SPOILERS! 13 Days of Craft-o-Ween Day 1. Step by Step Tutorial

SPOILER ALERT: We’re kicking off the 13 Days of Craftoween 2025 Advent Calendar today — and we can’t wait to show you what’s inside!

If you love spooky season as much as we do, you’re in for a real treat (no tricks here). Starting today and continuing for the next 13 days, we’ll be sharing daily project inspiration featuring the surprise die set. It’s a frightfully fun way to celebrate Halloween — Spellbinders style!

Whether you’re into cute and quirky or dark and dramatic, the 13 Days of Craftoween is packed with creative potential. Each day unveils a new mini crafting treasure designed to help you conjure up cards, tags, treat boxes, and more — all perfect for October makes and haunted happenings.

Ready to peek behind Door 1? Today we’re featuring a project by Brenda Noelke. Let the hauntingly creative countdown begin!

Hello, crafty friends!! Brenda Noelke here from My PaperCut Creations! I’m super excited to be back on the Spellbinders blog today sharing this step-by-step tutorial featuring the dies from Day 1 of the 13 Days of Craftoween 2025 Advent Calendar! I absolutely LOVE creating Halloween cards, and this advent calendar contains so many amazing die sets!! So fun!!

Step 1:

Die-cut the dies from Day 1 of the 13 Days of Craftoween 2025 Advent Calendar from Raven, Mulberry, Fog, and Classic White cardstock using the Platinum SIX Machine with Universal Plate System with the following plates (bottom to top): A, B, C, cardstock, C.

Here are all the die-cuts once they are removed from the dies. Instead of recutting the tongue with red cardstock, I colored it with an alcohol marker. All the die-cuts were adhered together with liquid glue. The debossed lines on the die-cuts make it so easy to know where to adhere them. Such a great vampire!!

Step 2:

Die-cut the fifth largest die (3.25” diameter) in the Everlasting Circles Stitched Die Set from white cardstock using the same sandwich as step 1 using the Platinum SIX.

Step 3:

Trace around the inside of the die that was used in the previous step onto a panel of white cardstock. This will show where to ink-blend the background. Tracing around the inside of the die will ensure that the pencil line is covered up by the circle die, once it’s adhered to the background.

Step 4:

Ink blend Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion, Blueprint Sketch and Black Soot Distress Inks onto the background panel in a circular pattern using blending brushes.

Step 5:

Add color and shading with Hickory Smoke, Lost Shadow and Antique Linen Distress Inks onto the circle die-cut with Mini Blending Brushes. Don’t stress about getting the blending perfect. The actual moon is very “splotchy” and most of it will be covered with the vampire.

Step 6:

Splatter the background panel with Splatter White Opaque Watercolor. Once dry, blend a bit more Seedless Preserves and Villainous Potion Distress Inks onto the panel to mute the stars around the moon.

Step 7:

At this point, I placed the vampire onto the moon and decided that I needed more color to make the vampire stand out more, so I added some Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink onto it with a blending brush.

Step 8:

Place the moon and vampire into the MISTI to figure out placement of the sentiment. Place the sentiment onto the circle and pick it up with the lid of the MISTI.

Step 9:

Stamp the sentiment with VersaFine Clair Nocturne Ink. This is a pigment ink, so it does take a bit longer to dry. Be careful not to smear it.

Step 10:

Adhere the moon to the background panel with liquid glue.

Step 11:

Add foam squares to the back of the vampire, only along the top of the die-cut. Add liquid glue to the bottom of the die-cut and adhere to the moon.

How fun is this?!?

There’s just something about creating Halloween cards that makes me giddy!! I can’t wait to see what you create with the Craft-O-Ween Advent Calendar!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! If you’d like to see more of my cards, you can find me on Instagram @mypapercutcreations or on my blog www.mypapercutcreations!

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Supplies

80 lb. Neenah Solar White cardstock, Distress Oxide Inks: Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion, Blueprint Sketch, Black Soot, Hickory Smoke, Lost Shadow, Antique Linen, Squeezed Lemonade, Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink