Halloween: Black White and Purple Spooky Halloween Tree

 

I've been wanting to do a Halloween Tree for a while. Last year I thought I'd be happy with a lighted branch tree and I was but in our new house, it ended up permanently in our bedroom as ambient lighting so I needed a new one right? For once in my brain, I also remembered to look for it early enough and lucked out getting one from Wayfair for 50% off over the Summer. I just went to check for this post and they still have them but they're a little more expensive now. The decorations are all Dollar Tree and I shared the Jeweled Tarot Card Halloween tree skirt last week. 

Supplies:

• Thompsontown Slender Black Tinsel Fir Artificial Christmas Tree (Wayfair)
• Dazzle Bright Purple LED Lights (Amazon)
• Black and White Bat Ribbon (Dollar Tree)
• Misc Decorations In Coordinating Colors (Dollar Tree)
• Jeweled Tarot Halloween Tree Skirt  

I cleaned my Dollar Tree out of all of the Purple and Blak picks shown and this bat themed ribbon was perfect! 

I also picked up a bunch of these skull treat baskets and glitter spiders that went with my colors. 

I wanted a skinny tree and this was perfect. Of course it came in a super skinny box and needed to be fluffed out. 

It was also not pre-lit so I found some purple lights on Amazon and didn't even realize until I plugged them in that they have 8 different options. Steady, twinkle, flashing etc. I haven't strung lights on a treee in a few years since I've gotten used to pre-lit trees so that was fun. Once I got the lights on, it was time to decorate. I started with the ribbon after the lights and used pieces of wire to attach to the branches in some places. After that, I added the picks, skull baskets and spiders and to finish, used a creepy doll head I had leftover from a project last year which I wrapped in the black netting one set of the skull baskets came in!

Ooops! Forgot to take pictures of the eyeball and glitter ornaments also from Dollar Tree!

The spiders are just resting on and tucked into the branches. 

To finish, I wrapped the stand with my Jeweled Tarot Card Tree Skirt I shared last week. 

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Halloween Decor: Jeweled Tarot Card Halloween Tree Skirt

 

I've been teasing this Halloween Tree Skirt and I'm finally done. I didn't start out with the intent that it would end up as bejeweled as it did but I love it! I found this Tarot Card fabric on clearance at JoAnn for an additional 50% off and I think the total cost ended up at $3. The felt and polar fleece I used, I had on hand, as well as the purple jewels. 

Supplies

• Black Felt (On Hand)
• Purple Polar Fleece (On Hand. You could also use felt)
• Tarot Card Flannel (JoAnn)
• Coordinating Jewels (Michaels)
• Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Dimensional Glue for Rhinestones (Ranger Glossy Accents)

Kind of like how I cook, I sometimes don't measure twice, cut once like we're supposed to. So I folded my felt in fourths, drew an arc, and cut a circle, approximating the size I wanted. Likewise witht he purple triangles. I ended up using 15 of these. I thought I was going to use the fabric glue shown in this photo to apply both the triangles and appliques from the Tarot Card fabric but I ended up using hot glue for the triangles and iron on interfacing for the Tarot Cards. 

I cut out a horizontal panel of the cards, ironed them to the adhesive, then trimmed. This way the appliques hold their shape better and you don't get fraying of the fabric. I used the placement of the triangles to eyeball the placement of the appliques and ironed them on. 

I had a package of purple gems from a prior project and at first, I thought I was just going to put them on the corners of the cards. Then I went all the way around one and thought I'd maybe just do every other one all the way around. And then I did ALL of them all the way around. 

Of course after doing that, I decided I needed to do the neck (at least that's what I call it because tree skirts remind me of capes so this part would be on the neck and there you have my brain). 

I'm putting up my tree later in the week but can you tell my color palette? I finished up by adding some of the jewels to select spots on some of the cards. Eyes, and as you can see here, the spiders. 

I also added one gem to each of the points but don't think I wasn't tempted to do the tops too. Still am but Mr. Chocolate already thinks I'm off my rocker. Just need to spot press some places with my travel iron and oops, just now noticed some fuzz on one spot there but too lazy to re-take the pic!

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Halloween: Haunted Mansion Inspired Cards

 

"Welcome foolish mortals". I miss Disneyland so much, especially when it's decorated for Halloween. We'd hoped to go this year but COVID...

Anyway, one of my favorite rides any time of year is the Haunted Mansion. I love all the detail they put into the attraction and at Halloween it's totally decorated with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. If you ever get a chance to do Disney for Halloween, it's so much fun! So when I saw this collection of layered cut files at Creative Fabrica included a "Haunted" Castle, I had my theme for this year's Halloween cards. Disclosure: I am an affiliate so if you buy this file here, I do get a small benefit. 

Supplies: 

• Halloween Background Paper (I used the Spook Hill collection from Michaels)
• Metallic and Glitter Scrapbook Paper
• Black Cardstock (Recollections 110 lb)
• Halloween Words ( Tim Holtz )

You can buy pre-made cards or cut your own. I cut my own from the Recollections Black cardstock measuring 7x10 to create a 5x7 card. Score down the middle. 

Cut background papers 6.75x4.75. Attach to cards. 

Download cut files and import design of choice into your electronic cutter's software. I used my Cricut Explore 2 and the Design Space software and deleted a couple of the layers, leaving 3 layers to cut. 

I did a combination of colors and mirror and glitter papers. 

Once you have your "houses" assembled, then layer onto prepared cards. Add the chipboard words. I also embellished with a couple of self adhesive rhinestones which the post office just loves! 

Enter if you dare! 

Halloween: Supercalifreaking Easy Dollar Tree EEK Sign

 

I love these whatever they're made of seasonal signs I find at Dollar Tree. You can paint them, decoupage them, glitter them, vinyl them or do whatever your imagination comes up with. I chose paint and dots! 

Supplies: 

• Eek Sign (Dollar Tree)
• Black and White Acrylic Paint ( Craftsmart, Michaels)
• Dotting Tools ( See Below for Pic)

This is the unfinished sign. I did the insides of the letters and the edges with a small brush first, then painted the front and the back in a couple of coats of flat black Craftsmart paint. 

You want to make sure you get all of the nooks and crannies of the letters so it just takes a little patience. Spray paint would also work. 

Once you've got your sign painted, time to "dot it up". I bought a set of Ball Stylus dotting tools on Amazon and they really are great for making consistent dots. I also love that the paint wipes easily off the metal. From here, just go with whatever your flow us. I used different sizes and eyeballed my pattern. These are great for mandalas too. 

I started with larger dots and then filled in using smaller ones, filling in the exclamation point the most. 

Et voila!

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Halloween: Jeweled Doll Head Pumpkins

 

This week's BFF Open House link party continues here. 

Since our nest has been empty, my Halloween decor has become much more "Gothelegant" which is a word I just this second made up to combine gothic and elegant. Lots of jewels and metallics. Less whimsical ( although I do have some of that too!). But let's just say about the Darth Vader meme "Come to the dark side, we have cookies" is a perfect fit for me! I've wanted to do something with an old doll head but my thrifting trips the past few years haven't yielded the kind of doll head I want so I'm still on that particular hunt BUT I found some creepy plastic doll heads in the Halloween stuff at Walmart and they just spoke to my deep dark little Wednesday Addams heart! 

Supplies 

• Doll Heads ( Walmart, $4.88 pkg of 3)
• Foam Pumpkins ( Dollar Tree, while things are still $1)
• Glass Candle Holder (Dollar Tree, ibid)
• Craft Paints (Apple Barrel Gloss Black, Craftsmart White)
• School Glue (Elmers)
• Glue gun / glue and strong cold bond glue ( eg E-6000, I used Beacon 3 In 1)

"They're creepy and they're kooky, they're altogether spooky". 

Dollar Tree has these foam pumpkins every year and they're great. You can paint them. You can cut them. You can wrap them in fabric. So many possibilities. For this project I painted them. 

They take paint really well and this Apple Barrel Gloss only needed one coat. Then I did my go to glue crackle. 

To finish the pumpkins, I went over the glue with white paint and then used my craft room blow dryer to hasten the crackling. 

The doll heads were already pretty perfect but what fun is that? I got out my silver Rub N Buff and just added some spots of it here and there. 

This highlighted the scars already on the heads and then I dry brushed and wiped off some black paint so it would get in the cracks. 

Creeptastic! Now it's time to glam them up. I had some clear flat backed jewels in my collection so I randomly glued them onto the skulls and finished with smaller self adhesive rhinestones. Glamtastic! 

Once you're satisfied with your jewels it's time to assembler. I used hot glue to attach the skulls to the painted pumpkins and then the Beacon 3 In 1 to attach the pumpkin to the candleholder. I have found that hot glue doesn't always last on glass but it will work, just may come loose after a while. 

It's so good to be back! 

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