Owls find fall (or leaves)

With Halloween practically upon us, many (okay, so maybe just me) are already focusing on that next Holiday, Turkey Day! Personally, I don't really get into the spirit of fall until after Halloween, and I love the chaotic weather, breezes and falling leaves that November usually brings. (though this year it seems the weather's started early!)

Prayingforfall put together this Owlsfinds list celebrating fall. Enjoy!

Hootables!

We're launching Hootables, an Etsy Owls gift collection. Need a holiday gift? Check out Hootables for a series of beautiful gifts and items. We've just set up today, so stay tuned for the pretties!

Hooters Promotion Club (HPC)

The HPC (Hooters Promotion Club) was an idea crafted by AndreaTedford that would focus on promoting one person at a time in a spotlight fashion. We ran a round of this back in the summer where each member who signed up had a week worth of promoting!

This time, we decided to do it a bit quicker, so each person who signed up gets two days. This weekend, the HPC'er is Bumblebirch. Love yarn?  (I'm drooling...)  Check out her Yarn and Tea club! Also available in smaller portions sans tea.

Other HPC'ers that have been featured so far this round are:

Zemphira makes gorgeous fabric creations, everything from coffee cup cozies to craft aprons to adorable plush owlies like this little guy here:

Weiopensecret feature a wide variety of accessories, including these ChooChoo the Owl luggage tags.

Chester the Jerboa from Inkypaws is just dying to go home with you. Isn't he adorable?

Squarejane was our first HPC'er this round, and she's made of awesome. And so is Maggie.

Stay tuned for weekly updates on the Owls being featured in the HPC, and you can always see the current Owl being highlighted by looking at the Etsy Mini on the top-right of the blog. We'll be featuring different Owls every few days throughout October and November.

Owls Find Masks!

It's the masquerade season, everyone needs a good disguise! Here are some owlfinds picks from prayingforfall. Get incognito and get out there!

Everyone needs a fake beard. Everyone. Herflyinghorses is here to help with these cute felt beards.

Flapperdashery brings unique into the masquerade scene with this smoking flapper girl mask. Yes indeed, she's smoking!

Don't get cheeky, get even! Myredboots has the answer with this vintage mask.

Looking for that piece to complete your grasshopper costume? TomBanwell has this gorgeous and artistic grasshopper mask just for you!

Go Evil with this OOAK Obsidian mask from che4u

Owls Find Halloween Costumes!

PrayingforFall has put together this lovely OwlFinds list for those of you out there still looking for that perfect Halloween costume.

Keep it funky with this Hulk Hogan costume from Thrills

Got Gnomes? You could have one of your very own with this adorable child's gnome costume from Uniquery

For you sushi lovers out there, Sushibooties makes it possible for you to bring your pooch along to that Halloween event! Sushi Dog Costume

Go Corpse Bride with this gown from axoloti

Feeling too lazy to dress up but want boatloads of candy? Buttonhead has the perfect solution for you.

Tutorial: Go Steampunk with MabJewelry

This blog entry was also posted on mabjewelry's own blog , go check her out there. You can also find her on Twitter and, of course, on Etsy! Enjoy your adventures into steampunk, and as always, be careful with the glue!!!


Okay, guys, welcome to my first tutorial: How to make your own steampunk pendant or charm. It's not all that difficult. You just need the right stuff and a lot of creativity and patience. If you can make a collage, you can make one of these cool little guys.

So, you'll need some watch guts, parts and innards, including cogs, sprockets, gears, and other delightfully little shiny bits. Please see my giant pile of said guts pictured above. I know, I know, it's excessive, but I have an addiction, and I'm working through it. I didn't get all of them available in the free market, so they can still be found.

One tip: Do not smash open a modern watch. Most of the innards are plastic, unfortunately. I learned this the hard way. But you can still use the casing if it's pretty, as well as the clock face, from a dead modern watch.

Other stuff you'll need:

• The blanks or settings that you'll use as the base of your pendant or charm. Here are four examples. You can pick these up anywhere anymore. Some metals do not like some brands of glue, and the metal will turn white upon contact with the glue. You won't know until you try it, unfortunately.

• Some kind of serious glue--I use Gorilla Glue in the super glue tube. Trust me, it will glue anything to anything forever. Beware, it will glue watch parts to your fingers, and your fingers to anything, including your lip. Ouch.
• A styrofoam plate and paper towels. It's just the easiest way to do it.

• Toothpicks, to smear and smudge the glue around, and to move itty bitty pieces into the right spot, thus decreasing the chance of gluing those pieces to your own skin. I get mine for free from the restaurants I frequent. Thank you, restauranteurs!

One last important supply: Junior Mints, or the nom nom of your choice. Crafting is difficult and intense work. If you're like me, and sit hunched over for three hours at a time, it's good to preplan some kind of sustenance to keep your energy up. Cheetos are not so wise, as they tend to leave a bright, toxic orange film all over things. Also, make sure not to glue the Junior Mint to your hand. Seriously. It happens.
Okay, poke through your watch guts and find some larger pieces that you want to use. It's easier to get the larger bits glued on first, and then go from there. Put a small amount (yes, I always get a little carried away) of your glue on the setting in the spot where you want the watch bit to go. Smudge it around with the end of a toothpick, to get a fairly even layer of glue.
This will help you get even adherence, and also help to keep glue from globbing out around the sides of the watch piece in an unsightly way.
Be careful where you place the gluey toothpick. It will stick to the carpet, your bead board or the cat. Honestly.
Put the watch bit on top of the glue and press down firmly. It will stick. This glue is no joke. A friend of mine fixed her roof shingles with this glue.
Glue the larger pieces on where they fit on your setting in a design that pleases you. I just kind of wing it.
After you get the larger parts glued on, add some medium-sized parts wherever you want them.
I sometimes layer the medium-sized ones in over the larger ones, and always mix gold and silver, shiny and matte. Just glue on whatever makes you happy however it makes you happy. There are no rules, and that's why this is wonderful.
Remember, Gorilla Glue is pretty unforgiving, so, if you let something set on it for more than a few seconds, you'll have a heck of a time scooting it.
Now, fill in empty spaces with the teeny tiny, itsy bitsy pieces. Use a toothpick to move these little bits into the desired spaces. It's also fun to drop miniscule pieces into the carpet so your vacuum will have something to do the next time you run it.
Add where you want to. It's easier to glue pieces with flat backs or bottoms. Leave blank space where you want blank space. When it reaches the point where you're happy with it, you're finished. The hardest part for me is knowing when I'm done and not just gluing five pounds of stuff to the setting. Usually, it just looks complete.
I leave the pieces to dry overnight, on top of the entertainment center, because that's the only place the cat will not jump. Then, string them with beads, hang them from chain, do what you do.
As for the Junior Mints, you can eat them throughout this activity, or save them until the end, as a reward for your creativity and hard work.
So, making your own steampunk pendant--it's that easy.

October Challenge Winner!

The results were close, but we have a winner!!

Congrats to Squarejane for rockin' the October challenge! Total votes were 58, and 16 of those went to the poo! Prayingforfall came in a close second with 12 votes, trailed by Ickydogcreations with 11 votes, and mabjewelry and blackcatmima with 9 votes.
You have won the eternal glory of being awesome, and well, there are all sorts of poo jokes I could make here....

Stick with us, audience, as we get closer to our November challenge, Holiday season excitement and the fantastic deals that come with it! We're also working on getting our blog back up and running daily, so we hope you'll come read it! Yes, come read it!

October's Halloween Challenge!

The rules were simple:

You can wear it or carry it while Trick or Treating. We had 7 willing entrants, and some great stuff (as usual!).

You can check out everyone's Etsy listings by clicking below, and please VOTE for your favorite by using the poll on the left. Voting will last for one week and will end next Monday.

BlackCatMima
Hollystott
IckyDogCreations
Mabjewelry
PrayingforFall
RusticRainbow
Squarejane

An Etsy Owls Halloween

Yep, yep! It's that time of year again! To celebrate one of our favorite holidays, we're having a Halloween challenge, how exciting! That'll be posted tomorrow, but for today, we're going to share some of our Halloween love. Anyone want to help us figure out what Figaro should be for Halloween?

Deck out your accessories with this Ipod case from gadgetgear

Whoever thought Frankenstein wasn't cute had no idea, did they? Get Frankie by Lalala08 to complete your Halloween look!

Keep your coffee/tea warm while you take the kiddos out for Trick or Treat with this Halloween Cozy from Zemphira.

Got Steak? Squarejane does, and you could have some too! Dare to be rare this Halloween!

Burrowing Owls - Halloween Owls

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought it appropriate to share some of the wonderful Halloween inspired owls on Etsy! There are too many to choose from, but here is a sample.

sarada - Owl Painting

Harker - BOOtiful bag

blackbirdfolkart - Owl treat bowl

EeirieEmporium - Owl wall hanging

pastelly - Halloween Owl

JMcGuinness - Beware the Pumpkins greeting card