Halloween’s snuck up on us this year. C(11) and I spent last week in Spain where it still felt like summer, so we only pulled out our Halloween decorations yesterday.
I’m definitely not an uber-organised mum who has a different craft planned for every holiday. Many years I forget we even have Halloween stuff.
But this summer, thanks to Banish Clutter Forever (How the Toothbrush Principle Will Change Your Life) I got round to organising our loft. I even had the foresight to store our Halloween basket next to the Christmas decorations. (Seasonal items – clever, eh? Apparently that’s how naturally-organised people do it.)
Among the dozens of preschooler costumes – which I took to the charity shop this morning – we found these cute rock monsters in the Halloween basket.
I shared these when we first made them, but I couldn’t resist snapping a few new photos yesterday. In case you missed it, here’s how you make them.
What You Need
Flat pebbles
Acrylic paints
Stick-on eyes
Sharpie
White-out fluid (optional)
What You Do
Mix up some fun acrylic colours and paint your pebbles. Once they’re dry, stick on eyes and draw mouths. Paint the teeth with white-out fluid or paint.
When we first made these we had lots of fun inventing personalities and back-stories for our monsters.
This year C(11) and J(10) were too busy making a Halloween pumpkin-carving video to play with them much, but I’m pleased to say the little guys at least got non-speaking parts in the movie.
I originally saw these rock monsters at Coastal Inspired Creations. Do head over to her site for more detailed instructions and lots of other pebble craft ideas.
I’m appreciatively linking up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers’ Weekly Wrap-Up.
Love these rocks! They’re so full of character! I thought I remember seeing them in your post from years ago… no wonder they look familiar! We haven’t carved our pumpkin yet because I’m so not on the case this time round. Maybe we’ll get round to it on Saturday morning. 🙂
Thanks, Hwee! I pretty much left the children to their pumpkins this year. I just lent a hand scooping out the seeds from J’s so he’d still be good-humoured for the carving bit on their video. 😉
Lucinda,
Is Halloween a big event where you live? Here in Australia, the shops have been trying to encourage us to celebrate Halloween for the past few years, by selling costumes, candy and decorations, but not many people are interested. A few children might try trick or treating, but certainly not the majority. After Halloween, the shops are full of lots of unsold post-Halloween bargains. That’s the time to buy them!
I love your rock monsters. To me, they look cute rather than scary! Yesterday, my girls painted some rocks too: cats and birds. I think Sophie and Gemma-Rose would love making rock monsters. I shall show them your photos. And I’ll follow your link to Coastal Inspired Creations for more ideas. Actually, I have a few rock art pins on one of my Pinterest boards. I pinned a few that floated through my feed. Then Pinterest decided I was passionate about rock art and kept showing me more and more!
I’ll watch out for the video!
Sue,
What a coincidence that your girls were painting rocks recently. When C saw our cute monsters she wanted to decorate more pebbles, but we’re not likely to go to the beach for a while so she might have to wait. LOL about Pinterest’s decision to inundate you with rock art! 🙂
Halloween’s been becoming more popular here over the last few years, but it’s nowhere near as big as in the US. I wonder if people like having something to cheer up the darkening evenings (our clocks went back last week so it’s now dark at 5pm!). Maybe this makes us more susceptible to American Halloween influence than our Australian friends who are beginning to enjoy warmer, lighter days again?
I’m not a fan of Halloween at all (especially ‘trick or treating’) but I must admit candle-lit carved pumpkins are quite fun. J had an idea, the other day. “I know! I’ll disguise myself as our front door and then when trick or treaters come and ring the doorbell I’ll jump out and give them a surprise!” I’m not sure what he has in mind for a costume! 🙂
Lucinda,
I am laughing as I imagine J disguising himself as a front door! Oh, my that is such a unique idea. Thank you so much for sharing that story. I’m starting my day with a big smile on my face!
Aren’t children wonderful?! I hope you find lots of things to make you smile throughout the rest of your day, Sue! 🙂
Those are the cutest thing ever!
They are aren’t they? 🙂
What a clever idea– rock monsters. I love it and we’re definitely going to have to try making some of our own.
They’re cute aren’t they, Joanne? My husband had to visit the coast today so we’ve got him collecting more pebbles!
How cute! Do you remember Pet Rocks? I think from the 1970s. It was before my time, but I do remember them vaguely “coming back” in the 1980s. The kids and I took random large puzzle pieces once, painted them, attached wiggly eyes and drew on faces (like you did). We glued a small strip of magnet “tape” on the backs and gave them away as fridge magnets. Super cute too. Thanks for stopping in to read Our Side. Sam is getting tall! At 10, he’s 5’2″ or so already. I bet he might even get taller than his brother (who at 16 is 6’2″). No longer little kids! :sigh: LOL
Jessy, thank you for telling me about Pet Rocks – I’ve never heard of them but I enjoyed finding out about them just now. They’re so cute! Your fridge magnets sound fun too.
5’2″ – wow! Not little anymore indeed! Are you tall, too, or is your eldest towering over you? My nearly-12-year-old is creeping up on me but J(10) has yet to have a big growth spurt. I’m enjoying leaning down for cuddles while I still can. 🙂
oh aren’t these just delightful! We did some rock monsters for Halloween also, but they are very different to these!
Thank you, Kylie!
We don’t ever do anything for halloween, but these are particularly cute. I hope you all enjoyed you indoor surfing. Really, the mind boggles completely!
Thanks, Claire. I know what you mean – I can’t wait to see how the surfing works!