Wow. It is November. Are you ready for the holiday season to start? I’m not, so for this week I have NON-holiday links for you. Please add links to any of your own fun, crafty finds in the comments section. Happy weekend!

• Do you still have candy left over from Halloween? CraftGossip.com has a Round Up of Leftover Halloween Candy Ideas.
• Have you seen the Craft In America television program on PBS? I have watched a few episodes and I think it is amazing! It is so refreshing to see people who are so dedicated to their craft and who are making beautiful things. You can watch full episode online here.
• Creature Comforts (such a pretty blog!) has a new PROJECTS & FREEBIES section with lots of free tutorials and printables.
• Check out this detailed video tutorial for how to make glass tile pendants and rings using your own artwork on CraftStylish.com.
• My most important link: Swap-bot user Polymath is hosting a great swap in honor of World AIDS Day on December 1st. The swap elebrates love, generosity, and fellowship while bringing awareness to the important cause of AIDS research. The sign up deadline for the World AIDS Day Swap is VERY SOON on November 10th, so go sign up now and support this important cause.

**UPDATE:** coolbaker5 has now created an International version of the Winter Holiday Card swap. Yippee!!

Swap-bot is an international site so I know that not everyone celebrates Halloween, but to those who do: Have a fun and spooky weekend!!

Happy Halloween!!

(p.s. If you want to see the amazing variety of fabulous Halloween crafts made for Swap-bot swaps, click here.)

As part of a trade with Wishpot.com, I wrote a guest article for their Indie Blog featuring items handmade by Swap-bot users. (Above is felt cake by lisajhoney, polymer cupcake charms by craftaddict02, and kawaii dessert rings by musicoffandon.) The article shows off a bunch of Swap-bot user’s Etsy stores, and the Swap-bot Wishpot wish list has even more amazing items handmade by your fellow ‘bot enthusiasts. Check it out!

For the swap, you send your one partner an item for each letter in the word SWAPBOT - for a total of seven items.

Here are some examples of things you could send:

S - Stickers, stationary
W - Wipes, whiteout, white socks
A - Apple scented candle
P - Pencils
B - Bear, Buttons
O - origami
T - (candy) Treat / Tealights

The swap is open for sign up through November 21st. You must send before December 5th. Anyone with over a 4.9 rating is welcome to join and show their Swap-bot love!

The Halloween countdown has now begun in ernest! Only one week until the big, spooky day! There are tons and tons of Halloween craft projects and articles out there on the vast interwebs… I cannot possibly link to all of the good stuff, but here are some of my favorites from the last week:

Halloween

• Aren’t the two Halloween amigurumi seen above just adorable! There is a link to the free tutorials on the Craft:zine blog. (To get the crochet tutorials you have to create an account at Lion Brand Yarn, which is annoying, but worth it!)
• You can download a really amazing free Halloween printable papercraft from Jinjerup: “Jack of All Trades” gift box. It is the perfect size to pack with candy for trick-or-treaters!
• Chica and Jo have a tutorial for making a really cute candy corn sachet - another perfect way to package your Halloween candy!
• Do your kiddos still need something to carry all of their trick-or-treat loot around in? One of my favorite blogs, Blah to Tada, currently has two great upcycle tutorials for candy buckets here and here.
• Want to make some old-school Halloween popcorn balls? Craft:zine has a good recipe, or check out CraftGossip.com’s Popcorn Ball Round-up.
• It is not too late to decorate your front door for Halloween! The Making Memories blog has a tutorial for making a Halloween wreath using decorative paper.
• Bon Appetit has all sorts of great stuff for Halloween, like Halloween Menus and Pumpkin Desserts, including these Mini Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes. You will love their lists of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Halloween Candies. (Pop Rocks were ALWAYS on my best candy list!)
• Speaking of Halloween desserts, these Tricked-Out Caramel Apples on Chow.com look pretty spectacular.

Non-Halloween

• The winter season is getting nearer, and this sledding cake from Better Homes and Gardens is just too cute! It would be perfect to serve at a winter birthday party.
• Kootoyo has a tutorial for making an ingenious corner bookmark out of fabric.
• One last cute craft: Little Jenny Wren has a tutorial for making a pinwheel bobby pin. So adorable!

Handmade items are becoming an increasingly popular craze. From handmade soaps to handmade jewelry, Wishpot.com highlights all of the unique handmade finds that users are wishing for in it’s Indie department. Featured on the Indie homepage is a constant rotating list of the 100 most popular handmade items, and here are a few of our favorites right now:

We’re now full swing into Fall, and there’s nothing like hot tea on a cold day. One of our top handmade picks is this tea bag tote by jacquelineknits on Etsy. Keep you and your favorite green or black tea warm with this adorable on-the-go accessory.

A big trend in accessories right now is the glam, gaudy ring. With long sleeves covering our arms on these cool days, a girl must still wear her bling somewhere! Nothing says style like a bold, gorgeous ring, like this vintage-inspired, handmade, teal rose cabochon ring by MaruMaru on Etsy.

With the holidays approaching, a great way to get that cozy, homely feeling is with delectable scented candles. Spice-scented candles are great for the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas season, and those flavored by the inspiration of a sweet treat are even better! This handmade hot cakes stack candle by kickinskreations is sure to make you drool.

(All photos courtesy of mentioned vendors on etsy.com)

From the swap description:

“I’ve had some really eye opening experiences in the last several months in my life and it got me thinking of things I would like to do in my life time. You know things you put off, or things you think heck I can’t do that, even things that you thought you could never do. But if suddenly you thought my gosh I may never be able to, wouldn’t you want a list and try to check off one thing as you go? I do - at least, I want to try.

So, I thought why not see what everyone else wants to do.This could be fun, it amazes me sometimes that others have the same ideas, but are afraid to mention them. The time to mention them is now.”

I like the idea of putting your goals on paper - it gives you a clearer picture of what you want out of life. This swap motivates you to do just that!

I tried to move away from Halloween stuff this week, but there is just too much out there! Also, I am super-heavy on recipe links this week….

Non-Halloween Stuff:

• Aren’t these Baked Pear Dumplings beautiful?! What a fabulous fall dessert!
• This is a Martha Stewart Weddings idea, but it is just so cute that I think it would be fun any time: Mini Donuts! Martha served them with coffee, but really, they would go with anything!
• Here is a tutorial for crocheting “Where the WIld Things Are” finger puppets on Meet Me At Mike’s.
• If you are in the NYC area, I think you should attend Monday’s Etsy Labs Craft Night. The project will be wool felt photo wallets led by Kata Gold - who makes completely adorable felt toys and goodies. Bonus, you can enter to win her new Hand-stitched Felt book by commenting on her too cute promo video here.

Halloween Stuff:

• Want to make your own candy corn? Serious Eats shows you how!
• Whip Up has an Ultimate Halloween Knitting Roundup.
• Here is a recipe/tutorial for making really cute, and pretty easy, pumpkin cupcakes.
• Hostess with the Mostess showcases Eight Fashionable Creepy Halloween Treats all from Martha Stewart.
• How about something healthy? Pennies on a Platter shows you how to make adorable “Snack-o-lantern” fruit cups out of oranges.
• Wow! 24 halloween crafts in 24 hours.
• As part of their EK Success vendor spotlight series, CraftCritique.com has a review of Halloween papercrafting supplies today. Also, you can enter to win EK Success products by commenting on the CraftCritique.com blog posts this week.