Free Primitive Andy Frankenstein E-Pattern For Halloween Decorating Fun

With Halloween coming up in the Fall I thought you might like to create an adorable Primitive Andy Frankenstein doll.  Don't worry. He won't scare anyone.

So, don't be frightened. He won't harm you. He's no scary Frankenstein! 

In fact, he's basically harmless. He might be a "Frankenstein" in essence or appearance, but he considers himself just another "primitive."

Primitive Andy Frankenstein has a coffee stained cloth body and embroidered face with black bead eyes. He's wearing a coffee stained and fringed shirt with 3/4 length sleeves and large tattered and fringed pants with patches. 

He's also sporting a wool felt vest with patches. He has a small tattered ribbon tied around his neck, and wild black cut hair along the sides and top of his head. Old buttons are used for his head bolts and raffia is tied on his legs and feet for his raggedy stripes.

"Primitive Andy Frankenstein" just loves the fact that he's coffee stained throughout. Why? Because it provides him with a wonderful tan on his face and a wonderful aroma everywhere he goes. 

In fact, other primitives often ask where he got his "coffee glow" and his "coffee aroma." 

Primitive Andy Frankenstein just boasts "My Linda" gave it to me. She's wonderful. 

Primitive Andy Frankenstein might look like a regular Frankenstein, but he knows better. He knows he's a "not scary" and that makes him special.

Please note: My free e-pattern shows you how to make a 15" primitive Frankenstein doll.  The chair that is pictured is not included in the directions.

To view and download my free e-pattern please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-pattern. Then just download my free .pdf e-pattern. 

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

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Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

My New Mixed Media Paper Doll Witch and Frankenstein

 

I had so much fun with creating my mixed media paper doll for the ""BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE.... LET’S GET BUSY ON THE DOUBLE" swap I decided to make another mixed media paper doll for myself.

Now, if you know me, you have to know that "moderation" in creating is not in my vocabulary. When I'm  creating I usually create several different items or more than I really should.  This time I restrained myself and created just one additional Halloween mixed media paper doll.

I wonder if this is the new me - nah....... lol 

It's just a singular aboration..... lol

However, the paper doll I created entered up being both a witch and a Frankenstein so you could say I created two more mixed media paper dolls....lol

I wanted this design to be a sceptical witch and friendly Frankenstein standing in front of a witch's brewing pot.  Even though the Frankenstein was friendly I decided to have him hold two bloody heads ready to go in the pot.

Given the width of this creation I decided it would be easier to not make this duo with articulated arms and legs. All of the layers would be fixed.  

Given how much I love mixed media, I decided this duo would have several embellishments, paper flowers, several different types of fibers, ribbons, chipboard stickers, paper graphic images and various scrapbook papers.

I already had an idea for my witch and Frankenstein "paper dollie's" faces. 

As you know my biggest weakness when it comes to my dolls are painting and drawing the faces.  I can't seem to keep my hands from shaking when I have to paint tiny little details, like the face of a paper doll would be.  So, I decided to use two graphic image faces I had designed years ago for one of my witch e-patterns and one of my Frankenstein e-patterns.

I already had the graphic design faces in my computer so I would be able to easily re-size them to fit my "paper dollie" heads. 

I also decided to use one of my own ghost digital images, as well as several of the  heads that I created for one of my ghost e-patterns years ago. I figured they would be a cute addition to the witch's brewing pot that for this design.  After all - what's a witch's brewing pot without a few heads....lol 

With all those ideas in mind I set about to design the two bodies and the front and back of their costumes.  

I wasn't as concerned with the back of this duo as I wanted them to hang on the wall in my farmer's porch bathroom for the Halloween holiday season.  Since no one was going to see the back I decided to just finish their backs with the same scrapbook papers I would be using on the front of their outfits.

I'm still thinking about a name for this scary duo but I'm working on it.  For now they are hanging on the wall in the bathroom.

I hope you like the way they turned out.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

My Haunted Mansion - Mill Hill Cross-stitch # MH14-1204

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays for crafting and decorating.  I love decorating my home with all sorts of Halloween creatures and pictures.  I don't have a lot of Halloween cross-stitch pictures so when I saw the Haunted Mansion Mill Hill #MH14-1204 cross-stitch kit I wasn't surprised that I was drawn to.  Haunted mansion, ghosts, Frankenstein, cross-stitch - what's not to love!

The Haunted Mansion Mill Hill #MH14-1204 pattern uses full cross-stitch and straight stitch highlighting as well as beads of various sizes for emphasis and depth. The Mill Hill patterns usually call for certain areas of the perforated paper to be left untouched like the background or border. In this case they were leaving sections of the light blue perforated paper border untouched.

In embroidering the cross-stitch I decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of my perforated paper to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts, but without bending the perforated  paper. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I used for this 5.25 x 5.25 square design.

I had learned from previous mistakes that I needed to draw diagonal lines to locate the exact center of the perforated paper as in previous perforated paper cross-stitch picture I have done the picture was slightly off center by a few holes which caused a problem with inserting the needles in the holes along one of the edges of my frame. So, I lightly drew a diagonal line across each corner with a pencil to get the center point of the perforated paper.

A lot of the cross-stitch 5.25" by 5.25" pictures I have made were finished in small 6 1/2" by 6 1/2" shadowbox frames with 5" by 5" openings that I had gotten at Michaels when they went on sale one year.  I used up all the shadowbox frames I had gotten previously and have been looking for them ever since and hadn't been able to find that size again.

I did, however, find some 7" x 7" by 1 1/2" shadow  box frames with a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" opening at Michaels last year and bought a few white ones and black ones when they were on sale.  I was hoping to use one of the black ones with this project.

The directions did not include any instruction for finishing the back.  I decided to finish mine with thin adhesive press-board paper.  I used an 8" by 10" Pres-On sheet that I cut 6" by 6"with kitchen scissors to fit my picture.  The shadow box came with a padded velvet sheet glued to the rigid back of the shadow box frame which was about 1/4" thick.  My cross-stitch picture glued to the thin adhesive press-board paper was about 1/8" thick so I knew this would be a good fit once I removed the black velvet padding fabric that had been glued to the rigid back of the shadowbox.

After adhering my cross-stitch picture to the 6" by 6" thin adhesive press-board paper I inserted it into the back of the frame and then inserted the 6" by 6" rigid back that came with the frame over it. The shadow box frame came with 8 metal clips to hold the rigid back inside the frame which I secured.  The press-board fit perfectly and was the right depth for the shadow box frame.

The pattern called for a blue colored wooden frame and for the border of the perforated paper to be left untouched like the picture shown below:

Personally, I don't like the dark blue perforated paper as I find it hard to count the holes and follow along as to where you are on your cross-stitch.    Since I always finish the background of all my cross-stitch pictures I decided to stitch my picture on the lighter brown colored side of the perforated paper.

However, I don't like seeing the perforated sections of the paper for the border as I think it makes the cross-stitch picture look unfinished and opted instead to finish the border with blue colored #3750 DMC embroidery floss sewn as a half cross-stitch using four strands of the floss. For the areas left blank within the picture I opted instead to finish them with blue colored #3750 DMC embroidery floss sewn as a half cross-stitch using two strands of the floss

The pattern called for some outlining.  Give I was putting this in a shadowbox I thought certain sections of the collage would benefit from some additional outlining so I decided to add more definition as follows:

1)  The pattern called for certain sides of some of the windows to be outlined.  I opted to outline all sides of all the windows instead.
2)  The pattern did not call for any outlining around the house.  I opted to back-stitch outline around all sides of the house using two strands of the dark gray floss.
3)  The pattern did not call for any outlining on the tree.  I opted to use two strands of the brown floss and back-stitch outlined along all sides of the tree and branches.
4)  The pattern did not call for any outlining definition around the roof of the house.  I opted to use two strands of the medium blue gray floss and back-stitch outlined the sides of all the roofs.

The pattern also called for a certain amount of beading within the grass, leaves, and trees.  I opted to use more beads in both the grass and leaves, as well as up within the tree.

While the end results of this design were wonderful some things in the kit and in the instructions could be improved upon so I'd like to offer the following constructive suggestions:

The cross-stitch chart was in black and white as was the floss color code and symbol key. Both were easy to read and very clear. While I had no problem with the chart and keys I did have a problem with the way the DMC floss was presented. All of the floss was tied together in one big knot so you had to separate the floss pieces yourself, sort them, and try to interpret which color belonged to which floss # and symbol key on the color chart.

If you only have a few colors to deal with this isn't a problem. However, if you have several different colors to choose from that are close in color then interpreting the chart can be tricky. You may assign the wrong color to the wrong symbol if the colors are too closely aligned. The key code chart should have contained the number of strands that were included in the kit so I would know how many strands I had for the different floss colors.

As I have done with other cross-stitch kits I've completed I had to design my own thread color sorter and symbol key. I took a piece of thin cardboard and cut a 1" x 9" long rectangular piece out to use as a thread sorter. I then punched holes in my cardboard strip in which to tie each of the different colors. Just above the hole I wrote the DMC floss # and just below the hole I added the respective cross-stitch symbol. I then inserted the floss threads that went with that # and symbol through the hole and tied them in a loose knot. This kit could be much improved if a thread sorter with respective #'s and symbols was provided.

The beads were contained within three small ziploc bags which was fine. The chart had footnote symbols to help distinguish which beads were within which bag.

My results with the totally finished background, border and frame is shown below:

Despite the relatively small issues I had encountered with the kit I was happy with the way my Haunted Mansion turned out.

As always, my comments are meant to be constructive to enable future purchasers to benefit from my experience and to enhance their ability to create a wonderful little cross-stitch design.

Primitive Andy Frankenstein

Don't be frightened. He won't harm you. He's no scary Frankenstein! In fact, he's basically harmless.
He might be a "Frankenstein" in essence or appearance, but he considers himself just another "primitive."

Primitive Andy Frankenstein has a coffee stained cloth body and embroidered face with black bead eyes. He's wearing a coffee stained and fringed shirt with 3/4 length sleeves and large tattered and fringed pants with patches. He's also sporting a wool felt vest with patches. He has a small tattered ribbon tied around his neck, and wild black cut hair along the sides and top of his head. Old buttons are used for his head bolts and raffia is tied on his legs and feet for his raggedy stripes.

"Primitive Andy Frankenstein" just loves the fact that he's coffee stained throughout. Why? Because it provides him with a wonderful tan on his face and a wonderful aroma everywhere he goes. In fact, other primitives often ask where he got his "coffee glow" and his "coffee aroma." Primitive Andy Frankenstein just boasts "My Linda" gave it to me. She's wonderful. Primitive Andy Frankenstein might look like a regular Frankenstein, but he knows better. He knows he's a "Primitive" and that makes him special.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

My Favorite BIG Halloween Dolls - YIKES! They're Scary! Or Are They?

Second to the Fall season as one of my favorite times to create and decorate is Halloween. I don't know why I like making witches, goblins, Frankenstein's, ghosts, mummies, and Dracula's, but I do. That's surprising as if I really saw one I'd probably have a heart attack. And, I cannot watch scary movies. Go figure! But, I do like to create them and the bigger the better.

So, I thought I'd show you pictures of some of my favorite BIG Halloween dolls and wood crafts that I made to decorate my house during the holiday season.

First, there is "You're Scary? You've Got To Be Kidding, Frankenstein!" I named him this way due to the expression on his face and his general "lack" of scariness. He couldn't scare a mouse let alone a human. But, every Halloween I put him in my hall with his own spotlight focused right on him for all the trick or treater's to see when they come trick or treating.

He stands 48" tall and is one of the BIGGEST dolls that I made. He was made based on a Tattered Treasures design.

He has a 3/4" thick pine wood body, painted green Frankenstein shaped head with bolts sticking out of the sides. He's wearing an old shirt of my husbands, and his wood legs are painted to look like plaid trousers. He has 4x4 cubes for his massive feet and a solid wood base. His vest is painted wood.

He's carrying a painted wood sign that says "Monster Mash! Trick or Treat!" and he's carrying a large rubber bat.

He also has a splattering of red blood everywhere and is adorned with raffia bows and tattered cloth. And, of course, he has the Frankenstein surgery scars everywhere. Maybe the red blood might scare some children, but his face surely wouldn't.

My next scary or should I say non-scary Halloween doll is a Frankenstein that thinks that he is being pledged to a fraternity. He's not, but he thinks he is. I'm not sure what is going on inside his head, but he thinks he's a college student not a Frankenstein. I'm not sure how he gets around campus with his feet the way they are. One facing one direction and the other facing another direction. He definitely can't climb stairs.

He's a 39" Frankenstein made based on a Tenderberry Stitches Design that I named "Pledge Me Frank!"

His body is made of wood and his head is made of cloth. His face is embroidered and he has black bead eyes and curly black hair. Wooden pegs hang out the sides of his head.

Frank is wearing one of my husband's old black sweatshirts and is wearing some of my grandson's old jeans. His thick wool socks were my brothers. That is, until they got holes in them and then became mine. He has the words "My Heart Belongs To You Witchie Poo!" embroidered on the front of his sweatshirt and is carrying a Halloween banner.

There actually is a cute story about Frank. I had decided to take him with me just as a decoration to a local craft show that I was doing at my mother's church one Fall. I had him positioned just outside my table and a little girl about 4 or 5 years old walked by him. He was about her height.

Well, she became fascinated by him and came back a couple of times and just stared and stared at him. She seemed to be fascinated by his feet.

So, I decided to ask her a question. I walked over to her and said, "Do you think there's something wrong with his feet?" She looked at me and shook her head "yes" and then looked at her mother and said, "Mom, can I have my feet like that!" Well, her mother, my mother (who was helping me at the fair) and I all laughed at the same time. Her mother replied, "I don't think so, honey!"

Another one of my favorite BIG Halloween dolls is a 39" mummy that is based on a Tenderberry Stitches design and which I named, "Mummy - Where's My Mummy?" He doesn't reside in our house during the Halloween season, but with my twin grandsons.

Their mother absolutely loved him the minute she saw him and wanted him for a Halloween decoration for the front landing of their house. So, of course, I gave him to her.

She also went home with hundreds of other handmade dolls and wood crafts that day. So much so that they wouldn't all fit in her car. That's another story and one we had a really good laugh over. Suffice to say I just love it when someone loves my handmade dolls & wood crafts enough to want to have them and display them in their homes. That, plus the fact that I was giving them to someone I love makes it all the more special.

In any event, back to "Mummy - Where's My Mummy?" He has a wood dowel body, cloth arms and a cloth head and is carrying a sign that says, "I Want My Mummy!"

His whole body is covered with gauze. Before I made him I figured that two large boxes of gauze would be enough to wrap all of him. Buy, was I wrong. I think my hubby actually bought close to ten boxes of gauze and I used all of it. That became one expensive mummy. Of course, I didn't tell my daughter-in-law that. Her mouth would have dropped at how much he cost to make him.

In any event, after I finished applying all his gauze I added a cloth serpent around his neck, a rubber snake, several patches, and a heart. I also applied several areas of black and gray blush to his whole body as I wanted him to look "dirty." It all had the right effect and I was happy with the way he turned out.

Last, but not least of the BIG Halloween dolls and wood crafts is a woodcraft that is probably one of my all time favorites. I named it "I Just Love The Fall!" and it was made based upon a Rustic Treasures design.

"I Just Love The Fall" is a 25" wide x 30" tall painted 3/4" pine wood craft featuring a large ghost, red barn, cat, fence, stars, and suspended moons.

Both the ghost and cat are wearing bandannas and a mixture of colored raffia is used throughout as decorative accents.

This wood craft usually resides in the dining room fireplace display and stays out for the entire Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving season.

I just happen to like it's rustic and primitive appearance which fits in well with all my other Fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving decorations.

It is definitely one the favorite things I made with my husband. I actually think it's one of his favorites, too.

I hope you've enjoy seeing some of my favorite BIG Halloween Dolls and wood crafts that I use to decorate my home.

Call Me Frank N. Stein Frankenstein Doll

Call Me Frank N. Stein is a free-standing doll who doesn’t mean to be scary. He has a worn, tattered and fringed sash, embroidered and blood-stained vest, gathered long sleeved shirt, square-bottomed pants, long fringed scarf, shaped head with wooden screws and embroidered face. His arms are wire-shaped and covered. He also has a fabric covered head, wild black hair around the sides of his head and a covered rectangular wood base. His inner body is supported by a dowel and is covered by his shirt and square-bottomed pants. He is carrying a “Welcome to Spooky Hollow!” bag. Fringed scraps of Halloween material are tied around his waist and his wrists. He has embroidered scars, blood smears and blood drops all over him.

Call Me Frank N. Stein considers himself to be the "politest" Frankenstein around. In fact, he loves to introduce himself. He's not "Frankenstein!" Why, he's "Frank N. Stein!" A right proper name for a gentleman. Call Me Frank N. Stein is a free-standing doll and doesn't mean to be scary. He can't help it if they run away from him screaming. He does his best to be proper, refined, and respectful at all times. Yet, they still run from him. He has embroidered scars, blood smears and blood drops all over him but those are there for decoration only. They are not meant to be scary. But, no matter what he does he still scares everyone away when he tries to introduce himself. He barely gets "Hi, Call Me Frank N. Stein!" out of his mouth when they start fleeing away.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

They Were Doing The Monster Mash! It Was A Graveyard Smash!

The other day I just had a feeling that the day was not going to be a normally peaceful day.

I don't know why - just a feeling I got.

But, as the morning progressed and nothing strange had happened I started to think the day was going to be okay.

That was foolish on my part.

You see, the day turned out to be anything but normal. It was actually a cool, crisp day to the start of Fall which was a pleasant relief from all the hot, humid days we've been experiencing.

So, hubby and I decided to go for a walk. Since it was so beautiful out we decided to go for a long, leisurely stroll - and that was our mistake!

As we were pulling into the driveway hubby and I got a sense that something wasn't right. The ground was shaking and the house was being rocked off it's foundation.

And, we do mean off its' foundation - hard as that may seem for you to believe.

We looked at each other and said,  "what on heaven's earth is going on?" The house was literally rocking to and fro.

As we gingerly stepped out of the car we realized it couldn't be an earthquake as the ground under our feet wasn't moving - thank goodness for that! But, the house was still rockin to and fro!

YIKES!

And, out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement in the windows. Not just movement in one window - but, all of the windows. As if someone were peeking out the windows and realized too late they had been seen. Now we knew something was going on inside the house.

And, then we heard it - LOUD music.


Not just any music, but the song "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett was playing louder than was acceptable in our neighborhood.

We were surprised that we hadn't heard the LOUD music as we were driving up the street.

We were even more surprised that none of our neighbors could hear it.

In fact, our next door neighbor came out and waved at us as he got in his car. He didn't seem to hear the LOUD music.

We looked at each other and said, "He didn't hear that?"  How can he not hear that?  It's extremely loud.  Catchy, but LOUD.

It was catchy and we did have to admit - how can you not like "The Monster Mash?"

It's definitely a song that gets your feet moving.

However, it seems we were the only ones who could hear the music.

We could see from where we were standing in the driveway that there was definite movement inside the house. Not just any movement.  There seemed to be many, many people dancing.

On closer inspection we realized that it wasn't people dancing - it was the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Fall dolls dancing. They were having a party while we were out.  A "Monster Mash" party.

At this point I could see that hubby was perspiring.  I thought for sure he was getting angry and that within a few minutes his blood would be boiling.

Then the strangest thing happened - he started to do "The Monster Mash" right out in the driveway.

"It was a graveyard smash"......right in our driveway.

"The Monster Mash!"

"It caught on in a flash!"

And, then my arms and legs started moving.

I was doing "The Monster Mash" right out in our driveway.

Two old fogies doing "The Monster Mash!"  

"The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds!"  Even us, in the driveway.

Everyone was doing "The Monster Mash!"  

"It caught on in a flash!"  

"The Monster Mash!"

But, everything wasn't cool.

The house was still rockin' and our feet were still mashing.  It had to stop.  We had to stop it.

But, "The Monster Mash" was the hit of the land.

Well, make that the hit of our house.

The dolls were all filing out of the door in single order.

Ghosts, witches, mummies, Dracula, Frankenstein, pilgrims, scarecrows,  even turkey's,  - all doing "The Monster Mash!"  Right in our driveway.

We realized it couldn't be stopped.

Why, "it was a graveyard smash!"

So, hubby and I looked at each other and decided that life was just too short not to enjoy yourselves.

Albeit we were doing "The Monster Mash" with thousands of dolls.

We looked at each other and said, "what a scene this must be for the neighbors!"

But, none of the neighbors were coming out of their houses.

In fact, our next door neighbor returned and just waved at us before he went into his house.

That was strange!

Then we thought, "for sure he could see everyone in our driveway doing "The Monster Mash!"

Couldn't he?"

Or, was it just hubby and I looking ridiculous by ourselves?

Could we be doing "The Monster Mash!"  all by ourselves?

Or, were we even doing "The Monster Mash" at all?

Was it all just in our imagination?

Weren't we just doing "The Monster Mash" with thousands of dolls?

Well, in the case of our dolls maybe we should call them "monsters!" "Monsters" for all the trouble they cause us.

In any event, I guess we'll never know.

That day was anything but normal.

Strange, but in a way glorious.

How can you not like "The Monster Mash?"

"It catches on in a flash!"

So, when you get to our door this Halloween, tell them Boris sent you.......

Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash

The monster mash

And do my graveyard smash

Then you can mash

You'll catch on in a flash

Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash!

Just remember......

There's Nothing Like Big Scary Dolls For Halloween!

Second to my love of Fall crafting is Halloween crafting.   I don't know why I like making witches, goblins, Frankenstein's, ghosts, mummies, and Dracula's, but I do. That's surprising as if I really saw a monster I'd probably have a heart attack.

I see them in my dreams from time to time, but it's only a dream so no worry.  I do know, however that I cannot watch scary movies. They're just too scary and definitiely give me nightmares.  Go figure!

But, I do like to create monsters and the bigger the better.

So, I thought I'd show you pictures of some of my favorite BIG Halloween dolls and wood crafts that I made to decorate my house during the holiday season.

First, there is "You're Scary? You've Got To Be Kidding, Frankenstein!" I named him this way due to the expression on his face and his general "lack" of scariness. He couldn't scare a mouse let alone a human. But, every Halloween I put him in my hall with his own spotlight focused right on him for all the trick or treater's to see when they come trick or treating.

He stands 48" tall and is one of the BIGGEST dolls that I have ever made. He was made based on a Tattered Treasures design.

He has a 3/4" thick pine wood body, painted green Frankenstein shaped head with bolts sticking out of the sides. He's wearing hubby's old shirt and his wood legs are painted to look like plaid trousers. He has 4x4 cubes for his massive feet and a solid wood base. His vest is painted wood.

He also has a splattering of red blood everywhere and is adorned with raffia bows and tattered cloth. And, of course, he has the Frankenstein surgery scars everywhere. Maybe the red blood might scare some children, but his face surely wouldn't.

My next scary or should I say non-scary Halloween doll is a Frankenstein that thinks that he is being pledged to a fraternity. He's not, but he thinks he is.

I'm not sure what is going on inside his head, but he thinks he's a college student not a Frankenstein. I'm not sure how he gets around campus with his feet the way they are. One facing one direction and the other facing another direction. He definitely can't climb stairs.

He's a 39" Frankenstein made based on a Tenderberry Stitches Design that I named "Pledge Me Frank!"

His body is made of wood and his head is made of cloth. His face is embroidered and he has black bead eyes and curly black hair. Wooden pegs hang out the sides of his head.

Frank is wearing one of my husband's old black sweatshirts and is wearing some of my grandson's old jeans. His thick wool socks were my brothers. That is, until they got holes in them and then became mine. He has the words "My Heart Belongs To You Witchie Poo!" embroidered on the front of his sweatshirt and is carrying a Halloween banner.

There actually is a cute story about Frank. I had decided to take him with me just as a decoration to a local craft show that I was doing at my mother's church one Fall. I had him positioned just outside my table and a little girl about 4 or 5 years old walked by him. He was about her height.

Well, she became fascinated by him and came back a couple of times and just stared and stared at him. She seemed to be fascinated by his feet.

So, I decided to ask her a question. I walked over to her and said, "Do you think there's something wrong with his feet?" She looked at me and shook her head "yes" and then looked at her mother and said, "Mom, can I have my feet like that!"

Well, her mother, my mother (who was helping me at the fair) and I all laughed at the same time. Her mother replied, "I don't think so, honey!"

Another one of my favorite BIG Halloween dolls is a 39" mummy that is based on a Tenderberry Stitches design and which I named, "Mummy - Where's My Mummy?" He doesn't reside in our house during the Halloween season, but with my twin grandsons.

Their mother absolutely loved him the minute she saw him and wanted him for a Halloween decoration for the front landing of their house. So, of course, I gave him to her.

She also went home with hundreds of other handmade dolls and wood crafts that day. So much so that they wouldn't all fit in her car. That's another story and one we had a really good laugh over. Suffice to say I just love it when someone loves my handmade dolls & wood crafts enough to want to have them and display them in their homes. That, plus the fact that I was giving them to someone I love makes it all the more special.

In any event, back to "Mummy - Where's My Mummy?" He has a wood dowel body, cloth arms and a cloth head and is carrying a sign that says, "I Want My Mummy!"

His whole body is covered with gauze. Before I made him I figured that two large boxes of gauze would be enough to wrap all of him. Buy, was I wrong. I think my hubby actually bought close to ten boxes of gauze and I used all of it. That became one expensive mummy. Of course, I didn't tell my daughter-in-law that. Her mouth would have dropped at how much it cost to make him.

In any event, after I finished applying all his gauze I added a cloth serpent around his neck, a rubber snake, several patches, and a heart. I also applied several areas of black and gray blush to his whole body as I wanted him to look "dirty." It all had the right effect and I was happy with the way he turned out.

Last, but not least of the BIG Halloween dolls and wood crafts is a woodcraft that is probably one of my all time favorites. I named it "I Just Love The Fall!" and it was made based upon a Rustic Treasures design.

"I Just Love The Fall" is a 25" wide x 30" tall painted 3/4" pine wood craft featuring a large ghost, red barn, cat, fence, stars, and suspended moons.

Both the ghost and cat are wearing bandannas and a mixture of colored raffia is used throughout as decorative accents.

This wood craft usually resides in the dining room fireplace display and stays out for the entire Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving season.

I just happen to like it's rustic and primitive appearance which fits in well with all my other Fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving decorations.

It is definitely one the favorite things I made with my husband. I actually think it's one of his favorites, too.

I hope you've enjoy seeing some of my favorite BIG Halloween Dolls and wood crafts that I use to decorate my home during the Fall season.

Since I love Halloween almost as much as I love Fall I had to create a Halloween Pinterest board.  It's filled with all sorts of Halloween crafts tutorials, video's, patterns and how-to's that I have found.

Halloween Tutorials, Video's, Patterns and How-To's

I hope you enjoy some of the Halloween crafts tutorials, video's, patterns and how-to's I have found for making ghosts, goblins, witches, skeletons, Frankenstein, vampires, and tombstones. Oh! My!

If you love my Halloween Craft Tutorials, Video's, Patterns and How-To's on board please follow my board by clicking on the link above.

They Were Doing The Monster Mash!

The other day I just had a feeling that the day was not going to be a normally peaceful day.

I don't know why - just a feeling I got.

But, as the morning progressed and nothing strange had happened I started to think the day was going to be okay.

That was foolish on my part.

You see, the day turned out to be anything but normal. It was actually a cool, crisp day to the start of Fall which was a pleasant relief from all the hot, humid days we've been experiencing.

So, hubby and I decided to go for a walk. Since it was so beautiful out we decided to go for a long, leisurely stroll - and that was our mistake!

As we were pulling into the driveway hubby and I got a sense that something wasn't right. The ground was shaking and the house was being rocked off it's foundation.

And, we do mean off its' foundation - hard as that may seem for you to believe.

We looked at each other and said,  "what on heaven's earth is going on?" The house was literally rocking to and fro.

As we gingerly stepped out of the car we realized it couldn't be an earthquake as the ground under our feet wasn't moving - thank goodness for that! But, the house was still rockin to and fro!

YIKES!

And, out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement in the windows. Not just movement in one window - but, all of the windows. As if someone were peeking out the windows and realized too late they had been seen. Now we knew something was going on inside the house.

And, then we heard it - LOUD music.


Not just any music, but the song "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett was playing louder than was acceptable in our neighborhood.

We were surprised that we hadn't heard the LOUD music as we were driving up the street.

We were even more surprised that none of our neighbors could hear it.

In fact, our next door neighbor came out and waved at us as he got in his car. He didn't seem to hear the LOUD music.

We looked at each other and said, "He didn't hear that?"  How can he not hear that?  It's extremely loud.  Catchy, but LOUD.

It was catchy and we did have to admit - how can you not like "The Monster Mash?"

It's definitely a song that gets your feet moving.

However, it seems we were the only ones who could hear the music.

We could see from where we were standing in the driveway that there was definite movement inside the house. Not just any movement.  There seemed to be many, many people dancing.

On closer inspection we realized that it wasn't people dancing - it was the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Fall dolls dancing. They were having a party while we were out.  A "Monster Mash" party.

At this point I could see that hubby was perspiring.  I thought for sure he was getting angry and that within a few minutes his blood would be boiling.

Then the strangest thing happened - he started to do "The Monster Mash" right out in the driveway.

"It was a graveyard smash"......right in our driveway.

"The Monster Mash!"

"It caught on in a flash!"

And, then my arms and legs started moving.

I was doing "The Monster Mash" right out in our driveway.

Two old fogies doing "The Monster Mash!"  

"The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds!"  Even us, in the driveway.

Everyone was doing "The Monster Mash!"  

"It caught on in a flash!"  

"The Monster Mash!"

But, everything wasn't cool.

The house was still rockin' and our feet were still mashing.  It had to stop.  We had to stop it.

But, "The Monster Mash" was the hit of the land.

Well, make that the hit of our house.

The dolls were all filing out of the door in single order.

Ghosts, witches, mummies, Dracula, Frankenstein, pilgrims, scarecrows,  even turkey's,  - all doing "The Monster Mash!"  Right in our driveway.

We realized it couldn't be stopped.

Why, "it was a graveyard smash!"

So, hubby and I looked at each other and decided that life was just too short not to enjoy yourselves.

Albeit we were doing "The Monster Mash" with thousands of dolls.

We looked at each other and said, "what a scene this must be for the neighbors!"

But, none of the neighbors were coming out of their houses.

In fact, our next door neighbor returned and just waved at us before he went into his house.

That was strange!

Then we thought, "for sure he could see everyone in our driveway doing "The Monster Mash!"

Couldn't he?"

Or, was it just hubby and I looking ridiculous by ourselves?

Could we be doing "The Monster Mash!"  all by ourselves?

Or, were we even doing "The Monster Mash" at all?

Was it all just in our imagination?

Weren't we just doing "The Monster Mash" with thousands of dolls?

Well, in the case of our dolls maybe we should call them "monsters!" "Monsters" for all the trouble they cause us.

In any event, I guess we'll never know.

That day was anything but normal.

Strange, but in a way glorious.

How can you not like "The Monster Mash?"

"It catches on in a flash!"

So, when you get to our door this Halloween, tell them Boris sent you.......

Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash

The monster mash

And do my graveyard smash

Then you can mash

You'll catch on in a flash

Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash!

Just remember......