Halloween Decor #5

 Cheese cloth ghosts! I had never done them before, but it was fun, and didn't take too long.  You need liquid starch, a bowl, cheesecloth, wire hangers, scissors, duct tape, milk jugs or soda 2 liters (empty, but good to have sand or water at the bottom to prevent tipping), and plastic wrap.

I placed a towel on my table to soak up any excess starch. Bend your wire hangers to create arms, and the head support with the hook. I wrapped plastic wrap into a big ball for the head, and attached to the hook of the hanger. Then I 'mounted' it to my milk jug and 2 liter with duct tape. Then to make the ghost, start with a small cut into your cheesecloth, then tear the rest of it. Place pieces over the ghost shape, long enough so it goes in front of the ghost, so without the jugs, it can support itself. Feel free to keep ripping pieces to give it and eerie and aged look. Let dry over night. If you want some to hang from banisters, trees, etc. place your ghost on something tall, like an oatmeal can so the bottom of the ghost drapes.

Halloween Decor #4

 Here are elements together, with the new addition of the book.

To make the book, I bought the paper mache book at Jo~Ann's. They had my favorite, b/c they were bigger, and had the detail on the side. I painted it all black, and the 'pages' a linen color. After drying I pasted the patterned paper to the to book, then the label. I then painted the side bars. I mixed in gray w/ my linen color to more closely match the color on the patterned paper. The label is from the same sight I originally posted when I made the apothecary bottles. I also used a technique on the label to distress it. Using distressing ink in a 'old paper.'

If you want to get really creative with the side of the book that mimics the pages of the book, paint one layer of your desired color, then get kite string and place on the sides the length of the sides, then paint a couple of heavy layers over it. Then as it starts to dry, but not completely, pull the strings off, and you get bumped lines that looks like old pages.

Halloween Decor #3

 I Love to embroider. I've made a few Halloween pillows, but I've given the others away. This one I kept, but I need to re-stuff.  I go online to free font websites, such as 1001fonts.com. There are many fun halloween fonts, another favorite of mine is the letters all made from bones. I download the font and print out my words, then trace it onto my white muslin. I added the spiders by just winging it. Turned out pretty fun. Even my 3 year old (that is recently afraid of spiders) likes it!

Up close detail for you.

Happy Haunting!

Halloween Cards

In my excitement for Halloween, I've been having fun with cards. (I'm also teaching a card class locally on the 9th, so prepping for that!)  These are what I came up with. I am loving doing small note cards right now, a 3x3.  And they're perfect for little notes to go with little gifts. Especially for Halloween. We don't send out hundreds of Halloween cards to beloved friends and family do we? But we might give a little note w/ a gift to a friend, child or for the gals we visit teach.*

*as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the sisters will visit each other monthly for spiritual lessons, and to also help each other when in need.

Halloween Decor #2

This was another idea I saw in a Martha Stewart magazine either last year or the year before.

Find some vintage images (there are lots of blogs with free images, like the Graphics Fairy, or Vintage Moth-they are on the link list on the right hand site of my blog) and print them on card stock to the size you desire.

Get some Neon Orange craft paint and use a very fine paint brush, and simply add orange dots to their irises. The above picture was small (4x4), but on a larger picture, mount the picture on neon orange card stock and it helps 'pop' the eyes.  (You will need to apply a few times as it dries and seeps into the paper) The frame is another DI purchases that I painted black, then sanded down. Oval and ornate frames will be really fun, and help fit in with the theme of Victorian or old west. Then with black lights or dim lighting, the effect is really creepy and fun!

You can also do bats, ravens, owls, mice, any other creepy creature. I have a few more that I haven't framed yet, but I'll show those too.

Halloween Decor

My favorite time of the year is HERE!!! 

It starts to cool down, the leaves turn the rich smells (the leaves, cinnamon, pumpkins so many!) I love decorating for Autumn, and I love decorating for Halloween, and mainly for the huge party we have every year. I love to make it dark and creepy.  So This year I've embarked on a few new projects!

The ever popular and fun Apothecary jars! I first saw this a few years ago on Martha Stewart, and have seen many versions as well. These are my finished product (Except for the fillings). I plan to fill them with various things to replicate what they look like. Ashes for the mice dust, green water for the wart tonic, and purple, orange, black water. MS also suggests cattails or dead flowers in oil.  So fun. You can also paint your bottles/jars for an extra creepy look. I again plan to do colorful things inside them, so wanted them to remain clear.

For some of the labels, they are on Marthastewart.com, and the others from a blog K McKay Designs

I purchased these bottles all in one visit to DI (thrift store) and cost 5 dollars for 7 of them. Most of them don't have lids, but that's up to you.   I used Distress Ink in old paper to give them an aged look. Then to adhere the labels I used E600. MS suggested a glue stick, but I like the E600, just be sure to be in an open room with ventilation! I also washed them good before gluing, but after decided that I wished I only washed the one part where I was applying the label. The dust and dirt looked really neat.