Dia de los Muertos Crafting: Mounted Sugar Skull

 

As I mentioned in this post, Mr. Chocolate claimed the first one of these I made for himself. Thief! No worries. I always buy spare supplies. For this one, I went on to the next step I planned for the one he stole, mounted it atop a candleholder, and added silk flowers around the "neck". 

Supplies:

• Plastic Skull (Dollar Tree)
• Multi-Surface Acrylic Paint and Acrylic Paint Pens
• Tissue Paper for Flowers
• Rhinestones and Gems
• Silk Flowers
• E-6000 Glue and Hot Glue/Gun

This is the skull. Dollar Tree has them every year. I used Folk Art multi-surface paint in Titanium White and a sponge applicator to cover the skull. 

Once the skull was painted, I outlined the cracks, nose, and teeth with a gold paint pen, and punched two flowers from a black paper scrap. 

I made tissue paper flowers for the crown, as described in the earlier post. 

I attached these across the skull to form a crown. Once that was done, it was time to play so I grabbed acrylic paint pens and rhinestones from my stash and went to town!

I went around the eye sockets with a black pen, then added dots with pink. 

I grabbed some acrylic flowers from my stash to add to the eyes, and then added various self-adhesive rhinestones (with a dab of glue to reinforce adhesion). 

I drew some flowers freehand using acrylic paint pens and added some rhinestones. 

I used some of these Creatology (Michaels) gems to go around the jawline and outside of the eyes..no plan...just kinda rolled with it.

Once I was good with my skull, I grabbed a floral disc thingy from Dollar Tree and a small candlestick (also DT) and glued the skull to the floral foam. I cut down floral stems (DT) and went around the floral foam, creating a collar. 

I used two different styles of flowers and started with placing the larger ones. Then I filled in any gaps with the smaller blooms. Once that was all done, I used a combo of E-6000 and hot glue to attach to the candleholder.

And now, I have the gift I planned all ready to give and safe from the thief! 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, and mid-October, Creative Peeps! I hope you've had a good week, and if you've been in the path of hurricanes, you're safe and dry. Temps continue to cool down in the desert. As I mentioned last week, this is when our market season really takes off, and there are too many to choose from! I love it because that means that there is that much creativity out there, and the world needs it! Dia de los Muertos is celebrated widely here in Southern Arizona with many events. 

So this week, I shared: 

DIY Sugar Skull 

Currently working on another one for reasons explained in the post! 

Now, let's take a look at some of the fun ideas shared at last week's party! 

Crazy Little Lovebirds shared these adorable Mini Halloween Chalkboards. These would be great for classmates, friends, as gift tags for Boo Baskets, or so many possibilities! 

Petticoat Junktion shared this AMAZING Natural Fall Wreath that can last all season. Rustic, simple, beautiful. 

Got cardboard? And who doesn't, from shipping boxes?! Bluesky At Home has a BEAUTIFUL way to transform it into Faux Ceramic Tiles. 

Finally, a fun treat for dessert tables, goodie bags, parties. Oreo Spiders from Rose Bakes! 

Thanks to all who shared, and let's see what you've been up to this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Dia de Muertos Crafting: DIY Sugar Skull

 

Or, as I almost titled  "This Man Stole My Skull!" 

Lemme explain. I made this as part of a gift planned for our local Mexican restaurant, owned by a family in our neighborhood, and from which we get takeout every Friday. When I showed it to Mr. Chocolate, he loved it, and as he has done a few times, he declared it was his, and then gave me a pouty face. So yes, I'm making another one, which works out because I can take some more in process pictures. Still...THIEF!

Supplies:

• Plastic Skull (Dollar Tree)
• Multi-Surface Acrylic Paint and Paint Pens
• Tissue Paper (Dollar Tree)
• Rhinestones
• Dimensional and/or Tacky Glue

For example, I didn't take a picture of my supplies. Ooops/ But this is one of the plastic skulls that Dollar Tree has every year. I painted it with multi-surface Apple Barrel Titanium White. I went over the cracks with a gold paint pen and punched two flowers from scrap paper, which I glued into the eye sockets. Then I added some resin flowers I had in my stash. 

I wanted to get the crown done first to use as a guide for the other elements. For these, I did simple paper flowers cut from tissue paper. Used a small bowl as a guide to trace my circles, then cut them out. I folded the tissue paper in fourths and used two sets of circles to make each flower.

Staple in the middle, then starting with the top layer, pull up and scrunch each layer into a flower. Glue in place using hot glue, dimensional glue, or as I did, Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue. 

For the pink and yellow flowers shown, I used crepe paper streamers from Dollar Tree. I'll show how I made these when I do the next tutorial because, did I mention? Mr. Chocolate STOLE the first one?! 

Also not shown I went around the eyes, nose, and teeth with acrylic paint pens. 

I grabbed a bunch of self-adhesive rhinestones from my stash and then played with embellishing.

I just eyeballed and placed them as shown. 

NOTE: While the rhinestones are self-adhesive, just to be safe, I added dots of Glossy Accents dimensional glue to make extra sure! 

So now I'll be working on the replacement because again, I live with a thief! 

Sharing At: 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, all. Can't believe we're at the end of the first full week of October! I love that the temperatures here are cooling down (and by cooling down I mean under 100!), but this also marks the return of craft fair and market season down here in Southern AZ. There are some held during the Summer in the evenings and some indoor venues, but with cooler temps, our big markets return. 

This week I shared: 

Trick or Treat Banner

and am busy finishing up this year's Halloween cards for friends and family. 

As always, you all shared some wonderful creations last week, so let's take a look at a few!

Selep Imaging shared another in a series of her incredibly beautiful mosaics, this time an Autumn Tree Mosaic. 

Whether you have littles or prefer more whimsical Halloween decor, this DIY Monster Wreath from Press Print Party has you covered! 

For a spookier Halloween Wreath, check out this one from Building Our Hive!

Finally, these Halloween Whoopie Pies from Cindy's Online Recipe Box are the perfect treat for a Halloween Dinner or party! Red Velvet and Devil's Food.

Thanks for coming to my weekly party, and I can't wait to see the goodies you have this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Halloween Crafting: Cricut Trick or Treat Banner

 

I wanted to add a banner to my Halloween decor this year, so I did! The "trick" was getting a picture. 

Supplies:

• Cardstock in Coordinating Colors 
• Glitter Cardstock
• Cutting Machine (Cricut Maker)
• Tape Gun and Adhesive Foam Squares

I added in some light lavender to my color scheme this year, so I made it the focal of my banner, choosing a lavender glitter cardstock, lavender and black plain cardstock. 

In Cricut Design Space, I chose a banner shape from within CDS, and used a font called BFC Macabre, which I downloaded, but now of course, can't remember from where. I sized the banner and letters to the size I wanted, used the offset feature to cut a black panel, then cut the lavender panel and then the letters.

I used the foam squares to attach the glitter layer of each letter to the offset layer. To attach the lavender and black banner pieces, I used my adhesive tape runner. 

Once each panel was finished, I strung together with baker's twine, and some grosgrain ribbon on each end! 

Et, voila! The skeleton in the middle is from Dollar Tree.