Fall Decor: Rustic Silk Leaves and Feathers Wreath

 

Happy Monday all! We in America move full speed ahead to our national day of thanks and gluttony and I've finished the last of the things I'll make ( I think ) for this short season between Halloween and Christmas. Anxious to get started on some Christmas goodies so be on the lookout! 

Also humbled and excited to have been again featured in the Hometalk weekly newsletter last week! They included my Plastic Egg Acorns and Pinecones and I couldn't be more tickled. If you aren't on Hometalk, you should check it out both as a place to share your creations and to find even more inspiring ideas! 

Supplies:

• Square Wreath Form. I actually had some inserts from 12x12 shadow box frames that I used but you  could also use a square frame. 
• Silk Leaves (Michaels 80% off)
• Twig Vase Fillers (Dollar Tree)
• Feathers ( Michaels)
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

From left to right: Shadow Box Frame Inserts, Silk Leaves, Dollar Tree Birch Stumps and Twigs

The frame inserts are not the sturdiest so I glued two of them together to stabilize them. The silk leaves I found for 80% off at Michaels. I used two packages of 30 with a few left over.

These came in two sizes, the larger having some gold veining and the smaller being plain. I alternated these around the wreath. Pretty straightforward. After I glued the leaves around the frame I placed a few of the birch "stumps" , offset, "because I did" which is a technical creative term!

I have a ton of these twigs left over so may save them for next year or throw them in a vase. 

I grouped three feathers (Michaels, Art Minds or Creatology) at the base of each "stump", then added some of the twigs. 

To finish, I had some of these Acrylic Gem Maple Leaves in my stash from a past project so glued a few of those on. Living in the West, this may be another thing I leave up year round. Haven't decided yet. We don't have specifically "Western" decor but I like some bits here and there. 

Et voila!

Fall Decor: Striped and Quilled Dollar Tree Pumpkin Sign

Happy Saturday friends! This weeks BFF Open House link party continues here.  I'm continuing to work on some additions to my Fall decor for when I take Halloween down and excited to share this fun and I hope, elegant, sign with you today!

Supplies: 

• Wood Pumpkin Sign ( Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints (White Craftsmart and Light Gold Metallic Martha Stewart)
• Cream Cardstock
• Quilling Papers (White and White With Gold Edge)
• Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue and White Glue (Elmer's)
• White Satin Ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue

When I was at Dollar Tree last month getting some goodies for Halloween, I picked up this plain wood sign. They have different ones seasonally ( I may or may not have picked up some Christmas ones since). As I talked about in a previous post, I started Quilling this year and decided to incorporate that into this project. 

I covered the sign with a couple coats of the white paint. Then, using the crackle technique I showed in my Witch Switch Girlfriend Gifts, covered with a layer of Elmer's glue and the light gold paint. 

Apply glue, then contrast color, crackles as it dries

After my crackle layer was dry, I taped off the stripes with painter's tape then used more of the white paint to make the stripes. 

While the stripes were drying, I made my leaves by first cutting them using my Cricut Explore Air 2 with cream lightweight cardstock and chose my Quilling papers: plain white and white with a gold edge. 

I went around the outline of the leaves with the white paper (you can see this process in my Quilled Sugar Skulls post  using the Aleene's Turbo Tacky glue and then used the gold edged Quilling strips (Quilling.com) to create swirls and coils. When complete, used hot glue to adhere them to the sign. 

To finish, I made a  bow from white satin ribbon. Et, voila!

Eclectic Red Barn

 

Halloween : Witch Switch Girlfriend Gifts and Haunting My House

 

Pre-pandemic when I would get together with girlfriends, I always liked to bring a little seasonal something. Makers love making things right?! So will we let a pandemic stop us from showing our friends that we love (and miss) them? No, we will NOT! That's what mail is for and I get to help out the USPS. 

In this project, I'll show you how to make your own crackled surfaces without needing a specific crackle medium. 

Supplies: 

• Wood Plaques ( Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints
• White Glue
• Vinyl ( I used Cricut's Glossy Black)
• Cut File (I got this fun file from designbundles.net )
• Wire
• Ribbon

I found this pack of 6 wood plaques at Dollar Tree ( 4.25 x 4.25 ) and of course I now wish I'd bought several packages. 

Since we're crackling these, you want to start with the color you want to peek through the crackles. For all of these, that was black. 

I painted both sides and the edges so I'd have a finished look when done. 

For the crackle, all you need is some white school glue. I stock up on this during back to school when they're like $.50 a bottle. After your base coat is dry, cover with a medium layer of glue. Too thin, and it will dry too quickly. Too heavy and it takes longer. So in the middle!

Wait a a few minutes (or you can speed things up with a blow dryer on cool but you don't want to dry it completely) and then go over with your accent color. The important thing here is to only paint in one direction, don't go back and forth with the second color of paint. 

You can let the top coat air dry or you can be impatient like me and use a blow dryer. Now it's OK to use a warm setting which will help the crackling. Do NOT use a heat gun which will bubble your paint. 

I kept two of the signs black and white to match my friends style; others, I used different colors to match their styles but did another layer of glue and white paint. 

While your plaques are getting good and dry, you can cut your vinyl. I re-sized the file in Cricut Design Space and then cut using glossy black vinyl.

Take a Valium and weed your vinyl. Just kidding. I hate weeding like Indiana Jones hate snakes. Do some deep meditative breathing and keep telling yourself "My friends are worth it. My friends are worth it".  Then use transfer tape to apply your vinyl to your sign. 

To finish, I cut pieces of medium gauge wire and wrapped around a paint brush handle to curl. Glue to each end with hot glue. Make bows from black ribbon and glue atop where you glued the wire ends as shown. 

I was really happy to hear from the recipients that they liked them. For a couple this is their only Halloween decor this year because have you met 2020? 

I did decorate because no matter what, I like being surrounded by seasonal decor . It's kinda what we do right? So here is a glimpse at my "Haunted House". 

Entryway table with my Witch Hat Wreath, Upcycled Goodwill Candle Holders, Mackenzie Childs Pumpkins and Glam Skulls from this year's projects. 

I also did my coffee table:

And a Poe vignette in the fireplace we don't use! I made Mr. Skully's Hat years ago and it's held up. 

Even the light fixtures aren't safe. Gold and black tulle, Dollar Tree glitter skulls and skeletons. 

And while most of my Halloween decor is black, metallics, and neutrals, I did add some color with a Dia De Los Muertos corner: 

Michaels had this pretty striped ribbon on sale which I used as the inspiration for the banner and pinwheels. I cut the images (Silhouette Design Store) from metallic vinyl. The banner itself I cut using black and orange cardstock and then added a "papel picado" (pierce paper) feel using different punches. The pinwheels are Astrobrights paper and the black pom poms are Dollar Tree. 

Happy Haunting! 

Halloween: Elegant and Inexpensive...Glam Up A Dollar Tree Skull

 

When life gives you lemons you make lemonade right? An early retirement plus a pandemic has meant I've had more time to focus on creating and I don't know about you, but for me, the more I create the more ideas I come up with. 

I've seen this trend in "Glam Skulls" or "Jeweled Skulls" for the past couple of Halloween seasons and decided that I could come up with a version for far less than the price of them. So here we go! 

Supplies:

• Plastic Skulls (Dollar Tree)
• White Tissue Paper (Dollar Tree)
• Mod Podge  
• Acrylic Paints
• Glue Gun and Glue
• Embellishments

Step 1: 

If you've been in a Dollar Tree around Halloween, you recognize these skulls. These I already had in my Halloween decorations and have used them as is before but this year I decided I wanted to glam them up. The easiest thing would have been spray paint but I have asthma and fumes are not my friend. Several years ago I tried this technique on Easter Eggs and it's been my go to ever since for projects where I don't need a smooth finish and which need something for the paint to grip. 

It's so simple and works so well! Use any white tissue paper, scrunch into a ball, crunch your ball and then tear your tissue into smaller pieces.

Step 2: 

Once you have your tissue paper pieces, start covering the skull with Mod Podge then start placing your tissue paper. Doesn't matter where you start, you just keep going until covered. I prefer to use a bristle vs foam brush for this. You can push into the eyes and small spaces to make sure you get good adhesion. As needed tear pieces smaller to fit where needed. It's a totally random process.

This is what your skull will look like once covered. It would work just like this for Halloween but let's keep going! 

Step 3:

After your Mod Podge is dry , it's time to paint! I chose the same color palette as the Upcycled Candleholders I shared earlier. I used a dark grey basecoat as my first coat: 

"But did she stop there?" Of course not. I went over the grey paint with Martha Stewart Metallic Titanium, and then wiped on and wiped off a black glaze of watered down black paint. 

I didn't wipe out the glaze from the eye sockets and only lightly wiped it out of the nose. Now it's time for the real fun! 

Step 4:

Now it's time to embellish! 

I pulled out miscellaneous embellishments from my stash. Sequins, flat back rhinestones, seed beads, and faceted crystal beads for the eyes. I went with embellishing only one eye per skull, starting by gluing a large crystal bead in the eye socket. From there, it's wherever your imagination takes you! I spread some hot glue in the eye socket, sprinkled on a seed bead mix and while the glue was still setting stuck in some mirror sequins. Then working up and down from the eye, laid down more hot glue, sprinkled more seed beads, added rhinestones and other beads randomly. 

I had some skull beads so I added those too. Skulls on skulls on skulls! 

I love that with a little paint and imagination, you can create high end looking and elegant Halloween decor for very little. Shown here: Glam Skull on top of Dollar Tree candleholder ; my Mackenzie Childs Inspired Pumpkin from Target's impulse buy section ; Goodwill Candleholder Makeover; Painted and Mod Podged Wood Coffin (bought the plain box at Michaels years ago but they still have variations of them). 

I hope you found some inspiration. Until next time,