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

Halloween Window Silhouettes

Our Halloween Silhouettes lit up and shot from outside.  You can see another close up view of these silhouettes here and here.   You can also see our large "Witch on Broom" and "Fading Ghost" silhouettes here.

  **See below for updates & a brief "How To".

**Update - Several people have asked me where we purchased these Halloween silhouettes & if the were vinyl.  All of our silhouettes were painted on cheap white fabric.

For these silhouettes - 

1. We cut cheap white fabric into long panels.
2. We traced the design onto fabric.
3. We painted the silhouettes using "dark gray paint" (Martha Stewart tip). The gray paint will appear black when lit.  Make sure you paint the silhouette on the side of the fabric that faces towards the outside. Also, make sure you protect the surface that you are painting on, since the paint can bleed through the fabric.
4. We hung the silhouettes in our windows like curtains, using a small/thin peice of dowel at the top. Our windows are vinyl & just happened to have a small pocket at the top that works perfectly for hanging these.  To hang, we just slightly flex the thin piece of dowel & feed the ends in these pockets.
5. I usually light my silhouettes with either clip on work lights or table lamps. The window silhouettes in this post were lit using table lamps. I placed the lamps on the floor & centered at the base of each silhouette. I removed the lamp shades & replaced the regular bulb with colored spotlight bulbs. You can purchase these bulbs at places like Home Depot. I use two lamps for the witch and caldron silhouette, since these windows are really large & one lamp did not light it well enough. 
   ** Be careful that your lamps are not placed too close to curtains & that they do not get tipped over! These spotlight bulbs tend to run pretty hot. I close the bedroom doors when these silhouettes are lit. Even though I use sturdy lamps, I wouldn't want to risk our cats accidentally tipping one over or burning them selves on the open *hot* bulb.

I get a lot of people on my site looking at our Halloween window silhouettes.  If you would like additional silhouette ideas, I stumbled upon a great DIY site with some awesome Haunted House Silhouette ideas.  Take a minute & go check them out.

Blessings, Tracy

Witch with Caldron Window Silhouette

Here is a close up shot (from the inside) of our witch and caldron window silhouette. I was unable to post this last year due to a camera meltdown.

See this post for a brief "How To" on making these silhouettes.

Blessings, Tracy

Come One Come All!

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

Fading Window Ghost Silhouettes

Here's our simple ghost silhouette idea.

**Update - You can see a short video of our ghost fading in and out in this post.  The video seems temperamental, some times it appears & other times it is MIA.  Try again later if you don't see it.

Sorry, this (blurry) picture is the only I could find of our house with silhouettes.

You can see the ghosts in 3 of our windows.

Close up photo of one of the ghost (& our witch).

Here's a simple how to -

1. For our original ghost silhouettes, we cut heavy duty poster board to the size of 3 of our windows.
2. We came up with a simple ghost design &  decided where on the window we wanted to position our ghost heads. This was important for us, since our window is broken into 4 sections by cross bars. Once the position was decided, we cut the outline of the ghost's head in each piece of poster board. Two of our ghost are facing or leaning one direction & the third the other direction. This adds some interest & keeps them from all looking exactly the same.
3. We then cut cheap white fabric a little larger than each of our cut out ghost heads & glued them securely (if I remember correctly we used a glue gun), making sure the fabric was taut as you glue it down.
4. I then painted the "C" shaped (or reversed "C" shaped) eyes on each ghost face with dark gray paint. This would be painted on the finished side of the silhouettes. Keep in mind if you have crossbars in your window, as we do, and take this into account when deciding on placement of the eyes.  *Tip - I can't remember exactly where (possibly Martha Stewart?), but I'm pretty sure I read that you should always use dark gray paint for silhouettes, since black paint is too dark. As you can see in our pictures, the dark gray appears black anyways.
5. We taped the silhouette into our windows, making sure there was no light seeping around the edges.
6. We used a work light to illuminate each ghost, making sure it was just "aimed" at the silhouette and not directly behind the silhouette. If it is placed behind the silhouette, you will be able to see the light bulb through the fabric & it will distract from your image.
7. To add to the effect, we used a light faders that we purchased in the Halloween section of our local Menards. You plug your light into the fader & then plug the fader into the wall (or timer). These devices will cause the light to gradually fade in and out & has a speed setting so you can adjust the fading slower or faster. We also have everything on a timer so it all lights automatically at a set time.  It really looks cool with each ghost fading in and out at different times.  Our witch is not on a fader, so it stays lit continuously.

Ghost Fade Adapter

About a year ago, we updated ours ghost because the poster board of our originals was fading with age. Since we use them every year, we made them out of wood instead of poster board, so they would be sturdier.

1. We just took two very thin piece of wood and sandwiched them together to cut our shape out.
2. Painted the sides that would be visible with dark gray paint.
3. Stapled the fabric taut on the unpainted side of our cut out silhouette.
4. Glued the unpainted sides of the 2 thin pieces of wood together (sandwiching the fabric between), and painted the eyes on the each ghost. Our new ghost look finished on both the inside and outside.

One of our updated ghost.

Regarding the witch - The sky around the moon & the witch was originally painted on a large piece of fabric & hung in our front window on a long piece of trim (like a curtain), but has since been upgraded to wood also.

The old one shown first & the updated one shown second.  The new one has a handle, that you may have noticed near the top.  We use this handle to hold on to this large (just shy of 5 feet across) silhouette, since we have to climb a ladder to install it. 

Blessings, Tracy

Halloween Witch's Broom

We made this Witch's Broom many years ago. It is a really easy project and we love how it adds to the "Halloween vibe" of our front porch .

In this picture, the straw area of the broom photographed darker than it is.

See additional pictures below.

Here's a brief how to -

1. Find (or buy) an "old style" straw broom. Sand handle to remove clear varnish.
2. We taped off the metal collar between handle and straw section of our broom. We thought this collar was interesting, so we decided to leave it unpainted.
3. Spray paint the broom handle black. Wait for it to dry completely.
4. Use painter's tape to mask off your broom's handle with whatever pattern you like; we went with a wide swirl pattern. Before spraying, make sure the front edges of your tape are sealed, to prevent paint leakage. Also, remember to cover the collar and straw sections of your broom, to protect from any orange over spray. Spray handle with orange paint. Remove tape and let dry completely.
5. Once dry, mask off handle and collar of your broom to protect from over spray. Paint straw section of broom with black spray paint.
6. While paint is still wet, sprinkle glitter on the straw portion until you feel it looks right. We used mainly gold glitter & complimented it with a light coating of silver and iridescent glitters. I highly recommend adding the iridescent glitter, since it gives the broom a "magical" glimmer in different lights and at different angles (note the purple shimmers in the picture below). Let dry completely.

7. To finish, I added two plastic spiders to the handle with a small dab of tacky poster putty.

Here it is on our front porch!
Again, dark in the photograph.

This broom is really quite beautiful in person. The kids go crazy over it, being that it reminds them of "Harry Potter". This was not our intention when we made it, but it is nice to see that kids still beieve in "magic"!

Blessings, Tracy

I am linking this post to the DIY Show and Tell Halloween Surprise Party.