Embroidered Sugar Skulls

Happy (belated) Dia de Los Muertos! I made this sugar skull embroidery pattern for the holiday and just had to share it! You can find out how to make some of your own great sugar skull embroidery patterns here.

To stitch your own sugar skull you will need:

Fabric of your choosing
A variety of embroidery flosses (I prefer bright colors for these)
needle
scissors
embroidery hoop
transfer pen

You can use the above pattern that I created, or make one of your own using the templates on my Sugar Skull Embroidery Pattern post. Once you are satisfied with your pattern, use an embroidery transfer pen to trace it onto your fabric. Then stitch away in the colors of your choosing.

I found these neat glow in the dark threads online and ordered some to weave in with my embroidery floss. I'll be honest, the pink didn't work at glowing nearly as well as the green or white, so in the future I'd probably leave it out, but it was fun to try something new!. This would also be a great project to experiment with adding small beads (you could even get small strands of beads and use the couching technique to stitch your patterns with them!).

Happy November!

Make Your Own Sugar Skull Embroidery Patterns

This time of year isn't just for Halloween. For all those of you who celebrate Dia De Los Muertos, here is a great tutorial with templates to create your own sugar skull embroidery patterns.

Materials needed:

Pencil
paper
Printed out templates. Or you can use your favorite photo editing software to make patterns on your computer.

Start with a skull outline from the template below and you will be well on your way to creating your pattern:

Next, add in your eyes, nose mouth and any additional decoration. Here are some templates you can use, but feel free to draw extra embellishments yourself:

Many times sugar skulls have floral eyes, so there are several here to choose from, add in any extra swirls, etc you want, just try to keep your pattern from being too difficult with tiny details. Here is my finished pattern:

Then, start stitching! I will be working on this later this week and sharing it on the blog when I am finished. Happy Stitching :)

I will be using these neat Glow in The Dark Threads I found to add some extra wow factor to mine, you can sew with them on their own or blend them into other threads :)

Dia De Los Muertos Votives

Here is a quick little votive holder project for Dia De Los Muertos. I used some ceramic paints to make a skull and some embellishments on this votive holder. Sadly, the paint is a little streaky. I have been meaning to get some ceramic paint pens and try those out. I think for detailed things like this they would probably be best.

Here is a shot with done with a flash so you can see the details a little better:

Also, don't forget to go to my Sugar Skull Masks post and enter in the awesome book giveaway!

Sugar Skull Masks

I hope you are all enjoying Dia De Los Muertos. I was inspired by the holiday to take this gorgeous piece of scrap book paper and turn it into a paper sugar skull mask. It is super easy, all of the hard work of decorating was done by the paper for the most part, all I needed to add were facial features. Now, to add ribbons so it ties on, or to put it on a popsicle stick?

I used some old newspaper to make my skull shape template, it only took a couple tries to get a shape I was satisfied with. After that, just cut your shape out of the decorative paper of your choice and embellish with anything else you might like!


As many of you know, I was planning on having two giveaways on the blog in October. Sadly, I was not feeling well for a little over a week, so a lot of blog plans suffered along the way. To make up for it, I am adding a giveaway on to this post! It is extra special as you get to CHOOSE what prize you get! What am I giving away? Your choice of ONE of these 3 fabulous books:




Miette




Cakespy presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar Filled Life


OR



Modern Blocks




All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post stating which book you would prefer and why. Winner will be selected at random and announced on November 8th. All entries must be received by 9pm PST on November 7th. Good luck! This giveaway is sponsored by me, myself and I. Due to shipping costs, etc. this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. One entry per person please.


This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Lynley! Please contact me at craftinomicon@gmail.com with a mailing address to claim your prize. Thank you all who participated.