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 #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.

Decorating ~project #1

I've been working on various projects in decorating my home. Above is one, but I recently decided that 3 isn't enough, so I'm going to do six, and they're going to be smaller. But I still am very happy with what I have now.  They are vintage images of drawings of birds. You can find free images on the internet. There are websites/blogs that I follow that provide some of these. Check out the Graphics Fairy or the Vintage Moth for some fun things.

Images credit from Elle Decor, Country Home and unknown.

So to start I had a few frames from yard sales and DI (I always pick some up there, as long as the frame isn't cracked).

I paint them black with just crafting acrylic paint, and sanded the edges, and bits across the frame w/ different roughness/pressure to give a natural varying look. Then simply printed the images as the correct sizes. It was quick and fun.