Thor's Hammer Ceramic Ornaments

I am not the greatest ceramicist in the world but I do love making things.  So I decided to make some Thor's Hammer ornaments for my Etsy Shop.  Mjolnir has become very popular with Chris Hemsworth playing a very hot Thor so normal people have become more aware of the Norse myths. The ornaments I crafted are ceramic and designed to hang in the house or on yee ol' Yule tree.  Since I cannot draw I ordered some very nice stamps from Highlander Celtic Stamps.  The stamps I ordered were unmounted to be flexible on clay and did have a nice deep etching so the patterns were visible once stamped.  I have another set of Celtic symbol stamps but these are only good for paper and are to detailed for pottery.

  

I do believe the stamps turned out nicely giving a good pattern to the hammers.  I must try with some different glazes.

Owl Pumpkins

So it is now September which means October (aka HALLOWEEN) is almost here.  So since I love owls I was wandering the internet for fun things to pin to my Cute Hoots pinterest board when I came across owl pumpkins. 

Of course Martha Stewart has some of the most interesting.










Another fascinating take using sunflower seeds can be found at Better Homes & Gardens

For traditional carving here are some links to interesting owl patterns:

• Zombie Pumpkins - this one is a bit difficult, you need to be a member to print but the site has many unique stencils.
• Fantasy Jr easy owl stencil
• Celebrating Halloween has an owl in a tree plus some more interesting ideas including a Ganesha pattern.
• A scary tree with owl
• If you don't want to carve a pumpkin use some stick on's like this one from The Cute Little Shop

If you find a really good pattern and have talent you can always use the fake pumpkins found at craft stores and keep a good pumpkin year after year.