Haunted House Silhouette

Here are a few quick pictures of the Haunted House silhouette that we display on our mantel every few years.  I don't have it completely set up, but thought I would add some pictures while I am thinking about it. I made this 10 or more years ago and unfortunately, it is really starting to show it's age.  

This is a large two piece silhouette, which was cut out of heavy duty poster board.  The tree (on left), small hill (that you can barely see on the right) and small flying bats are part of the back piece; which is placed against the wall.  The house, grass, gravestones and fence pillars are part of the front piece; which is placed about 5-6 inches in front of the back section.  It is lit using a long light, which is sandwiched between the front and back sections. 

It's been 10 years, and I still remember this silhouette being a CHALLENGE to make.  The poster board was thick and really difficult to cut through.  OMG, cutting out those fine details...let's just say, I remember learning several new swear words while working on it.  I can't imagine having to eventually redo it.  Oh, I do love it though!

 Blessings, Tracy

Psycho Bunny Lives!

So....(I think) this guy is pretty much done.  You may remember his humble beginnings in this post.  Not sure how I feel about him, but I do think he may be a little too cutesy for my taste.  I guess I'll just have to see how he looks, once he is lurking out in our garden at night.  I may have to go back and distress him...possibly add some dried blood and just make the poor thing look a little CrAzIeR.  I would rather he looked rough, like he just spent a long night digging himself up.  If  I have time,  I will try to get some better shots later. These pictures don't do him justice, since he really does look better in person.

All we have to do now, is find him a nice, yet creepy, spot in our garden to hang out.

 Blessings, Tracy

Spooky Halloween Wreath LOVE!

I recently ran across this wonderful idea for a Halloween wreath.  When I first saw it, I immediately knew I had to try to make one for my very own.  The original wreath idea came from the very talented Karen, over at "The Art of Doing Stuff".  I found her tutorial to be very detailed and easy to follow.  Oh yes, and the pictures, for those of us who are a little more visual (like me)...they are great.  Can't say enough good things about this whole project.  I LOVE how turned out.  Go over and check out her tutorial if you have a moment. 

I highly suggest using her tutorial as a guide, but here is my (quick) footnotes on this project.

1. Like Karen, I made my own wreath base out of three layers of glued together Styrofoam.  The wreath bases I found in craft stores, were too small and really expensive.  Hello...a 4x8 sheet of 1 inch Styrofoam was about $4.  I have a lot of leftover Styrofoam, which is a good thing, since I will use it on some project in the future.  When I finished my Styrofoam base, it measure about 21-22 inches across. After I cut out the inner circle, the ring of my wreath was about 6 inches wide.  
2. I couldn't find the glitter skulls she used anywhere.  I ended up buying 3 small Styrofoam skulls at Michaels.  I think they were $1.49 each.  I poked a short piece of dowel into the back of each of their heads and then painted them black. Once dry, I painted on a thin layer of glue and sprinkled with Martha Stewart's Onyx glitter. After they were covered with glitter, I gave them a light dusting of Martha Stewart's Black Licorice glitter to accent the Onyx.  The black Licorice glitter has flecks of blue and green added to black, which sparkles nicely in the light.  
3. Karen used 6 boas, I think I ended up using 8 to cover my wreath.  
4. When it was time to attach my skulls, I cut a few triangles of tulle/netting and stapled them together a few times to form a half clown collar; similar to the ones her skulls have.  And yes, I used a normal stapler.  The staples won't show, since they will be buried in feathers, so no big deal. I had two different scrap pieces of tulle on hand, one fine and one regular weave, so I used a little of each to give it more interest.  I also added three short pieces of ribbon to each collar.  After I attached the skulls to the wreath, I grabbed a tulle and ribbon collar and pinned it just under each skull; to look like it was attached.
5. My finished wreath is HUGE...about 25 inches wide.  LOVE IT!!

Completed Styrofoam base.

Skulls before paint.

Paint drying.

Glitter drying.

Netting that is draped on finished wreath.

One of the Tulle fabrics (fine not pictured) & ribbon that I used.

Close up shots of glitter skull on wreath.  The photo makes them look silver, but they really are black.

Blessings, Tracy

Here we go....

Jennifer Davenport, over at Decorating Ideas Made Easy, has been nice enough to feature our Witch's Urn as part of her recent "Halloween Ideas" post.  This post showcases the ideas of several talented folks who share our love for Halloween AND have some truly clever ideas.  If you have a minute, take the time to go check it out.  
Blessings, Tracy

WE CAN SEE!!!

We had 3 extra 26mm doll eyes (1 single & 1 pair) left over from other projects, so we decided to give Mr. Bones and his front porch friend some new peepers.  We were also lucky to have an eye patch lying around (don't ask me why), so that made up for the missing fourth eye. We attached the eyes in the skeleton's eye sockets with poster putty, since we may eventually need to remove them to use in new projects.  
Now, Mr. Bones and his front porch friend can keep a closer eye on those sneaky Trick or Treaters.

 Blessings, Tracy

Love Jimmy Fallon's October Set Design!

I caught a little of Jimmy Fallon's show the other night. Although I don't catch it that often, his show has really grown on me.  I think he has some pretty good interviews, they have some funny regular bits/skits and I think it is funny how he always seems to be on the verge of cracking up.  One criticism, I do think he does take a few of his skits a little too far at times. Overall though, I think he does a good job.
BUT, the reason I am posting is.....I really love the Halloween-ish backdrop (behind his desk) and the ripped up curtains they are using on his set this month.  I'm thinking about trying to make the desk backdrop (tree with bird silhouette) for Halloween next year.  Now, if I just had a window to put it in....

You can get a better or full view of this silhouette, by watching some of his recent interviews on his show's website.

Blessing, Tracy

UNCLE...UNCLE...I give up!

I have failed.  I took on a little more than I could chew this year regarding Halloween projects.  My "normal" life has been much busier than expected, and I just didn't have the time to devote to working on Halloween projects as I would have liked.  I just ran out of time.  Here are just some of the projects that are being pushed to the back burning and will not be gracing our Halloween display this year.

1. Mosaic Skull -
Finished him about half way.  Had to order Millefiori and this created delays with finishing this project.  You can see his humble beginnings here.  

2. Large Psycho Garden Bunny with Glowing Eyes -

"Eek...I don't have arms!"  This guy still needs a lot of work before I can even start the painting process.  I saw some smaller bunnies similar to this in the Magazine, Cloth Paper Scissor.  The bunnies in the magazine where made by an artist named, Debb George.  Hers were dressed in formal wear and were really adorable.  I wanted a simple "crazy looking" bunny (with creepy glowing eyes) poking around our large front garden as the kids arrived to Trick or Treat.  This guy is actually turning out a lot "tamer" looking than I had hoped.  I may make a few more nuttier looking bunnies over the next year. Yep, a family of Psycho Bunnies!

Wasn't able to get a good shot of his glowing eyes, since it is so bright outside.

3. Don't even ask what this was going to be.


4. & 5. Didn't even get a chance to buy the supplies for these projects.

Blessings, Tracy

Pretty Painted Pumpkins!

I saw this adorable striped pumpkin over at Alexa's blog, "The Swell Life".  I liked it so much, I decided to made one of my own and second complementary pumpkin with circles.  I think they turned out really cute.  

Blessings, Tracy

Creepy Dripping Candle

Here is one of my newest projects.  I found this idea in the book, "How To Haunt Your House".  Here is how I did it.

1. Buy a PVC connector from your local hardware store.  Mine is about 3 1/2 inches wide and cost less than $2.  
2. Buy a piece of thick styrofoam.  I had a scrap 1 1/2 inch thick piece left over from another project.
3. Buy a white battery operated tea light.  I could only find orange, so I had to paint it white.
4. Grab your glue gun and a boat load of glue sticks. I used 9(?) full size (10 inch) glue stick.
5. Press PVC connector into styrofoam to leave an impression. Cut out circle with a serrated knife.
6. Put tea light in the center of circle and trace around it.  Using an X-acto knife, cut a hole without going all the way through, so the tea light can sit inside.
7. Push styrofoam into PVC connector, pushing it down about 1/2 inch below the rim of the PVC.
8. Place a piece of wax paper under your PVC.  Start applying hot glue to the top and sides of candle; trying to make it look like a real dripping candle. I also added glue to the top of the styrofoam just up to the edge of the candle hole and I let glue pool (on the wax paper) at the base of the candle.  *You can put a square or round object under your wax paper to mimic the edge of a mantle, etc. and let the glue make long drips down the side of the object.  Once it has cooled, you can place it on the edge of your mantle and it will look like it is dripping over the edge.
9. Build up the top melted edge.  Let the glue cool between layers to help build up edge.  The book suggests, "One way to help build height is to hold the freshly glued PVC upside down over a bowl of ice. Keep PVC moving so the glue does not run off the PVC."  I did this, but had to pick up the whole piece of wax paper, since it was stuck to it.
10. The book SAYS that hot glue does not stick to wax paper, but mine did.  It was easy enough to remove, but since the wax paper is pretty clear, you can't see the little pieces that I couldn't get off.
11. Once it is cooled, place the tea candle into the styrofoam.  Turn down the lights and turn it on.  It really does look like a candle, with the top (built up edge) glowing with the flickering of the candle.

PVC connector

 Blessings, Tracy

Great, Great Grandpa Mr. Bones

I ran across this antique image on the internet and just knew it would be fitting for our Halloween decor.  I printed it, backed it with black paper and framed it to place next to the front door.  We tell the neighborhood kids a whole tall tale about how this was Mr. Bones' Great, Great Grandfather and tell them about all the great (ahem...outlandish) things  he did during his life (i.e. helped build the Brooklyn Bridge, fought it two wars, invented the ice cream cone...the list goes on and on).  I know silly, but everyone gets a kick out of it...especially me and my sweet hubby.  My husband even has a funny/strange first name for him, that escapes me at the moment.  It really makes the little ones stop and think for a minute or two. It also adds to the "mystic" of the bony fella who likes to ride through our front garden each fall.  

Blessings, Tracy

Creepy Hanging Spiders & Fading Ghosts....OH, MY!

Here is a quick video showing the Creepy Hanging Spiders that we hang on our front porch each Halloween.  I have not put out the rest of the porch decor yet, but this will give you an idea of how these guys look while they are swaying in the wind.  I have also added a close up our Fading Ghost Silhouettes at the end of the video.  

Excuse the video quality, this is subject I know (less than) nothing about putting together. 

P.S. - The first section is pretty narrow, but give it a second, it will expand with the next shot.

**Update - Ok, Ok!  From what I am hearing, some people can see the video, but most say they can not.  Not sure what the hang up is, maybe it's a Mac vs. PC issue.  If you can't see the above video, try this link.  There is no music in the youtube version, but you will be able to see the video.

The music in the video is called "Dr. Sayer".  It is from the Awakenings soundtrack, which was written by the Randy Newman.  Yes, the same Randy Newman that wrote the song "Short People".  Come on now...he really is a very talent composer.  Although I have many "favorite" movie soundtracks, this really is in the top ten for me.  The music is beautiful and has haunted me since I first saw the movie.  I have many favorites on this soundtrack, but another track that I am quite fond of is a piano piece called "Dexter's Tune".  Last time I checked, it is nearly impossible to find the CD, but I think it is available on ITunes.  

Blessings, Tracy

A Fascinating Place to Visit!

I recently visited the Accent Store Fixtures warehouse in Minneapolis.  This business sells new and used store fixtures and I have to say, it is a fascinating place.  I am a big antique/salvage yard or warehouse type of person, so this was right up my alley.  It's like a huge store fixture graveyard.  

For anyone looking for mannequins or mannequin parts to use in your Halloween decor, you need to find a place like this in your area.  I thought "most" items were fairly priced.  Although, I do think you need to visit the warehouse to find the best deals.  I found the prices to be generally cheaper than listed on their website, especially on slightly "dinged up" mannequin.  Most of the dings in these mannequins you wouldn't even notice unless they were left standing naked in your front yard.   Here are pictures of just a small sampling of  items this business carries.

Here you can see the styrofoam male mannequin heads I used to make my Mummy Heads. They were $5 each. You can see my Mummy Heads here and here.

Love the Superman pose the guy on the left is pulling off.

Interesting???

LOVED these life sized styrofoam torsos. I thought they were a good deal at $15 each!  These would work great (lightweight option) for anyone interested in making a "Witch's Urn" like mine.  I did see regular mannequin torsos similar to the ones I used for $30.

I liked this huge mannequin head, although the left side of her 

face was badly cracked from a fall.

They have great wall organizational basket systems.

Display cases and racks up the wazoo!

Colorful rolls of ticket stock.

Blessings, Tracy