SPOILERS! 13 Days of Craft-o-Ween Day 9. Step by Step Tutorial

SPOILER ALERT: Welcome the 13 Days of Craftoween 2025 Advent Calendar — 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). 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 and more — all perfect for October makes and haunted happenings.

Ready to peek behind Door 9? Today we’re featuring a project by Jaycee Gaspar.

Catch up on all the spooky surprises and creative inspiration from the rest of the countdown:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8

From cute critters to haunted houses, each reveal is packed with frightfully fun inspiration you won’t want to miss!

Hey there, Spellbinders friends. My name is Jaycee Gaspar, and I am a full-time scientist and part-time crafty content creator. Thank you for joining me on Day 9 of Craft-O-Ween!

We all love a good focal image on our cards, whether it’s a beautifully stamped bloom, a cute critter, or an elegant sentiment. But what truly makes a card shine is often the supporting role of the background. Today, let’s dive into a fantastic way to create eye-catching and personalized backgrounds using those often-overlooked smaller accessory dies in your stash!

I’m talking about those little stars, hearts, leaves, geometric shapes, tiny flowers, or in today’s tutorial: pinwheel mint candies! Instead of just using them as accents, let’s explore how they can become the stars of a unique and textured background.

Why Use Small Dies for Backgrounds?

• Texture and Dimension: Die-cutting creates physical texture, adding depth and visual interest that flat cardstock can’t achieve alone.
• Customization: You have complete control over the pattern, spacing, and color combinations, resulting in a truly one-of-a-kind background.
• Subtle Sophistication: A carefully crafted die-cut background can add a layer of subtle sophistication that doesn’t overshadow your main element.

Design Tips for Stunning Die-Cut Backgrounds:

• Repetition is Key: Choose a small die and repeat it across your card panel. Consider the spacing – do you want them tightly packed for a dense texture or spread out for a more airy feel? Play with arranging them in straight lines, staggered rows, or even a random pattern.
• Vary the Colors and Cardstock: Don’t be afraid to die-cut your chosen shape from a variety of colored cardstocks. This adds visual interest and allows you to coordinate with your focal element. Think about using different shades of the same color for a subtle gradient effect, or contrasting colors for a bolder statement. You can even incorporate textured cardstock for added tactile appeal.
• Partial Die-Cutting: Experiment with partially die-cutting your shapes along the edges of your card panel. This can create a sense of movement and a softer, less uniform look.
• Layering for Depth: Die-cut your chosen shape multiple times and layer them on top of each other using foam adhesive. This adds significant dimension and shadow, making your background truly pop.
• Tone-on-Tone Elegance: For a more subtle and sophisticated look, die-cut your chosen shape from cardstock that is a slightly lighter or darker shade than your base cardstock. This creates a textured effect without a strong color contrast, allowing your focal element to truly stand out.

Besides my background panel, these are all my die-cut pieces I will use on my monstrous critter card. All the shapes in Day 9’s die set were cut once from a variety of cardstock colors for a playful Halloween palette. Notice I used the circle and pinwheel dies multiple times. I cut 4 pinwheel dark orange, 4 pinwheel medium yellow, then 4 circle dark orange, and 4 circle medium yellow pieces.

Focusing on the teal critter, I will match the etching on the die-cut white teeth to the opening of the mouth. The etching guides on the teeth where the ‘gums’ would be are where you know to apply glue and slide the die-cut teeth inside the mouth.

On the back side of the teal critter die cut, I applied a circle of glue for the opening of the eye. Then I overlaid the white die-cut circle in the opening to create the sclera of the single eye.

Then I glued the black pupil to the center of the eye to give my critter a cute gaze.

Pro-tip: Did you know that the scale of the die cuts matches the scale of the example in the product packaging? If you’re having trouble aligning the wings, horns, and tail of your little creature, simply overlay your die-cut pieces onto the product packaging as a reference for where to apply glue.

Once the wings, trident, horns, and tail are glued to your little monster, then all that’s left is a little matching treat bucket. Overlay and glue the orange pumpkin bucket on top of the black die-cut negative space, similar to how we aligned the sclera of the eye. Then glue the handle of the treat bucket to the back of the stacked die-cut pieces.

Let’s set aside our little monster and work on the die-cut background. Again, I cut 4 pinwheel dark orange, 4 pinwheel medium yellow, then 4 circle dark orange, and 4 circle medium yellow pieces. I will pair a dark orange circle with a medium yellow pinwheel 4 times. Then I will pair a medium yellow circle with a dark orange pinwheel.  This will make 8 complete yellow candies.

Here are all the completed die-cut shapes glued together. Now, we can start assembling our die-cut focal background that will showcase our little trick-or-treater.

I foam-mounted the 8 candies in a 3 by 3 grid, leaving space in the middle for our focal creature. Try experimenting with different color palettes for interesting contrast and complement to the monster.

Then, finally, I foam mounted the little monster to the center of the pinwheel candy background. See how easy it is to create a focal background with some of your accessory dies?

Lastly, I added a Halloween Icons Press Plate Sentiment that complements our sweet and spooky scene.

Next time you’re crafting, take a look at your collection of small accessory dies with fresh eyes (or eye). Challenge yourself to use them in a new way to create a unique and personalized background for your next card. You might be surprised at the spooky results you can achieve!

Happy Craft-O-Ween!

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