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

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

Witch's Urn...DONE!!!

Here is our newest project, a fabulous "Witch's Urn"! When I first saw one of these, here, here and here, I just fell in love.  It looked so fun, I just had to try it.

If you have been following this process, I know it has taken sooooo.o.o.o.o.o long for us to finish this project.  Life has been keeping us busy and taking up all of our time. 

Here's how we did it.

1. I was lucky enough to find a GREAT deal on some mannequin legs on Craigslist. I paid $10 for this mismatched set.  **Update - See this post for another place you could find mannequin legs.  If you don't live in the Minneapolis area, you can see if there is a similar type of business near you.

2. We spray painted our mannequin legs black.  We did this because the first leg, attached to the torso, was scratched up and dull and the paint on the red leg was showing through the fibers of our striped tights. We also spray painted a large heavy plastic urn black. You will notice the urn is now gray, since the black just wasn't working for me. We ended up spraying over the black with one of those textured granite sprays and then I distressed it. Here is a picture of the urn before distressing.

3. For info on how I made the witch's shoes (from Goodwill finds), see previous posts.
4. We purchased some striped tights in the Halloween section of our local Party City store. You can also find these at any Halloween themed stores that pop up at this time of year.
5. We ended up having to cut the torso off of the one leg, since it was too tall for our urn.
6. We glued the two mannequin legs on to a board and secured the board in the urn.  We used heavy construction adhesive to do both of these, since we didn't want them falling out & bopping some young child on the head.  Once they were set, we put tights and shoes on the mannequin legs.
7. I cut a piece of craft foam in an oval shape & painted "The Witch is IN" on it.  The frame is made out of the rim of an oval "Chinet" brand heavy duty paper plate.  After I cut it out, it was painted black, thoroughly sealed and then covered with fine black glitter.  You can't tell from the pictures, but the frame really shimmers in person.  To finish it off, I glued the frame to the sign. Note - Our Witch's Urn will be displayed on a covered porch, so it will fairly well protected from the elements.
8. The top of the urn was covered with fake moss, and the "The Witch is IN" sign was hung on the front of the urn with black string.  A black crow was added as an accent.

Blessings, Tracy

I'm linking this post to one of my favorite blogs -

I'm also linking this post to the DIY Show and Tell Halloween Surprise Party.

Happy Halloween!!

TA...'frickin'...DA! Behold our Witch's Shoe!!

Well, I finally finished the shoes for my Witch's Urn yesterday!  Making these has been a true challenge for me, since I really have pretty much ZERO sewing abilities.  I haven't touched a sewing machine in many years, so I had to pretty much learn how to sew all over again.  I am so proud of myself! 

Then...this morning, when I went to take some pictures to post, I found out my camera batteries were just about to die.  I also knew we had no spare batteries in the house.  Yes, I still have one of the first digital cameras that is known to mankind.  It takes bad pictures and it known throughout the land for it's "battery sucking" abilities.  So, anyhoo....I was able to take 4 quick, pictures before I lost power.  But, alas, I lost this battle in the end, since I was in such a hurry to beat the dying batteries...only one picture turned out.  I'll have to post more pictures later.  Check out my previous post if you are interested in more info on how I made these shoes.

FYI - For anyone else who is interested in making a Witch's Urn, you can buy shoe covers that make normal shoes look like witch’s shoe. The problem I found with these is that they are really meant for viewing from the top of the shoe down, not from the bottom (sole side) up. They have straps that crisscross over the soles & I just didn’t like the look personally. So, long story short, I thought I would try to make my own first. Although, I have to say that I was pretty close, several times during the (ahem...frustrating) sewing process, to just buying the quick covers.  I think I may have actually taught myself a few new swear words while making these. ;-) If you are interested, you can purchase them at local party/Halloween shops or on the web at places like here or here.

Blessings, Tracy

Progress....Goodwill items transformed into Witch's Shoes!

Click on image to enlarge

Image info -

1. Three pairs of Goodwill shoes.  The two pair of boots were used for parts and extra leather.
2. Orginal prices crossed out for discount bin.  Final price $1.49 each.
3. High heel that will be transformed into witch shoe.
4. Long boot during deconstruction process.  Next to boot is a buckle shape, which was cut out of white craft foam.
5. Photo (sorry, dark shot) of split in heel.
6. Made the shoe's pointed tip out of paper clay.  Painted & sealed before gluing on to shoe.
7. Shoe with leather cover.  I attached this over the front of the shoe & paper clay tip with Welders all purpose household glue.  This sleeve was sewn out of leather from Goodwill boots.
8. Second picture of shoes.
9. Glued heel split (see image 5) together and covered with black glitter.
10. Craft foam buckles, painted with silver paint & covered with fine silver glitter. Drying before being attached to shoes.

I just have to add the (exaggerated) shoe tongue and the buckle & strap.  Check back tonight or tomorrow to see our finished Witch's shoes! 

Blessings, Tracy

Me thinks the neighbors are dialing 911.....

Just starting our newest Halloween project! Here is the first part of it; drying after a fresh coat of paint. My poor husband reported that as people from our neighborhood would pass by (out for their evening walk), they would give him a "funny" look when they noticed he was painting mannequin parts in our garage.  Hey, if not painting body parts in your garage...what's a guy to do on a Saturday night?! ;-)  

I am really excited about this project & think it will be look great when completed. 

Click on images to enlarge

Stop back to check on our progress! 

Blessings, Tracy