Halloween Home Tour

My ten year old daughter says yesterday, "It hurt so bad! It's like a ghost came up and tased me!" 

Hmmmm. I can totally relate. 

No, I can't. 

She was referring to...a paper cut.

Not even sure how she knows what a taser is. Probably listening in the car to the Walton and Johnson Taser Report with her Dad, which is probably not appropriate for kids.

But it is pretty funny.

Now on to the Home Tour. Where you won't find any ghosts. Or tasers. 

As much as I hate the TV above the fireplace, it just had to be placed there. I decided to opt for more seating, so the only blank wall has a chair and cobbler's bench. You can see the post for how to make the BOO banner here.

I got the old books from the FREE bins outside the new store in town called 2nd and Main and just tore off the covers. They are vampire books, which is cool for Halloween, but no one will ever notice. Mwah mwah. On the candlestick, I layered more copper scrubber from Dollar Tree over the black netting that was formerly packaging for mini skulls and added a silvery pumpkin on top.

                  

Here is a secret I learned from my days as a Display Designer for Stage Department Store. (Yea, I got to dress the mannequins, too. Pretty fun job. Except the part where you have to carry a REALLY tall ladder around the store without taking out any customers.) 

Your items should form a triangle. 

                                       

If your display seems a little blah, it may be that all of your objects are too similar in height and you can't place them in a triangle formation. It they are all tall, or all small, it just isn't as pleasing to the eye.

My daughter loves this witchy Halloween vignette on the cobbler's bench my husband's grandfather made. She read the potion book and added her own touches like the poison apple that she took a bite of , mummy dust in the vintage vials from my father-in-law's days as a Chemistry teacher, and old hag's cackle (aka red kool-aid.)  Of course, every good witch needs apothecary jars and drawers full of creepy things like skulls, scorpions, and centipedes (also from Dollar Tree). EEK!

I found an old book with an orange cover and black spine at Goodwill to make the witch's potion book. Tim Holtz distress ink was used to make it look old after spray gluing the printed spell pages over the book pages. This idea came from g*rated with a printable.

It's not Halloween without pumpkins and big ole spiders. Especially glittery and gold leaf pumpkins.

These metal spiders look like the ones in the Pottery Barn catalog, except I only had to pay $4 for these because I found them at Ross. Preeeetttty excited about that.

Here is where the chalkboard lives from an earlier post and even earlier post. And you can see the tutorial for the skull centerpiece here.

This display is a little bit of lagniappe (a little something extra.) I had a small brass tray that I found at Goodwill for $3, another pewter goblet from Goodwill stuffed with old dictionary crinkle paper topped with a Dollar Tree pumpkin, a raven also from Dollar Tree, and miniature flags that I made years ago.

Don't tase me, Bro!!

Linked up at snapcreativity.com and 3boysandadog.com and knickoftime.com and www.wecallitjunkin.com.

Outdoor Halloween Decor

Have you decorated for Halloween yet?

I saw a post here about a chair decorated for Halloween and remembered that a) I have a chair and b) I like Halloween. It's kismet.

Several chairs are living in my attic and garage right now, actually. And they are already black which is a good start for Halloween. My original plan was to build a new bench to go in my entry alcove, but that didn't happen, which is OK because now I have a Halloween chair! The seat was recovered in a nicer fabric that happened to be in my mom's leftovers stash and a sharpie took care of a few scratches in the paint.

Before, the chair had previously been reupholstered in thin fabric not good for seat cushions. The original fabric hiding under that was a yellow damask that was even uglier if that is possible.

For now, it lives in my entryway and I love it! Not bad for a free chair from my mother-in-law and free fabric from my mom. Another got refashioned for my office, but you will have to keep coming back to see it.

What says Fall better than burlap? And pine cones?  The burlap is leftover from a wedding I helped plan which you can see here. I bought the letters that spell "EEK" from the craft store and stenciled them at the Birthday Craft Party I threw for a friend and thought they might be cute layered in my metal basket.





The door arrangements my sister Jordan made got a little update as well.

I added fall leaves and bats from Dollar Tree to make them more coordinated with the rest of the Halloween vignette. Let's see if she approves of the change to her design. I originally planned to make coffee filter wreaths.

Got about halfway finished and decided this was much too springy because I used white filters instead of natural. I thought I could spritz it with Glimmer Mist, but I didn't have anymore brown and I needed two because I have two doors now and I would not have nearly enough time or filters. SO. Not sure what I will do with this now.

Walking up to the front door, you pass by the cemetery sign. Maybe I should get some fake gravestones, but for now, I like it just like this. But I can't promise that I won't keep moving the other stuff around.

Stick around to see my indoor decor!

Linked up at missmustardseed.com.

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Halloween Chalkboard

You may remember the history behind this repurposed chalkboard from here and here . I am so glad I left the frame gold. I love it in my dining room. My walls are not khaki, btw. It's amazing how paint colors change in different light and on the computer screen.

I'm so so ready for Halloween! I cannot wait to trick-or-treat in my new neighborhood. And my daughter has the cutest costume this year. 

So I can't help but want to copy all of the cute chalkboard art that comes out at this time of year.  You can purchase the original on etsy.com. It is much, much smaller than this one, so it would be super cute on a fireplace mantel or wherever you have your Halloween vignette set up. A dining room buffet, maybe?

The flies came from Dollar Tree! I love them! They are so cute and glittery.

Now to finish my outdoor display and mantel...

Fall Tussie Mussie

I recently saw a BOO cone and thought it would be cute to make one with my Crate Paper Acorn Avenue Collection kit. So I did. But I am not leaving it on anyone's door. Although I might make one for my daughter's teachers. I filled this fall tussie mussie with autumn colored Sixlets. Wouldn't this make a great teacher gift?

Good news: It's available in my etsy store. Just click the link in the sidebar.

Linked up at jordansonion.blogspot.com and paperissues.com.

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Art Collage Wall

When we moved in our new house I decided we need a collage wall somewhere for my daughter's art. She took art classes last year at The Little Paint Brush and had some from Art Camp at her school. The two framed watercolors were my sisters' idea as a surprise to me. Still not sure how they managed that.

I tried to design it so that I could add to it if she creates more pieces. Since a lot of it had red and blue colors, I decided it should go in the "red room." So called because of the red bunk bed that lives in there. For now. 

Chalkboard Art

Saw this: 

Made this:

This is the huge chalkboard in my dining room. I love changing the message. Next up-something Halloweenish! Yay! I can't wait for Halloween. I just moved to a neighborhood where people decorate and celebrate, so I have been buying decorations like crazy. I need to put them out!!!

Graduation and Birthday Combo

My daughter's birthday and my sister's graduation happened to fall on the same day this year, so we decided to let them share a party.

Paper cups were used as a target for Nerf gun competitions.

I love the mint green bike Jordan got for Christmas and it went with the decor, so I used it as a backdrop of sorts.

The gift table was decorated with a paper chain. I love pulling out furniture at parties that coordinates with the decor. This little antique table was the perfect green color. I think maybe it was a child's table, but I'm not sure. It is too low to be a side table, but higher than coffee tables.

Thank you gifts were tiny magnetic clipboard note pads from Michael's. I love the yellow ombre crepe paper.

Of course, we had to have some old pictures of the graduate to embarrass her.

I combined a banner from a Studio Calico kit with Neapolitan scrapbook paper to make more of an impact.

Party lollies were easy to make from the Dear Lizzy kit to stick in candy buckets.

The cake was simple with a miniature Happy Birthday banner. I love these! My mom made the cake, of course.

My daughter seems to leave a trail of Calico Critters wherever she goes. I found this one in front of the paper chevron straws. She loves all small things. Wonder who she gets that from?

Remember this bucket from the baby shower? We used it to ice down root beer.

Cookies made by Aunt Mandy were a huge hit. I didn't even get a chocolate one!

Linked up at lollyjane.com.

Sole Hope

In honor of Feel Good Friday I want to tell you about an organization I recently learned about from my friend who is a Noonday Ambassador. Have you heard of Sole Hope yet? 

We host shoe cutting parties. Huh? My friends get together in my new craft room and cut shoe patterns onto old jeans and mail them to Uganda (and drink wine.) There, the shoes are sewn by women who previously had few job options. Then, the shoes are given to children to keep jiggers out of their feet. Win! Win! Win! 

Want to know more? Visit solehope.org to get a packet and host your own party!

Halloween Skull Centerpiece

Remember those Dollar Tree Halloween Finds I showed you last week? Here is the first project I made using the glitter skull.

Mypinterventures.com is having a Fall Dollar Store Craft Contest and I decided to try my hand at it.

So I made another trip to the Dollar Tree.

Can you believe all of these items were close to a dollar each? 

The items you will need are:

Glitter Skull-Dollar Tree

Craft Foam Sheets-Dollar Tree

Copper Scrubbers-Dollar Tree or Fred's Dollar Store

Black Crepe Paper Streamers-Dollar Tree or Fred's Dollar Store

Orange Cupcake Liners- Fred's Dollar Store

Dictionary or book-Dollar Tree or Fred's Dollar Store

Paper Doilies-Dollar Tree

Black Glitter Ribbon-Michael's dollar ribbon bins

Spider Web Place Mat- Ross for $1.99 (They have great decor right now!)

Candlestick-Goodwill for $1 (I looked for them at three dollar stores and they were all out. Dollar Tree normally has glass ones that would work as a pedestal for this. I spray painted this one. You can see it in its former life here.)

I started by making the top hat using a sheet of orange craft foam. I didn't have any black because I used it all on a different project. I cut a strip 2 inches wide.

Next, I traced a circle onto the craft foam with a ribbon spool and cut it out. This will be the base of the top hat.

Then, I rolled the strip of craft foam into a 1 1/4 cylinder and glued it closed. Let that dry and glue the cylinder onto the base circle. Cut a circle to fit the top of the cylinder. I used a 1 1/4 inch circle punch but, you could use something to trace if you don't have a punch.

Glue the top circle onto the hat and trim with ribbon. Set aside to dry.

While the hat is drying, work on the other trimmings. Cut a circle from scrap cardstock, poster, or cardboard. It doesn't have to be black because it won't show. It just needs to be a good bit smaller than your doily. This is just a base to glue down your black crepe paper ruffle.

Ring the edge of your cardstock circle with glue and smoosh crepe paper making sure it is slightly smaller than the doily but bigger than the bottom of the skull so all the layers will show.

Rip a few pages out of the dictionary and make a lolly. 

I would tell you how, but Rhonna Farrer does an awesome job on her video which you can find here.

Unroll the copper scrubber and cut it down the center. I used my Tonic scissors, but you can probably use old scissors or wire cutters if you don't have them.

Wear work gloves to pull the copper apart then smash it back together until your "nest" is the size you want it based on your candlestick. This is metal and will cut your hands when you pull, so wear gloves, be careful, and take your time. I LOVE the shimmery effect! It's worth the effort.

The last step is to hot glue each layer down. I didn't glue down my copper because I use the candlestick for my apothecary. 

I love the finished Halloween centerpiece for your table or fireplace mantel.

 

I made a slightly more expensive version with lace trim on the top hat and spider web wired ribbon. I love both!