blouse and a rainbow colored clay necklace. She's standing against a green wall.

This DIY handmade clay bead necklace is an easy one for all ages and looks great too!

Or try this DIY knot necklace. You can make it in any color too!

  1. Printable Coloring pages for Mother’s Day

We have the cutest Mother’s Day Activity Pack to give as a gift. It includes a coloring page, certificate, prize ribbon, build-a-bouquet, and a few other fun fill outs. You can see more about it here.

As well as this beautiful Mother’s Day Coloring page here.

Mother's Day coloring page

  1. Personalized Photo Album

A personalized photo album is a great gift to give your mom to showcase your special moments together. You can select your favorite pictures and arrange them in a scrapbook. You can also add captions or decorations to make it more personal. We did this collaboration with Mixbook for a wedding book, but it could be customized to any holiday and the flowers would be so so beautiful for Mother’s Day!

  1. DIY Candles

Candles are a popular gift idea, and making them yourself would make them more special. You can make candles using natural ingredients such as beeswax, essential oils, and dried flowers. You can also choose a scent that your mom would love and personalize the candle’s label.

We made these DIY twisted candles, which are a fun twist, pun intended, for a gift.

  1. Handmade paper flower

Flowers always remind me of mother. We love a good paper flower around here and there are so many to choose from.

Paper flower hydrangeas

These paper flower hydrangeas are so stunning. Can you guess what they are made from? So clever!

Paper hydrangeas in a white vase against a floral orange background

Paper flower foxgloves

These paper flower foxgloves are my favorite. And I love the colors too! Put them in a stunning pot to keep them forever!

Paper flower peony

You can never go wrong with a peony. They are so lush and beautiful–they’re everyone’s favorites! Here’s how to make a paper flower peony.

We have a lot more paper flower options. Try here for more!

  1. Pillows of you children

These small pillows were inspired by our family heirloom photo ornaments and I love them in a slightly bigger shape. My kids love having them too! Here’s how to make the photo heirloom dolls.

Two embroidered plush dolls on a blue background surrounded by colorful toys

  1. Embroidered brooch

If your mom loves sweets, homemade cookies would be a great gift. You can make cookies using your mom’s favorite recipe or try something new. You can also package the cookies in a personalized container or wrap them in a decorative ribbon.

Brittany is sporting her embroidered floral brooch and holding baby Felix.

  1. DIY apron

If your mom loves to keep her home smelling fresh, DIY potpourri would be a great gift idea. You can make potpourri using dried flowers, herbs, and essential oils. You can also customize the scent to your mom’s liking and package it in a personalized container.

  1. Handmade Pillow Cover

If your mom loves to decorate her home, a handmade pillow cover would be a great gift idea. You can use fabric and sewing supplies to create a unique design. You can also customize the pillow cover by adding a personalized message or quote.

This DIY bias tape pillow cover is a very cute one to try.

DIY weaving bia tape pillow Creative hobbies to try when you are feeling uninspired

Or turn a scarf into a pillow case! Here’s how!

Or try a pillow in a fun shape like our flower shaped pillow!

Handmade gifts are a great way to show your mom how much you love and appreciate her on Mother’s Day. These gifts are personal, sentimental, and can be tailored to your mom’s preferences. Feel free to nonchalantly forward this post on to someone who might benefit from seeing it ;). Ha!

10 Crafts to celebrate Earth Day

10 Crafts to celebrate Earth Day

Eco-friendly Cardboard crafts for Earth Day

Some of my favorite crafts are those that either recycle old materials or can be recycled. It just feels better to be resourceful and get some mileage out of items that we tend to collect and throw away! Cardboard is one of my favorite mediums for this so here are some of my favorite cardboard projects. They would be great to do with kids too!

1. Cardboard Cactus Crafts for Earth Day

These cardboard cactus plants are a great way to celebrate Earth Day. All you do is cut out simple shapes from any size cardboard box and stick them in a pot. Great decor AND reusing stuff you already have! Here’s a link for the cardboard cactus tutorial.

2. Cardboard art sculpture craft

We had originally made a mobile as an art piece and then reused the pieces to create this geometric sculpture. It’s a great way to use smaller scraps of paper and cardboard while also turning it into something that you’d actually want to keep around on display.

3. Viking ship made from cardboard

Sure, I made this viking ship out of cardboard for my son for Halloween, BUT it would also be a great toy for every day. Just grab a couple of boxes from the bin and start cutting! The kids can even join in on painting it.

4. Decorative cardboard vases

DIY Painted Cardboard Vases

I was so inspired by that blue and white tablecloth that we made a number of blue and white vases out of cardboard to go with it. They would be fun for a dinner party or as a simple decoration in a vignette. OR, you can make these 2D flat vases, below, to also do the job.

2D Cardboard Vase

5. Egg Carton vases for Earth Day

While we’re on the subject of vases, here’s a great way to reuse egg cartons! I love the texture that the egg containers create. They’re super cool for a fresh, modern vibe.

6. Cardboard sun for Earth Day

make a cardboard sun with recycled materials

Jasper and I made this sun out of cardboard when he was 3 and we had a ball! It’s a great way to teach kids about earth day and get busy together!

7. Learn how to press flowers for Earth Day

Sunshine Spaces by Beci Orpin

A beautiful way to celebrate Mother Nature is to learn how to press flowers. This blog post shares 3 ways to press flowers. It’s a great hobby to learn!

8. Make your own beeswax lunch sack for Earth Day

DIY colorful lunch pails

Make something you can re-use over and over again. We made these cute color-blocked lunch sacks with beeswax pouches intended to use over plastic bags.

9. Eco-friendly Friendship bracelet rug for Earth Day

Turn fabric scraps into a friendship bracelet inspired rag rug. This was one of my earliest projects on the blog and one of my favorites to this day!

10. Celebrate nature for Earth Day with paper flowers

One way to celebrate Earth Day is to pay homage to the beauty that Mother Earth provides. Flowers are probably my favorite thing on earth. we have a host of paper flower tutorials that will bring the celebration indoors!

Paper hydrangeas

These gorgeous water-colored hydrangeas are made from coffee filters! Use what you have!

Paper pansies

Paper pansies in a distressed terracotta planter. They're placed on a stack of colorful books on a chair. In the background, you can see some red floral wallpaper and blue wainscoting.

These adorable paper pansies or johnny jump ups are too cute. Here’s how to make them!

If you’re really wanting to learn how to get into the flower spirit, we have a course on how to draw your favorite flowers. It would be a great way to celebrate! Sign up for the course here.

As we celebrate Earth Day, it’s important to remember that small actions can make a big impact. These 10 eco-friendly crafts demonstrate how we can repurpose and upcycle everyday items to create something beautiful while reducing waste. Whether it’s turning old cardboard into a home decoration or celebrating mother earth in flowers, we can show our love for the planet in creative ways. So let’s get crafting and make a difference one DIY project at a time! Remember, “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” – Robert Swan

Easter Crafts

Our Favorite Easter Crafts

We have so many Easter crafts that we’re just thrilled to share with you this year. Many of them are brand new, too! Need a new Easter Basket? We’re here for you. How about a fresh spring wreath? We’ve also got you covered in that department. Without further ado, here’s the list of our favorite Easter crafts!

Wreaths

I love a good wreath. And spring wreaths are some of my favorites! They’re a must have when talking about Easter crafts. This year we have a brand new Palm Leaf Wreath you’re sure to love. It’s delicate, colorful, and festive. Just the thing to celebrate Palm Sunday, Easter and spring all in one go! If you’re feeling more into eggs, try our ever popular Easter egg wreath, or this sweet Honeycomb Easter wreath. Both are lovely and sure to put a little spring in your step. Also, you can’t go wrong with a simple floral theme. This Daffodil Wreath is very appropriate for the season, as is this Lemon Wreath!

A floral Easter wreath hanging on a pink wall next to a white door. A wooden mushroom is also on the porch.

Easter Baskets

You can’t have Easter crafts without Easter baskets! And we have a brand new one for you to try this year. It’s our DIY Easter Basket, and the best part is that it doesn’t require any sewing. Another clever no-sew Easter basket is this Paper Easter basket. Just download, print, cut and assemble, it’s that easy! If you want to sew an adorable bag that doubles as an Easter basket and will be around for years to come, try this carrot shoulder bag! The bonus is it packs up easily and is equally cute.

If you’re looking for inspiration on what to fill your basket with, look no further than this Easter Basket choose your own adventure. We help guide you through the steps to picking your perfect Easter basket, along with everything to put inside it, like this Paper carrot treat box, carrot surprise balls, or this DIY stuffed bunny. You can also make some of these Danish Easter letters to tuck inside.

Easter Egg ideas

As it so happens, we have a lot of Easter crafts that have to do with eggs. Are you really that surprised? I mean, what’s Easter without at least one little nod to an egg or two. Just yesterday, we release the most lovely nesting Easter eggs! We love the little twist on original nesting dolls. Also try these Easter egg columns, which are a lovely way to decorate your home this Easter. Don’t forget about these Honeycomb Easter eggs, either! Make them into a wreath or decorate with the individual eggs. Either way they’re lovely!

Another fun variation on decorating Easter eggs are these dried flowers on Easter eggs, as well as our Pysanky Easter eggs (here’s the E-book of the Pysanky eggs, the profits of which will be donated to the Ukrainian relief effort). If you’re into more decorating, try our DIY pom pom Easter eggs! Or if you’re having a party, you’ll definitely want to take a look at our Easter egg name tags, Easter egg cupcake toppers, and Easter egg runner.

Felted Easter Eggs

New this year is a tutorial from Jessica Peterson all about felted Easter eggs. They’re a new classic! All the supplies are listed here

For Kids

If you have kids, you’ll love these Easter-themed toys, accessories, and activities. First stop: these fun bunny party hats. Having a new baby this spring? You won’t want to miss these adorable DIY Baby bonnets! Or these Easter bunny twist ties.

Need a craft to do with your kids to keep them busy and happy? You’ll love these Easter Egg coloring pages, the profits of which will be donated to the Ukrainian relief effort. Then there’s our DIY stuffed bunny, which is a sweet little Easter toy. Plop it in your child’s Easter basket and you’re all set!

 

Easter printables

A great way to get crafty is with some printables, and we’ve got some great ones!

These Easter egg coloring pages featuring pysanky are great for older kids.

Along with our chick and bunny paper dolls and matching color pages.

Paper crowns

One thing is for sure, if I had a little girl, I’d be making a paper crown floral crown.

And we’ve got a few to choose from! These pretty blue, red, pink, and white flower crowns.

This printable spring crown.A printable flower crown in purple, yellow, pink, white red, and blue being held up by two hands.

And another handmade paper flower crown perfect for spring.

Easter paper flowers

While we’re on the topic of paper flowers, these Easter lilies are a favorite of mine. I think I’m going to try and make them again this year.

Easter Egg Column People

A new favorite of mine are these adorable Easter column people. I think they’d make a great tablescape!

painted Easter egg columns perched on colorful books against a yellow and pink background.

 

Alice in Wonderland Family Costumes

Costume Inspiration

For years now, I’ve had my eye on this amazing vintage fabric, illustrated by Charles Voysey. The fabric features beautiful, classic illustrations of Alice in Wonderland characters. The colors and way in which he depicts the characters is stunning, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Then I thought–why not make this stunning fabric into our family costumes?! An excuse for my children to dress up as a walrus and card-wearing rabbit was an opportunity much too good to pass up. That’s how these Alice in Wonderland family costumes were born.

How to Recreate Alice in Wonderland Family Costumes

These costumes aren’t exactly what you’d call “simple” or “quick”. That said, they’re stunning, and so worth the time, if you plan ahead. Here’s how to recreate these Alice in Wonderland family costumes:

Walrus

I had my heart set on a walrus costume for either Jasper or Felix this year. Jasper’s getting to that age where he’s a bit more opinionated when it comes to costumes, so since Felix didn’t object, we decided the walrus was best for him. Here’s how to make it:

Hat

First, I have to give credit to the mastermind behind the paper mache, Carrie. The job she did on that paper mache walrus and rabbit was too much! Here’s what to do for the walrus hat:

  1. The paper mache hat is the most important part of this costume. First, make the cardboard understructure, using our photos as a reference. We used gaff tape to stick the cardboard pieces together because it’s amazingly sticky.
  2. Once the pieces are cut and assembled, you can add a few layers of paper mache. To make paper mache, add one part flour to two parts water, mix, then heat in the microwave or on a stovetop until it thickens just a bit. You don’t want it too thick, just enough so it’s not like water anymore.
  3. Once the paste is made, rip up strips of newsprint, dip into the paste, and apply until your walrus is fully coated. Let dry completely (this can take at least a couple days, so plan ahead)!
  4. When your walrus is fully dry, go ahead and paint in the details and add finishing touches, like fur.
  5. To attach the hat to your child’s head, tie a piece of string to either side of the head and tie around your child’s chin.

Walrus outfit

For our walrus outfit, we went the simple route and bought a walrus jumpsuit so we could focus on that paper mache showstopper hat. We found ours here. We also found some clothing (courtesy of my sister!) that was perfect for it–check out your local thrift shops for options.

Rabbit

We decided to have Jasper be the rabbit, thinking he’d be content with the choice if he got to wear an awesome paper mache hat. Well, content is a relative term–at least we could take the photos before he changed into his spider man costume. Ha! Here’s how to make the rabbit portion of our Alice in Wonderland family costumes:

Rabbit hat

  1. First, cut out and assemble the rabbit understructure, using our photos as a reference.
  2. Next, follow the instructions above to add the paper mache to your rabbit understructure. Tip: we found that, once coated in paper mache, the ears started to sag a bit. To help with that, prop a cardboard box up behind the ears to keep them from falling backwards as they dry. Once dry, they’ll stand up fine with the help of the stiff paper mache.
  3. When the paper mache is dry, paint the rabbit and add any embellishments you’d like. We painted some thin, floral wire black and turned it into whiskers.
  4. To attach the hat to your child’s head, tie a piece of string to either side of the head and tie around your child’s chin.

Shirt

The easiest option here is to buy a shirt with puff sleeves for our child. We couldn’t find one that would arrive in time, so we DIY’ed a shirt instead.

Collar

For the collar, we used crepe paper, string or yarn, an embroidery needle and the same technique as for our vintage clown costumes. Easy!

Cards

  1. For the cards, cut eight pieces of cardboard that are each 6 ½” wide and 9 ¾” tall. 
  2. Once they’re cut, paint them all white. We used white house paint and a large brush to speed up this process. We also painted them at the same time as Paul’s cards.
  3. When the paint is dry, use the cricut to cut out the card shapes using the templates. Tape in place on the white paint.
  4. To attach to each other, use ribbon and staples. For attaching the front and back, again, use ribbon and staples.

Feet

For the rabbit feet, all you need is some white faux fur. Tear it down to the size of your child’s shoe and safety pin some elastic on to hold it in place.

Brittany’s Outfit

I’m not sure of the official name of Brittany’s character, since we based the costumes off illustrations instead of the book’s official character names. That said, we’ll call her a knight. Mostly we had to make this costume because the outfit was just incredible. Here’s how to recreate it:

Cardboard Skirt/Hat

  1. Using our photos as a reference, cut out and assemble the shapes for the cardboard torso, skirt, and hat pieces.
  2. Now paint them, using our photos as a reference.
  3. Oh, and that makeup?! Have fun with it.

Pants/Tights

For the pants and tights, we used a mauve pair of sweats, cut off and gathered at the knees, and these golden yellow tights

Blouse

The next element of Brittany’s outfit was the blouse. We needed to find some great puffy sleeves, which we found here. Then we cut out fabric embellishments and appliquéed them on with a simple zig zag stitch around the edge. See our photos for the shapes we used!

Shoes

The shoes needed to be vintage-looking, sort of like pilgrim shoes. Brittany happened to own just the pair already!

Paul’s Outfit

Last outfit of our Alice in Wonderland family costumes to complete was Paul’s. His character was a card man wearing an all-blue outfit/hood. This was a simple costume to figure out! Here’s what we did:

Blue Outfit

For the blue outfit, we bought a simple blue sweatsuit with a hood. We found our’s here and here.

Cards

  1. To make the cards, cut two large pieces of cardboard. They should be the same size, big enough to cover the torso all the way to the shoulders and down to the knees.
  2. After cutting the cardboard down, paint them both white. We used house paint and a roller to speed up the process. Note: if you’d rather, you can also use white foam core or mat board and skip the painting.
  3. Once the paint is dry, cut out the card template pieces on the cricut with black cardstock and glue or tape in place on top of the white paint.
  4. Last, attach the two pieces of cardboard together using ribbon and staples. We also used gaff tape for extra support.

Shoes

The last essential element of Paul’s costume were the shoes. Like Brittany, he needed some classic-looking shoes. We ended up using some simple, black ones Paul already had. We’d also recommend checking your local thrift shop–there are often hidden gems there.

And that’s a wrap! What do you think of our Alice in Wonderland costumes?

More Inspiration

Loved these Alice in Wonderland family costumes and want more costume ideas? See these classic Halloween costumes for kids! Also see our vintage clown costumes, Barbiecore costume, wild things costumes and Campbell’s soup cans. Then check out our blog archives for tons more costume ideas. And see this post for tons of last minute Halloween ideas from our shop!

Easy Halloween Ideas From Our Shop

My Ideal Halloween

My ideal Halloween is playfully spooky, crafty, and (above all) easy, and there’s no such thing as too many easy Halloween ideas. If you’re looking for a fun, simple way to celebrate the season without turning your home into a Spirit Halloween storefront, read on for easy Halloween ideas!

Easy Halloween Decorations

This Haunted House makes a perfect Halloween centerpiece and conversation starter. You’ll make it from recycled cardboard boxes, which is a win for Planet Earth, and it’s beautiful enough to come back year after year, which is a win for you! Check out our blog post on it here.

Cardboard Haunted House for recycled holiday decor

Garlands are another classic when it comes to Halloween decor. Try this fun new Halloween garland featuring the Halloween shapes you’ve been missing. If you love the spooky aspect of Halloween, check out this Vampire Teeth Garland. It’s creepy without being too macabre, and oh so easy.

DIY vampire teeth garland

Another slightly spooky and impeccably easy decor idea is this wooden transfer plaque template! I’m all for riding the line between pretty and creepy at Halloween, and these really fit the bill. Find the tutorial here.

wooden cross sections of branches with spiders and bugs transferred onto them hanging from maroon ribbons.

This painted pumpkin face template makes for such a fun, easy DIY! Give your porch some whimsy this Halloween by painting these sweet characters on your pumpkins. Read the tutorial here and get painting!

painted pastel pumpkin faces against a pink background

How many times can you say “pretty paper pumpkin project?” Whatever your answer, you should check out this template for rainbow paper pumpkins, along with this tutorial blog post. These make a beautiful, refined, seasonal table setting, they’ll look great for all of Autumn, not jus Halloween. A Thanksgiving comeback, anyone?

orange, gold, and yellow paper pumpkins on a table setting.

If you’re in a pinch and looking for quick decorations, don’t forget this post about last minute Halloween decor!

Easy Halloween Costume Ideas

There’s something to be said for a super intricate, detailed costume for sure. But even if you don’t have the time and energy to become a perfectly accurate storm trooper, dressing up doesn’t have to be out of your reach. Lots of our costume templates just require some simple clothing, some paper, and a prop or two. No professional costuming degree necessary!

Our Ruth Bader Ginsberg collar is maybe our simplest costume for adults. Just cut it out (a cricut or other cutting machine is helpful here), put it over a dark dress, and pull your hair back. Voilà! You’re ready to advocate for your sisters.

A white paper lace collar on a black background.

If you’ve been a Lars reader for more than about a minute you’ll know that I love flowers. So of course I wanted to dress up as a bouquet! Ha! Practice making some paper flowers for this Sweet Pea Paper Flower Bouquet costume (and read the tutorial here).

Brittany wearing a bouquet costume with paper flowers and a white paper wrapper against a green backdrop

Group costumes are always so fun, so pair your bouquet costume with greenhouse garb for a friend! This greenhouse costume uses cardboard and iron-on flowers, and is sure to turn heads. You can find the tutorial here. Speaking of group costumes, you really don’t want to miss our Andy Warhol Campbell’s soup can team costumes, or our Wild Things costumes. They’re some of my favorites, and they’re great for any size group!

a white woman with brown hair wears a green dress with iron on flowers, a greenhouse hat, and yellow clogs. She's holding flowers and a watering can.

Family Costume

Another cute Halloween costume for a pair of friends would be our beehive and picnic costumes. Both use an iron-on technique to make easy halloween costumes that are as cute as a bug. Find the tutorials here.

Brittany wears a gingham red dress with ants ironed onto it and holds a rattan picnic bag. a white woman wearing a yellow dress with iron-on bees, black gloves, a bee headband, and black shoes stands in front of a blue background.

This constellation costume with iron-on stars is absolutely dazzling. Honestly, you might as well break it out all year round because it’s that beautiful.

a blonde woman wearing an off-the-shoulder black jumpsuit with silvers stars all over it, sparkly makeup, and a spangled headband against a periwinkle background

For a subtle Halloween look, just print off our Pumpkin Crown and wear warm autumn tones.

Printable Pumpkin Crown

Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids

Brand new this year are our classic Halloween costumes for kids! We give you options for a witch, bat, and pumpkin. Not only are they simple to make in a pinch, they’re adorable and you’ll be glad you tried them out. One of our most glamorous costumes with templates in the shop is our sun, cloud and rainbow set. This makes a great baby and mom costume, because you can add sun rays to a baby bonnet. I love how our model matched the baby’s outfit to her sling! With this costume you can invest as much or as little as you want. Just want the Sun and Rainbow headpiece? No problem. What about the Cloud Bag and Cloud Earrings? Done. Just want a sunny baby bonnet pattern? Your wish is our command. Make the costume just how you like it with this tutorial.

Rainbow costumeRainbow and sun mommy and me costume

This Giving Tree costume is another easy Halloween idea that you could make in a flash. And who doesn’t want to reference a classic children’s book in their costume? Find the tutorial here.

A mom wearing a green outfit with leaves and holding a felt apple bag stands next to her child in red overalls. They're dressed as the Giving Tree.

If you have a gaggle of children to costume, consider our Three Blind Mice baby costume pattern or our Crayon Hat template. Both are simple to put together and oh so sweet. For more kids costume ideas, see this post!

3 blind mice diy costume for kidsFour kids wearing crayon halloween costumes in orange, red, blue, and green.

Halloween Party Supplies

Even though gathering in big groups for Halloween parties is starting to look less and less likely (again 😔), you can still throw a Halloween party for your family, roommates, or pod! This Halloween Party Suite includes printable invitations, placemats, party tags, and place cards. Talk about easy Halloween ideas!

Halloween themed place cards.

Paper party goods with a halloween theme on a black background. They're orange, yellow, black, white, navy, and peach.

And for a party favor, try these printable poppers or printable Halloween candy gift boxes.

Halloween party poppersPrintable Halloween Candy Gift Box

These Halloween coupons make a fun halloween activity for your family. They’re a great way for parents to get their kids to relinquish some candy in return for fun activities.

halloween coupons in pink, red, blue, and black.

These illustrated Halloween cards are another great party favor because you can attach them to treat bags, trade them, send them as cards, or just hang them up.

Printable Halloween Cards

If your party is more freaky than funky, you might like this elegant invitation and Halloween dinner menu.

black and white illustrated halloween party invitation in a black decorative hadn surrounded by foliage and fruitsBlack and floral printable halloween menu

Party Food

Real talk here: what’s a party without cake? Use these printables and templates to make your Halloween cake extra fancy. The Spooky Town printable cake topper set is quaint and just a bit creepy, while this Black Birds cake topper is decidedly Hitchcock-approved. Red velvet cake makes it even more dramatic!

a colorful, cute printable cake topper set on a cake."The Birds" Cake Topper

If your fall party isn’t so Halloween-specific (or even if it is!) this Fall Leaf cake topper will add elegance and fun to the celebration.

DIY fall leaf cake topper

More Inspiration

Looking for more cards, costumes, and decor? Search for Halloween on our blog! You’ll be blown away by the years of great, easy Halloween ideas and DIYs. If you’re interested in many of these ideas (who wouldn’t be!?), you can check out our E-Book, The Halloween that Lars Made. It’s a one-stop shop for easy Halloween ideas, DIYs, and projects. Also, for more festive ideas check out this post on how to get into the Halloween spirit this year!

Classic Halloween Costumes

Witch, Bat and Pumpkin

One of the main requisites of these classic Halloween costumes is simplicity. Of course we love a good elaborate Halloween costume, but sometimes there’s just not time for that. We purposefully designed these three Halloween costumes with that in mind. Some of them do require a bit of sewing, but just simple, straight lines that even the most beginner of sewists can handle. And if you’re not ready for sewing? You’re in luck. Our bat costume can be made with safety pins and staples alone, no sewing required.

Comfy and Cozy

One Halloween back in elementary school, I decided I wanted to be a crayon. I made this amazing costume out of a rolled up piece of poster board, decorated it and wore it to school. The only problem was that I didn’t think about sitting down or moving. I was a little robot all day, tottering around in this big tube that wouldn’t allow me to sit down or run around and play. Eventually I just took it off and people had to guess what I was based on my little sweatsuit alone. Not a dream for a child who loved the costume aspect of Halloween.

I’ve since learned from my crayon Halloween costume experience. We designed these three classic Halloween costumes with your child’s mobility in mind! They can bend, jump and play freely, all while being clearly identifiable as a witch, bat or pumpkin. That said, here’s how to make all three of our classic Halloween costumes:

How to Make a Witch Costume

Materials:

Witch templates, Black poster board, Black fabric (we used a linen/viscose blend–it has the look of linen, but is much cheaper), Black ribbon (1” and ½” wide), a knobbly stick, twine, and raffia.

Hat

  1. Using the hat template, cut out the hat in black poster board.
  2. Next, roll up the half circle so it’s a cone. The rounded edge will be the bottom edge of the cone.
  3. Now, use a pair of scissors to clip the bottom of the hat all the way around with ½” cuts.
  4. Fold the cuts out and tape or glue the rim of the hat onto them, so they’re hidden underneath.
  5. Last, tie the 1” wide black ribbon around the hat into a bow.

Dress

  1. First, cut out the front and back of the dress, using the template provided. You can shrink or enlarge the template based on your child’s size.
  2. Next, hem the bottom and sides of both the front and back.
  3. Now, for both front and back, fold the top over twice and sew down to make a casing. Insert a ribbon into each casing, leaving enough slack on each side to tie bows.
  4. Last, sew ribbon onto the sides, as shown in the photos. There should be one on each side of the front and back so they can tie together.

Broom

  1. The broom is simple! To make it, bundle the raffia around one end of the stick and bind in place with some twine.
  2. Done!

To embellish the costume, wear a simple black dress, black tights and black boots or mary janes.

How to Make a Bat Costume

Materials:

Bat templates, Faux fur, Black ribbon (1” and ½” wide), Black cardstock, cardboard box (use an old shipping box), black and white acrylic paint, black webbing strap, adjustable strap hardware (optional), Stapler/staples, glue stick, Scissors, craft knife.

Body

  1. For the body, cut out the template shape for both front and back.
  2. Then, add ribbon to the top two corners of front and back.
  3. Now add ribbon to the sides of both front and back (they should be positioned to tie at the waist). To add ribbon, you can either sew or safety-pin the ribbon on. It’s your preference!

Wings

  1. First, cut out two of the wings template. They should mirror each other. Tape them together at the center and wherever else you need, if you’re using multiple pieces of cardboard put together.
  2. Next, paint the wings on both sides as shown in the photos. Let the paint dry before moving on to the next step.
  3. Last, staple on straps. If desired, you can make them adjustable, as we did. To see how to make them adjustable, see this tutorial.

Feet

  1. First, cut out the feet template using cardboard. Curve the ends of the claws over a bit.
  2. Next, paint the feet as shown in the photos.
  3. When the paint is dry, attach the feet to the shoes with ribbon, elastic, or tape.

Ears

  1. For the ears, cut out two of the ear templates.
  2. Next, fold them together at the slit at the base and tape in place.
  3. Last, cut a length of 1” black ribbon (long enough to tie around your head like a headband) and staple the ears on it.

Nose

  1. Use the nose template provided to cut out the nose pieces. Use the craft knife for the nostril holes.
  2. Next fold the rectangular piece with narrow accordion folds.
  3. Now cut slits along one edge of the rectangular piece you just folded.
  4. Next, fold the slits out and curve the rectangle around the front nose piece and glue in place.
  5. Last, cut off the excess and shape the nose to your face, then tape in place on your face. If you don’t want to tape, you can also tie the nose around your head with string.

How to Make a Pumpkin Costume

Materials

Pumpkin template, Orange linen/viscose fabric, Black fabric scraps or felt (we used scraps from the witch’s outfit), Green ribbon, Orange cardstock, brown cardstock, green pipe cleaners, scotch tape, scissors, and string

Pumpkin

  1. First, cut out the front and back of the pumpkin costume using the template provided. Remember, you can make it smaller or larger depending on the size of your child.
  2. Next, as with the witch, hem the bottom and both sides of front and back, then make a casing for the top edge.
  3. Now feed a ribbon through the top casings of both front and back, leaving some excess at each end to tie bows.
  4. You’ll also need to sew ribbon to the front and back at the waist, with enough slack to tie.
  5. For the face, cut out the template provided in black fabric. 
  6. Then, fold over and iron each piece so the raw edges are hidden, then pin and sew in place. If you don’t want to fold over and iron each piece, you can use felt or something else that won’t fray.
  7. We sewed our face on the pumpkin, but you can also glue it if you don’t want to sew.

Hat

  1. For the hat, cut out the template pieces provided (the “c” shape should be cut out in orange, and the rectangle in brown).
  2. Follow the step photos to see how to assemble. Tape the pieces together to secure.
  3. Now wrap pipe cleaner around a pencil to make a spiral, then poke one end into the pumpkin hat and tape on the inside. We added about four pipe cleaner vines to our pumpkin hat.
  4. Last, tape a piece of string to each side of the hat so it can tie around your child’s chin.
  5. Done!

What did you think of these classic Halloween costumes? Will you use them in a pinch? Drop your comments below!

More Inspiration

Did you love these classic Halloween costumes? You might be interested in our other Halloween costumes! Check out our wild things costumes, mommy and me costumes, and best cardboard costumes. For even more costume inspiration, check out this list of our top 15 favorite costumes! Also see influential women costumes, these costumes made from everyday supplies, and these paper costumes. Short on time? Check out these three last minute Halloween costumes! Looking for a real showstopper? Don’t miss our Tortured Artists, Frida Kahlo, or Medusa costumes.

Mommy and Me Halloween Costumes

Mommy and Me Halloween Costumes

It turns out we have quite a few mommy and me Halloween costumes we’ve made over the years. Here are some of my favorites:

Rainbow and sun mommy and me costume

Picasso and Painting

Russian nesting doll mommy and baby costumeArtist and palette mommy and baby costume

Mushroom and garden gnome baby and mommy costume

Stork and package mommy and baby costume

Other Parent/Child Costumes

While these aren’t strictly mommy and me Halloween costumes, they definitely could be. Also make them into daddy and me, siblings or just whole family costumes! I love that the following costumes are all based off of books, too! What’s your child’s favorite book? Use your imagination and make your own costume based off of one of their favs. 

A mom wearing a paper flower costume and a daughter dressed as a mouse pose in their costumes

A mom wearing a green outfit with leaves and holding a felt apple bag stands next to her child in red overalls. They're dressed as the Giving Tree.

Group Costumes

These group costumes work great for friends, family, siblings, grandparents, you name it. Do you need multiple matching costumes? Here are our favorites.

family costume where the wild things are

Family Costume

Baby/Kid Costumes

Sometimes mommy and me Halloween costumes are more accurately just baby/kid costumes with mommy tagging along. If you’re more interested in dressing up your little one than yourself this year, we’ve got you covered. Because we all know there’s nothing cuter and more hilarious than your kid dressed up as, say…Jared Leto and his head or a viking. Sometimes those costumes just stand alone.

Oscar Tribute baby costumes

More Inspiration

Loved this mommy and me Halloween costumes post and want more? For more costume inspiration, check out this list of our top 15 favorite costumes! Also see influential women costumes, these costumes made from everyday supplies, and these paper costumes. Short on time? Check out these three last minute Halloween costumes! Looking for a real showstopper? Don’t miss our Tortured Artists, Frida Kahlo, or Medusa costumes.

Are you scared of color?

Do you love color? But also terrified of it?!

As far as I can remember, I’ve always loved color. I even remember sitting around a campfire circle my first week of college sharing the cockles of our hearts with some new friends. What did I share? “I love color, no like you don’t understand, I really love color”. Ha! I guess I had an inkling even then!

But growing up I didn’t know what color meant to me nor how it could be a part of my life. I mean, how could I? I was still experimenting. Really wish I could find some high school photos to illustrate this story, but here we are:

Brittany Jepsen on her bed sewing a dress in a colorful room

Fail: Painting my high school bedroom

Once, in high school, I really wanted to paint my all-white room. Sound familiar? I had my great grandmother’s antique wood bedroom set that’s very lovely, just dark and rather Victorian looking. There wasn’t too much in there that indicated my personality. My mom was really into periwinkle at the time and I thought it would be a good choice for the walls. I remember nothing about the process of selecting the color or putting it on but on it went and the more it went the more TERRIFIED I got. I couldn’t imagine being surrounded by it all the time.

We didn’t get too much farther when called it the whole thing off. I was Color Scared! Surely, I would suffocate in all that color! An unfinished painted periwinkle room was left for the rest of my high school experience–didn’t bother to change it back.

Brittany holding colorful paper in a rainbow dress.

Color Scared Diagnosis

In hind sight, the Color Scare Diagnosis was because of the unknown. I didn’t know what it was going to look like in the end and I certainly had no idea what it was going to look like with posters or artwork on the walls. It would have been THE BOMB (in true 90s high school fashion).

Fast forward about ten years to I’m living in Washington, DC in a small house with 3 roommates after graduating college. My roommate really wanted to paint our kitchen a dark green. I had never done anything so drastic and was SURE that dark green was NOT a good choice. It was going to be too dark and blegh! I had been living in college apartments where we couldn’t do anything to the apartment besides sticky tack and posters and colorful duvet covers. She did one coat of paint and I just about lost it. I was…

COLOR SCARED!

But then she put up a poster in lovely reds and yellows and blacks and all of a sudden it looked…well, lovely! She had the foresight (and maybe the experience) to know that it was going to work out.

Living in a rental with color–don’t be scared!

Many many years later, when Paul and I were living in our rental apartment together, I said “to heck with it all!” I’m not waiting to own a house before I make this my home. I had no idea how long it would be before we owned a house, but life can’t wait just because of contracts. SO, I cleared it with our landlord and we put up floral wallpaper, pinks walls, and painted murals (remember?! You can see it all here).

learning to use color in your rental apartment

Jasper and I have been reading a lot of Aesop’s Fables lately so, the moral of this color-scared story is:

  1. Do not wait to live life for that “one day” when all your conditions are perfect. Warning: conditions will never be perfect!
  2. When in doubt, keep on going! You won’t know what a room will look like if you don’t finish it (but I do have some stories of when you need to stop–ha! Did that just negate that point?!)
  3. The more you experiment, the more comfortable and confident you will become. And paint is one of the cheapest ways to experiment! $40 is worth the risk to see if your life will change (and yes, I contest that color can change your life!).

Tell me. Do you love color? But also terrified of it? Don’t know how to use it? Tell me everything! 

DIY Pencil Case

30 Minute Pencil Case

I’m not exaggerating when I say this pencil case is super quick to make. Seriously, it took me 30 minutes to knock out one of these babies–easy enough that it made me want to make 3 more colorways (which I did, of course). I couldn’t resist, I had to try out the new designs in our Spoonflower shop! The nice thing, too, is that you can just order a fat quarter and it’s plenty to make multiple pencil cases. 

How to Make a DIY Pencil Case

Here’s how to make your own DIY pencil case:

Prepping the Fabric

  1. First, order the fabric. As I mentioned above, we used our Spoonflower designs: blue windowpane, pink windowpane and this retro rainbow stripe. A fat quarter is a sufficient quantity. You can use a variety of fabrics, so use the one that you like most. We used petal signature cotton.
  2. Once your fabric arrives, don’t forget to prewash!
  3. When your fabric is washed and dried, iron it out nice and flat.
  4. Now, cut two pieces of fabric that are 11”x 6” each.

Sewing the Zipper

To sew the zipper, follow the instructions outlined in the pencil case template.

Assembling Your DIY Pencil Case

With the zipper in place, you’re now ready to assemble the rest of the pencil case!

  1. To assemble the case, with right sides together, sew around the remaining three sides of the two fabric pieces. Sew as close to both ends of the zipper opening as you can. Leave the zipper partially open so you can flip it right side out after.
  2. Finish the seams of the three sides with a zig-zag or overlock stitch.
  3. Now, pull one corner in and press out perpendicular to the side seam. Measure down from the point by 1” and sew along that 1” mark. Repeat for the other corner.
  4. Clip the excess fabric at the corners and finish both those raw edges.
  5. Now you can flip your pencil case right side out and admire!

More Inspiration

Stay tuned for more back-to-school crafts and DIYs coming soon, like this DIY drawstring backpack made from a tote bag! In the meantime, check out some of my favorite back-to-school projects from years past, like this DIY reusable lunch sack or DIY apple lunch sack. Also see these back to school stickers (find them in our shop!) and these creative homeschool activities. And don’t forget to check out these tips for designing the perfect dorm room!

78 Creative Summer Homeschool Activities For Kids

Explore our favorite at-home homeschool activities for your summer creativity!

DIY matisse felt board for kids

Arts & Crafts Kits

Before you start imagining your freshly organized craft drawer getting messed up, DON’T WORRY! These crafts below come with everything your child will need to learn a new skill and make something amazing! All in one tidy kit. We like the sound of that!

What’s on your kid’s schedule today? Become a collage artist, learn how to tie dye, or try your hand at embroidery!

Learn something new over the summer!

Keep homeschooling interested with mixing up the normal subjects! Math isn’t your forte? Now is the perfect time to get your kids excited about new topics like art history, gardening, meteorology, design theory, and more! The resources below will help!

Make homeschool exciting

Though some of you might be loving having your kids at home all the time, trying to find creative ways to help them keep learning over the summer might not be going as well as you had hoped. Below are some helpful tools to keep their math and geography knowledge as sharp as ever until they go back to school in the fall. Because as easy as it is to plop your kids down to watch an endless amount of movies over the summer, it’s definitely not ideal for their cognitive development. These ideas will still give you the breather you need, but will also give your kids productive and stimulating ways to spend their time that don’t involve a screen.

Books

Favorite creative books for kids during quarantine

Need some screen-free entertainment to hand out? Your kids could be quite the bookworms by the end of the summer! Here are some of our favorites:

rainbow toys and activities for kids of all ages

Keep your hands busy and your mind clear!

We’ll say it again for the people in the back – KEEP YOUR HANDS BUSY. We promise it will help. If you have already finished all the puzzles at your house, these puzzles and games will keep you busy for a while!

Get outside!

Have you heard of the game Kubb before? It’s an ancient Scandinavian yard game that, legend has it, kept the Vikings entertained for hours. We feel you Vikings–it’s definitely been keeping us entertained for the past few weeks! Buy your own set here and play with the entire family!

More Resources

Loved this post on summer homeschool activities and need more kid-friendly things to do this summer? Try this DIY custom puzzle, fusible plastic bags, and be sure to check out this compilation of kids activities.