Add some Halloween fun to decorating at home

By Carol McGavey ~ Better Homes and Gardens Books

Halloween has become a magical holiday for home decorating for boys and ghouls of all ages. Sure, ghosts, bats, monsters and scarecrows add to the fun, but so do less-glaring holiday trims.

Natural decorations such as pumpkins, gourds, leaves and Indian corn add to the mix and can carry your home through to Thanksgiving.

You can fashion felt pillows by simple hand-sewing. They'll add a festive spirit without your having to get out the sewing machine. A vivid jack-o'-lantern and a simple checkerboard make easy holiday statements. The ones shown are 1-foot square, but you can adjust the pattern sizes to make small sachets or large trick-or-treat bags.

Pumpkin pillow

For the pumpkin pillow, use 6-by-6-inch pieces of felt in neon lime, orange, yellow and black and one-third yard of green felt. Other supplies include cotton embroidery floss in pink, orange and black, and fiberfill for stuffing the pillow.

Trace the pumpkin pattern (or one of your own) onto tracing paper and cut out. Cut one frame shape from neon lime felt and two 12-by-12-inch squares from green. Center the frame on one green square. Pin in place and stitch with straight stitches around the outside using orange floss and around the inside using pink. Use three plies of floss for all stitches.

Use black floss to attach the features to the pumpkin. Make a French knot in the center of each eye. Pin the jack-o'-lantern inside the frame. Stitch around the edges using black floss and straight stitches.

Checkerboard pillow

The checkerboard pillow calls for a 19-by-12-inch piece of felt in black and orange and one-third yard of camel felt. Also, cotton embroidery floss in orange and purple and fiberfill for stuffing the pillow.

Cut four 6-by-1-inch strips each from orange and black felt. Cut two 12-by-12-inch squares from camel felt. Lay the orange strips side by side, and weave over and under with the black strips. Pin the square centered onto one camel felt base. Using three plies of purple floss and straight stitches, stitch around the outside edges of the woven square.

To finish the pillows, pin the pillow front to the remaining 12-inch felt square. Stitch the front to the back with blanket stitches using floss. Leave a 10-inch opening on one side for stuffing with fiberfill. Stitch pillow shut.

From the book "Better Homes and Gardens Halloween Fun."