Happy find

Sometimes things just already exist that are perfect for an event or theme.  I found the perfect butler for my Poe party and am thrilled.  He has a raven on his shoulder and says things about "nevermore".

Even though he wasn't in my original plan, I think he'll add a lot!  So when you see them, grab them.  A little extra spend, but absolutely NO DIY!   Sometimes that in itself makes me happy.

Crystal Ball

I need a light up crystal ball for my upcoming party.  However after looking online and seeing the prices (yikes, that's scary!) I decided to make my own.

I had the following already on hand...

• 1 purple glass ball (originally from IKEA)
• 1 pumpkin light (1/2 off after Halloween last year)
• Black electrical tape

 

Starting at the outside of the base just wind the electrical tape around the light.  Keep winding until you get up to the clear plastic.  All of the orange should be covered.  Then place the ball on top of the light (this is the tricky part) and keep winding until the ball feels secure.  My ball had a flat base, so this is pretty easy.

And here it is, one light-up crystal ball.  Fortunes anyone?  Hmmm, I see saving and craftiness in your future...

Make your faux candles creepy

I love my battery operated candles in Autumn.  They're stationed around my house and automatically turn on and off every night.  I just got a new box at Costco (4 for $20).  Unfortunately when you get them they don't look very authentic.  Sterile comes to mind actually. 

But we can fix this!  Grab a heat gun,

and start melting away.

Keep melting until you achieve your desired look.  You will get run off down the sides, so put some wax paper underneath for easier clean up.  The wax will also melt and run down the inside of the candle.  I let it build up and then carefully pour it out onto the sides of another candle.  Remember the wax will be hot.

Now isn't that better!  Much more believable.

Happy decorating!





Linky Party with Eighteen25

Today I'm linking with Eighteen25 for their Halloween Linky Party!



Check out their site and see all of the other party members.

So relieved

Ahhh, so relieved this weekend.  I finally completed the major props for my Poe party.  I'm apparently not very patient with myself when it comes to my projects that last more than a week or two.  I did have a deadline though, so I guess it wasn't just my own pressure!

It feels great to finally get the kitchen table back.  It has been covered in craft supplies and tools for the last month.

So here's the big reveal (although not in its "natural setting" yet)... The Poe Tombstone!

This is a replica of the real one in Baltimore, MD.  It stands about 4.5' tall and is mostly made from pink insulation foam.  The 'bronze' face is model magic.

So there it is!  Stay tuned for the tutorial and the rest of the setup in future posts.

And the preparations continue

The theme for my 2010 display is Edgar Allan Poe.   I wanted to include vintage books in my display, however didn't have the budget or the resources for actual old, leather books.  So I went to the used book store and as luck would have it, they were thinning their stock.  So for the price of just one nice used Poe compendium, I got two big boxes of hardbound books they were going to toss!

However they were bright and shiny all taken care of in their dust jackets.  So I ripped off the jackets and set about aging them in tea.  I brewed a very large and strong batch of tea and let it cool.  Then I immersed them each for a minute or two. 

Then I took a scrub sponge and went up and down the spines to dull or remove the lettering. 

Finally I put them out to dry.

2nd project done for my vignette!  Stay tuned for more Dark Autumn ideas...

Dark Autumn preparations

I love decorating for Halloween!!  It's my favorite holiday of the year.  So many themes to choose from and lots of imagination!

One thing I like to use in my decor are leaves.  However black faux leaves are really expensive and they're fairly poor quality in terms of density/# of leaves on the garland. 

This year I wanted to use them at the base of my decorations.  I had this one from last year but needed several more.

So I went to my M's craft store and bought four of these all on sale at $9.99 ea.  They're full and thick, however they're much too pretty and bright.  I need moody and a little decayed.



Spray paint to the rescue, one can of black and voila!  Dark and mysterious, just like I wanted. 

The fabric leaves really soak up the paint, I used one can per two garlands.  If you wanted a solid black they would need another coat.  I liked the varigation showing through so left them as shown.

Before/After

These will show up soon in one of my vignettes.  Only 31 days to Halloween!!