Halloween Crafts - www.designsfrompenny.com

(Click on the image above to find out how to make Skull Cabochon Jewelry! It's easy and inexpensive!)

If you are an artist or crafter, then this is the time of year that your focus is on Halloween Crafts and projects for decorating the season. As a stencil designer I am always looking for new and creative ways to use stencils. This Halloween I wanted to decorate some cookies with a few scary images. So I drew up some Halloween stencils (a witch, a ghost, a cat, a bat, a skull and a spider) and went to work trying to figure out how to get the images onto a cookie.

(Pssst! You’ve got the party started so don’t stop there…check out the Pumpkin Crafts.)

Here’s where I admit that I’m no Betty Crocker. I can’t tell you how many different ways I tried to transfer a perfect image from a stencil onto a cookie. I bet I gained 20 pounds eating all the disasters. Not to mention all the money I spent at the grocery store and the local craft supply house. All of this only to find out that the easiest and most obvious way was the best method of all. So, here it is – that is, how to decorate Halloween cookies with stencils. Oh yeah! Don’t miss out on the hints and tips I’ve added at the bottom for some great creative ideas.

PUMPKIN DECORATING IDEAS

PRINTABLE HALLOWEEN MASK

DECORATE MUMMY CANDLE JARS

Trace the stencils onto a sheet of stencil film such as acetate or mylar. Make sure the images have approximately 2 inches between them. Use a scissors to cut the traced drawings separate of each other with 1 inch of blank space surrounding them.

Since you're getting your Halloween Crafts started, don't miss all the other Free Halloween Stencils!

Use a craft-knife to cut out the objects of each stencil. You have several options for craft-knives. I prefer to use an X-ACTO with a Fine Point Blade. Make sure your blade is sharp at all times or you won’t get a good clean cut. I find it’s easier to rotate the stencil so that you are always cutting with your wrist at a comfortable angle.

Since you are working with food, wash your stencils really well and dry thoroughly.

Bake cookies with your favorite recipe. Since I already admitted that I’m not a baker, I’ll let you know that I used the boxed up ready to go version where you just need to add an egg. But if you are a skilled chef, go ahead and make your goodies from scratch. Sugar cookies work best because they have the smoothest surface after baking. A cookie with too much texture is not going to produce a good stenciled image. I like to slightly flatten the tops of the cookies right after they come out of the oven with a spatula. If the stencil can lay flat on the cookie, you’ll get a much better image than if it has to roll over rounded edges. Let the cookies cool.

PUMPKIN CRAFTS

THANKSGIVING CRAFTS AND STENCILS

MASK PATTERNS AND COSTUME IDEAS

If you think this skeleton doll is cute find out about Making an Iron-on Skeleton Doll! Of course, the pattern is free.

Place the stencil on top of the cookie. Use a finger to dab the sugar mixture into the stencil openings. Just like with a regular stencil, use a dabbing or up and down motion to dot the surface with color and not a rubbing back and forth which will encourage color seeping under the stencil edges.

Carefully remove the stencil by pulling directly up. You don’t want to drag the stencil over the wet color mixture and smearing it. It might take a little practice but remember you get to eat the mistakes.

HALLOWEEN STENCILS

HOLIDAY CRAFTS

DECORATE GLITTER GLAM PUMPKINS

And if you are ready to break out the knives check out these Free Pumpkin Carving Stencils.

Now, here are those hints and tips that I promised you:

You may want to make a different size cookie than the normal 2-1/2 or 3 inch circle. No problem! Just take the paper copy and reduce or enlarge the size to fit the area you want to place the picture. Then move on to the tracing. This is great if you want to make a large cookie cake too!

When you are cutting out the images for the stencils, don’t throw away the parts that you cut away. They can be used to make negative images on the cookies. Of course, it’s a bit trickey to remove the stencil piece after you have put the color all around it but with a little practice you can have this down to an art. And just think of the creative cookies you can come up with these new options.