Halloween: Glam Bath Skeleton

 

You've probably seen multiple versions of this as candles. I did a slightly different twist on this based on randomly walking past some bowls at Walmart. Like many of my ideas, this is how they come to me.

Supplies: 

• Halloween Themed or Black Bowl (Walmart)
• Mini Skeletons (Dollar Tree)
• Aluminum Foil (Dollar Tree)
• Iridescent Vase Filler (Michaels)
• Clear and/or White Glue (Elmers, Walmart)
• Mini Bottles (Dollar Tree)
• Washi Tape

The skeleton was an extra from a garland I cut up. The bowl was $.70 at Walmart and I love the outside. 

This wouldn't be great for a candle since it's plastic and I'd worry about it melting. So I decided I'd use vase filler instead! The first step was to remove the legs from the skeleton and position the torso and legs opposite each other in the bowl. I attached these to the bowl with hot glue. 

I scrunched up a wad of aluminum foil and just placed in the bottom of the bowl. Don't worry about gluing it in because the vase filler/glue will keep it firmly in place. 

I spread the vase filler over top of the foil and then used both the white and clear glue to cover. I thought I had more clear glue, but I didn't, so I used the white glue too, which dries clear, so no biggie. 

You can see the iridescence of the vase filler and I used these mini-bottles from Dollar Tree to make my bath salts and bubble bath. 

Cover the top with your glue and then set aside to dry. I left it for about 24 hours. I filled on bottle with the vase filler, the other with a glycerin/water mix, vase filler, and glitter. Wrapped each with coordinating washi tape and hot glued in place. 

And here's Mr. Skelly enjoying his bath! 

Halloween: Resin to the Rescue Salvaged Stand

 

I love it when a plan I didn't have comes together.  I picked up a couple of those flat-ish glass round plate / dish / tray thingies. I'm really not sure what they're called but for me, they were "surface to play with!". I fugured they'd make great trinket dishes or a smaller tiered tray or something. I was thinking originally that I'd play with alcohol inks. 

While taking them out of my craft closet, OOPS! I dropped one and since we have HARD tile floors, it broke. But it didn't shatter, and as someone who likes to salvage things it looked like it could be glued back together. I then got the idea of doing Japanese Kintsugi, the process of adding gold leaf to cracks in pottery, and THEN I remembered I also had some resin from Dollar Tree to play with. Still with me?

Supplies:

• Dollar Tree Clear Glass Dish
• Chunky Glitter
• Resin (I used Epoxy Resin vs UV)

This is the dish thingy I'm talking about. They're usually with the kitchen stuff. And you can see how almost perfectly it broke. I used some Aleene's Clear Tacky glue to glue it back together. 

This is the resin I picked up at DT and the ones I've been in recently look like they've restocked it because it was impossible to find for a while. You need both A and B which work together. Last year, I also found this container of chunky glitter.

I dumped some of the glitter atop the dish and spreadh it out using a dry paint brush, making sure I covered the visible cracks. Then, following the instructions for the resin, mixed and poured.

Since the glass and resin are both clear, it's hard to see the effect in a picture, but this is after the resin was poured. I set it aside to cure for 24 hours. You can see the one piece I couldn't fill in, but it doesn't matter because whatever ends up going on top will obscure it. 

I was so happy with the way it turned out that I went ahead and used the unbroken one and another set of resin to make another! 

For now, I'm showing with this cute Skeleton Bunny I found at Walmart and fell in love with. 

Gotta love a happy accident, right? Now, of course, I want to do a couple of these for Christmas and Hanukkah! 

Pinkoween: Glam Skeleton Plaque

 

Another Pinkoween project like my Glam Pinkoween Ghost. 

Supplies:

• Wood Plaque (Dollar Tree)
• Pink, Black, and White Acrylic Paint
• Small Skeleton (Mine is from a Dollar Tree Garland)
• Hot Glue Tomstones 
• Stand

I had this wood plaque from Dollar Tree in my stash. They seem to always have them in different shapes. The skeleton was part of a garland so I cut one free. 

The edge was beveled and I painted it in black. I think it looks like a frame. 

I used white acrylic paint to cover the center. I didn't even sand the wood because I liked it better if it looked rough. 

Once the white paint was dry, I coated it with white glue. This is my go to crackle technique!

Lightly dry brushed some silver and some white on the skeleton. 

Went over top with pink paint and watched the magic of the crackling work as it peeked through. Love how aged it looks! 

Gotta have more sparkle, right? I mixed some tinsel glitter (Michaels) and Mod Podge and brushed it on the skeleton and plaque. 

You can see the glitter here (along with a little black streak because I had a dirty brush, but it works!). Glued some beaded garland I picked up at Michaels on clearance around the edge as shown. And then using hot glue and tacky glue, glued the skeleton to the plaque. Couldn't resist adding some rhinestones to the eyes and tied a simple bow around the neck. 

To make the tombstones, I used a silicone mold and hot glue and will show how in a future post! 

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Creatively Crafty Linky Party #265

Happy September! Vacay Craft Goodies

 

Happy September Creative Peeps! I might just be biased because it's my birthday month, but I get to share it with some amazing friends and my Fairy Granddaughter. It's also officially the start of my favorite crafting times of the year, cooler weather, and fun Fall festivities. 

We had the BEST getaway last week celebrating our anniversary. After what's been a rather chaotic year for Casa Chocolate, it was relaxing and the place we stayed was incredible. 

Mr. Chocolate is the spa person in our house. We defy gender norms that way because they're not my thing. So while Mr. Chocolate went to his massage appointment and enjoyed all of the other amenities, Mrs. Chocolate went exploring and hit three Dollar Trees and a DAISO! 

You can take the Crafty Girl our of her craft room but she'll just come home with more goodies to play with! It was a win-win. 

I was super excited to find the stackable pumpkins in white! OK, yes, I'm probably going to paint them but it was more about them being solid vs have a pumpkin face that I was really happy about. The witch shoes...haven't decided if I'm leaving as-is and using for a tree topper or trying the viral Pottery Barn hacks with black twine that I've seen. 

That bright silver skull tray? 'Nuff said. And some cool napkins and a spider web table runner! Joy! The cauldrons have raised flames which will be perfect to dry emboss with contrasting paint to make them pop. Luckily we drove so there was room for everything. 

BEST find? A 40 sheet Colorbok paper stack not even at the revised $1.50 price. Still $1.25!! Kicking myself for not buying at least two. Blame it on shocked excitement. 

Can't wait to start playing! Hope you all had a great week and there will be a new party up on Thursday. 

Halloween: What's a Glam Witch Cottage Without Furniture?

 

A Glam Witch needs her furniture so I made some to go with the Cottages I shared last week.

Supplies:

• Fairy House Chairs and Tables (Dollar Tree)
• Black Acrylic Paint (Craft Smart Multi-Surface)
• Silver Acrylic Paint (Craft Smart Bright Silver)
• Mini Halloween Decorations (Michaels)
• Misc. Gems
• Acrylic Paint Pens

I was smart and picked up accessories when I purchased my Fairy Houses from Dollar Tree. I've learned the hard way "see it, get it". 

I got the chairs and tables. When I made my Glam Witch Cottages, I thought they'd go well with them even though the scale being a bit off went against my Virgo brain. But I went with it! I mean they can magically be resized to fit, right?

I painted the chairs and tables black with Craft Smart Multi-Surface black paint, then dry brushed the arms and legs with a little silver. I let a little of the original brown show through the tables. 

I had a stash of Halloween miniatures from Michaels I bought last year and didn't use. They were perfect for this! I chose a cloche with a skull and spellbook, and used E6000 to glue atop the tables. 

For the chairs, I used acrylic paint pens to accent the leaves and petals on the chair, and then of course, I had to add a sparkly gem. 

Since I haven't started decorating officially, this is how I plan on displaying as soon as I do! 

Halloween: Glam Pinkoween Ghost

 

This week's party continues here through today. 

Pink has become a core part of Halloween in recent years and is on display EVERYWHERE in craft and home decor stores. I'm even planning to include my pink tabletop tree I used for Valentine's and Easter this year, into my Halloween decor. 

I'd bought some pink glitter HTV (heat transfer vinyl) to use for Valentine's Day, but life got in the way. There's no such thing as wasted craft supplies, though, so I grabbed it for this project. 

Supplies:

• Ornate Frame (Dollar Tree)
• Waverly Chalk Paint (White)
• Decoart Acrylic Paint (White Pearl)
• Vinyl (Doesn't have to be HTV)
• Embellishments

NOTE: I was originally going to do the frame in black but, I ended up not liking it and didn't re-take pics. I used Waverly Chalk paint in white instead. Paint your frame (I picked up a few of these ornate frames from Dollar Tree because...you know!) and set aside. 

Remove the backing and dry brush with paint of choice. I used Deco Art white pearl which I got at Dollar Tree. 

I wanted a simple background. 

I chose a ghost image from Cricut Design Space and cut using the pink glitter HTV (Michaels). You don't need HTV but it's what I had in the right color. You can use regular vinyl. If you do use HTV, remember to mirror your image!

Since I did use the HTV, i needed to heat press it onto the background. I used my Cricut mini press. Once my ghost was pressed down, the fun began! 

Here's the white frame and you can see I let some of the gold peek through. Reassemble, then decorate! 

I grabbed some clear and iridescent gems from my stash, using black rhinestones for the eyes, and then went around the bottom of the ghost with large gems and dotted the background and frams with smaller ones. 

 

The iridescent gems look like dimensional drops on the ghost, and it's hard to see in pics, but they add just a little oomph to the frame. To finish, I added a bow of iridescent tulle. Easy. Peasy. 

Happy Pinkoween! 

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Sundays on Silverado