Halloween: Trash to Treasure Spooky Faux Candles

I've been on a bit of a "roll" lately. Pun intended. I have several projects I'm excited to share starting  with this one: Haunted Faux Candles made from repurposed craft rolls. We'd hoped to make another trip to Disneyland around this time but 2020 had other plans. Subconsciously, I think some of my Halloween ideas came from fond memories of things like the Haunted Mansion which this project reminds me of with its Gothic spookiness. 

Supplies: 

• Empty Craft / Wrapping Paper / Paper Towel Rolls. I used empty vinyl rolls and an empty roll from some tulle. I prefer these to paper towel rolls because they're a bit thicker and heartier. 
• Paint. I used Craftsmart Acrylics from Michaels
• Hot Glue and Glue Gun. Stash
• Rub n Buff. Available where fine art supplies are sold

Step 1: 

Drizzle hot glue along the top of your rolls to resemble dripping candle wax.

There's no right or wrong way to do this just drip drip here, drip drip there. 

Step 2: 

Once the glue has set, paint with color of your choice. I used white as shown. 

At this point it's personal preference how many coats of paint you use. I went back over with another coat then dry brushed with silver and black to age them. 

Step 3: 

Once you're satisfied with your candles, you can stop there unless you're me. I wanted to make these look elegant so I decided to highlight some of the candle drips using Antique Gold Rub N Buff. You can also do this with acrylic paint but there's a luster with the Rib N Buff that I love! 

It just so happened that a couple of the craft rolls were the right size to hold real tea light candles ( I won't burn these because "fire hazard" but I like the look) 

Where tea lights won't fit, you can rest an ornament. 

Next time, I'll share the candleholders I did for these! Until then...

Eclectic Red Barn

Follow The Yellow Brick Home

BFF Open House Link Party

 

Happy Friday Eve all ! Welcome back to another party here at The Answer Is Chocolate. Hope everyone's made it through the week uneventfully. Uneventful is my goal these days. I'm not sure if Mr. Chocolate is ready to call for a Halloween intervention yet or not. I haven't started decorating but I have been busy making stuff to decorate with once I start. I'm so happy about how this Witch Hat Wreath turned out! 

 

I think I've solved the issue I was having with last week's embedded link party so we will see! Let's take a look at some of the fabulous ideas from last week's party.  

As my son grew older, my Halloween decor got more gothic, elegant, and darker. Anita from Unique Creations from Anita shared this Halloween Goblet that I adore! It's just perfect! 

I love a good "green craft" that repurposes things that you have on hand. I have a fun one coming up next week! Naush from Doodlebuddies shared one that is easy and fun: DIY Pumpkins using scrap cardboard, twigs, twine and ribbon. I'll bet every one of us has the supplies! 

Priyam from Simple Joys shared this beautiful Fall wreath made from ... Paint Sample Cards! I love how it captures all the stages of leaves that change colors. 

Finally, this week's chocolate feature is from Lou Lou Girls and they are as cute as they look delicious. Who can resist Keebler cookies? I know so many of us bake but sometimes you just need a package of cookies from the store and to use them on top of cupcakes? Perfect! 

Hope you enjoyed these features! Now, let's see what you've been up to this week!

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Halloween Decor: Witch Hat Frame Wreath

 

When it comes to some things, I'm pretty easily pleased. One of those things is a trip to The Dollar Tree. $20 spent there is a joyous thing! On my last trip, I found a Witch Wreath Frame. I've seen these projects in years past but have not had luck finding the frame. No more!! Some fabric, ribbon, a few ornaments and voila: my Witch Hat Frame Wreath!

Supplies:

• Wire Witch Hat Frame $1 (Dollar Tree)
• Black and White Check Decorative Mesh $1 (Dollar Tree) 
• Black Mini Ornaments $1 (Dollar Tree) 
• Fabric ( Stash)
• Grey Decorative Mesh ( Stash)
• Grey and Black Organza (Stash)
• Decorative Ribbon (Stash) 
• Pipe Cleaners (Stash)
• Hot Glue and Glue Gun ( Stash) 

Step 1:

I had some grey ultrasuede-y fabric in my stash. I cut it in two strips, measuring approx  5 inches by 48 inches. Tied a corner of one strip to the corner of the wreath frame as shown: 

Step 2: 

Anchor your fabric with hot glue and wrap the top of the frame, leaving the brim section uncovered. When you reach the end of the first strip, glue the second to the first and keep wrapping until you reach the top. Cut off any excess, tuck and glue edges. 

Step 3:

Now that the top of your hat is wrapped, time to do the brim! I used the decorative mesh I found at Dollar Tree ( and bought 2 more rolls because it's black and white so of course!) , some I had on hand along with some dark grey and black organza I had on hand. You'll want three strips for each bundle. 

Step 4: 

Make your bundles. Starting at one end (  short side ) scrunch / gather / pinch each strip. Hold the shape with either a binder clip or clothespin and when you have three (black and white, grey, organza) tie together w/ a pipe cleaner: 

Of course I would take a picture of one of the two clusters I made w/out organza because I didn't have enough but you get the idea!  I made 10 clusters. Using the ends of the pipe cleaners, secure to the brim part of the frame. 

Step 5:

Step 6:

Once the brim was filled in, I made a bow from some ribbon in my stash and tied to the frame with the pipe cleaner ends from the bow. To finish everything off, I grabbed some of the black mini ornaments from a previous trip and which I used on my Gothic Batty Wreath , strung them on a pipe cleaner and made a cluster for the center of the bow. 

Even happier with the end result  than I was about  my well spent $20 at Dollar Tree! Based on what I already had on hand, my total cost for this was $2!

Eclectic Red Barn

Over The Moon Link Party Eclectic Red Barn

BFF Open House

NOTE: Hi all, I'm having some issues w/ the Inlinkz code formatting 

Welcome back all! Hope you've had a wonderful week. Between the ongoing pandemic, the wild fires in the West and the tropical storms/ hurricanes in the South, I hope this is a space to take a break from the news and look at some pretty things. To all those in affected areas, my thoughts for your safety. 

Here are some of the things that caught my eye from last week's party and as always, thank you for sharing your creations here at The Answer Is Chocolate. 

This week I shared some Mackenzie Childs inspired pumpkins and Paint Poured Halloween Canvases. 

First up, some gorgeous Upcycles from The House on Silverado. I love how paint can transform the whole look and feel of a piece! 

Virginia from Artsy Va Va is back with another amazing paint project. LOVE the colors she chose for this Wood Barn Quilt. 

How much fun are these Spooky Tree Halloween Vans and perfect for now through October from Love My Little Cottage?! 

Finally, even though the temperature remains above 100 degrees here in the desert. the calendar says it's time for Fall treats. 3 Winks Design has got you covered with these gorgeous and yummy Hot Chocolate Bombs! 

Now let's see what everyone's been up to this week! 

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Mackenzie Childs Inspired DIY Pumpkins

 

If you've spent any time in Home Decor world, you are probably familiar with Mackenzie Childs signature style. I love it, not only because she uses tons of black and white but because it's whimsical, pretty, and not rigidly perfect. It's also expensive and while I'd love to have a bunch of pieces, I don't. But hey, we're Makers so what do we do? We use our faves for inspiration and DIY that stuff! 

Here's an example of the real ones: 

Supplies: 

• Plain Ceramic Pumpkins ( $1 each from Target)
• Paint Pens ( I used Craftsmart from Michaels)
• Acrylic Paint 

Step 1: 

Gather your supplies. I found these ceramic pumpkins for $1 each at Target in the section that none of us can get past. They know us! I also grabbed two paint pens: gold and black. 

Step 2: 

For the signature Mackenzie Childs check, I went down the lines of the pumpkin with the black pen. 

Since the style here is to look handpainted, you don't have to be perfect. 

Step 3: 

I went horizontally around the pumpkin with the paint pen to create the squares.

Step 4:

Tip: When I've done checkerboard before, I've gotten the order messed up so I've taken to putting a pencil dot in the squares to be filled in before I start filling! 

Step 5 

When all of the squares were filled in, I went back down the pumpkin spines with a gold paint pen and colored the stem. (I went back over that gold spot w/ black)

Et voila! 

The process for the Striped Pumpkin was similar but I used acrylic paints instead of paint pens.

I did a couple of coats for opacity. 

To finish, I also used paint and just went down each side w/ antique gold. 

Et voila!

I am pretty happy with my $2 project!