Halloween Decorating Tutorials Part 3

First Witch "When shall we meet again? In thunder,lightning,or in rain?"

Second Witch "When the hurlyburly's done,when the battle's lost and won".

William Shakespeare :Macbeth

Crystal Ball Surrounded by skulls ,Hanging cauldrons, creepy cloth  movie shelf.Severed hand with red eye rat snacking (ewwww) That is the 3 part to this Halloween diy tut.First is the Crystal Skull ball .It took some thinking but I finally got it to look like I wanted. But before I start I want to remind you that electric lights can get very hot and you should always check and make sure that they are not getting so hot that the wires are starting to melt .NEVER leave these lights on  unattended .Better yet don't leave them on all night at all.Mine got hot and I just happened to be moving the ball when I noticed how hot the glob was getting So in this tut I will be advising you to get a battery  light (battery tee light will do )

That being said if you chose to use electric lights you are cautioned to be careful and I take no responsibility for any damages (use battery operated!!!!!).

Ok on to the tut.

supplies

a light glob ( a glass ball that goes over your light bulb,this can be any kind you have on hand .I just happened to have some in closet:)

light cover glob

Battery tee light ( found in most stores,Wal Mart, Lowe's)

 Foam skulls or plastic(DollarTree for 
1 buck)

Decay cloth or web ( anything to cover stand or table that you are setting  ball on )

2 Bowls that will use to set the ball in (can leave off if setting on a table)

Bowls that are being used for stand
this is a roll around snack daisy tray
my husband's mother had and handed
down to me .It works perfect for this!

First take the light and set it in the bowl ,placing the glob over it..Now add all those little bits of creepy cloth you have from all that cutting you did on the fireplace mantel .This will help the skulls stay in place if you use the bowl .(If not using the bowl you can scatter them around and  then put skulls around the glob.)Next place the skulls around the globe ,making them evenly spaced apart (If you want to make this a  reusable Halloween prop you can glue them around) 

Pretend these are  battery tea lights
caution if using electric light
they get to hot and can cause a fire ! Use BATTERY TEE LIGHTS PLEASE!

My crystal ball stand
ignore the dust
it adds creepy feel
that is why I didn't dust
yep that's it^^

creepy cloth and skulls

place skulls around

If you want you can now add webs ,leaves ,even chains to add to this prop.Or even a richly colorful gypsy scarf with some gold bangles and/or large gaudy rings to finish off the look (LOVING IT!!!!)

unlighted Crystal skull ball

after light out and  globs lit 

now that you have your crystal ball set up lets move on to the miniature cauldrons.

supplies

2 plastic cauldrons (small 1 each buck at dollar store)

Purple Halloween lights<Battery tea lights (again caution to not let them get to hot  or use  battery tea lights)

2 screw hooks ( any hardware store or local store ,I have had them for years so coast is unknown)

Drill (optional,you can screw them in by hand but a drill with a small bit makes it easier)

Rocks (any kind, used to hide lights)

Firstly you don't have to hang them you can set up on table as well.I just happen to have a old TV center that has nothing on it and this fit perfectly.

Drill a small hole into the underside top of the shelf(being careful not to drill very far or you can come out the other side  Take a hook screw and screw it into the top of the shelf .Keeping it centered as  best you can. 

 Next hang the pot to see if is centered (measure beforehand if you want to)

Hanging pots under shelf

 Take you light(battery tea lights ,pretend that is  what I am using .It is safer than curling up the electric lights .They will get to hot .Not responsible for any damages)
Arrange the stones around the light making it look like a blinking  fire .
You could add Halloween candy to the pots ,like gummy toes ,eyeballs things like that . simple and sweet.

Now  we have our chained severed arm that a rat is 'snacking on'.
supplies 
plastic chain (1 buck DollarTree)
Severed arm(2 bucks at Dollarstore)
Red eye Rat (1 buck atDollarTree)
creepy cloth (OPTIONAL)

Take the chain and wrap it around the wrist .Then attach this to a handle
 (or chair leg .let your imagination run ) Place hand on shelf(or floor)Then add your creepy cloth.Hang it or lay it by the hand .Play with this set up till you get the setting you like.

 Add your rat next to the hand  making it look like he is taste testing it for supper. 






Next the creepy movie shelf
supplies 
creepy cloth (1 buck at Dollar Tree)
Tacks 
plastic bat (1 buck at DollarTree)

 The creepy movie shelf is creepy cloth tacked up .
You cut it at angle from the bottom
 to give it that tore look and cut holes to make it look like moth have eaten some for supper.I added a red eye bat that suctions to glass and you have a scary movie shelf!(sorry couldn't help myself)

 There you have it Part 3 is complete!Next Part 4 Skull Tree and The Voodoo/Mad lab

Complete shelf

 You are never to old to enjoy Halloween!

Halloween Decorating Tutorials Part 2

"Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble."
William Shakespeare 

WayWay and Valie on fireplace 

Part 2

Now that you have the cauldron we will want to make the rest of the mantel look like it belongs.If you have no mantel ,you can still do this on a shelf .

Supplies 

decaying cloth/old cloth(dollar store 1 buck a package ,goes along way.I reuse mine over and over)

Decaying cloth 

Skull dolls or something creepy(1 buck at dollartree,again had for years)

anything you want to add here is up to you  as you can see I chose to use little on the shelves and the dolls were tired up to look like prisoners!(so mean!!!)

Fake link able chain(1buck dollar store)

fake dismembered limbs (4 bucks /reusable for years)

Tacks or something to hold the cloth  wall or mantel

scissors to cut cloth

Take the cloth and spread it out,placing it on the mantel in the way you want it to look .Again this is going to be more to your taste than what I tell you. Drap it and tack the cloth as you go to give it a old falling apart look. Next take your scissors and cut the cloth so it looks ragged .Cutting at an angle gives it a more realistic look.Decide how many  cuts you want ,but make sure not to cut it it all the way.Leave it together where you have it tacked to mantel.You can allso cut holes in it to make it look like moth have been eating the fibers.now slightly take the parts you cut an gently pull so it has strings hanging.Not to much!Or you can unravel allot of it!(been there done that!!) 

Cut cloth 

 Now do this for the rest of your mantle and if you have  (like I do) top rocks above the mantel just hang cloth in same way .

  

hanging cut cloth

let it hang down the fireplace sides 

Take your chain and wrap it around the leg. Here I hung it on the glass part of my fireplace and clipped the chain to the handle .Then let some chain pool beside it  for added effect(disregard the bat .lol)

chains and severed leg

Add your figures or other decorations to the mantel.Here I put  WayWay and Valie tired up and posed them . Next I added a red eye rat I have had for years.Some skull and graves figures I picked up at our local DollarTree went up on the mantel as well/ I opted not to use my spider web this year but you can add it to the screen and give it more OLD feel .Creativity is one of the greatest  thing about Halloween . The images below show you the things I added this year.You can click on the images to get a bigger view.

Valie bond

ghost

ghos

poor WayWay!!

chain and skull ghost

That is it for part 2 next  part 3 crystal ball and mini burning cauldrons!!

You are never to old to enjoy Halloween!! 

Halloween Decorating Tutorials Part 1

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

William Shakespeare 

Handmade paper clay tree with skulls
A RAY creation

Finally !!Halloween is here! Here are a few creative ways to decorate the inside of your home for  a small price.Best part is you can store it and reuse it again and again.Lets get started!

cauldron and light

I have a fireplace and mantel with rock half way up my wall.This gives me a great place to create a spooky looking pot over a fire with skulls and bones in the ashes.Even if you don't have a fireplace you can still creat this  kind of look. Setting it up in a corner of the room and be creative  with some small rocks  and such . Use the imagination .


Creepy Pot
supplies 
plastic cauldron (I got mine  1 yrs ago at our local dollar store for 2 bucks)
 Battery powered light (I got safety light that went inside a pumpkin)
Battery size you need for your light
rocks(your choice)
small skeleton bones and skulls (prepackaged 2 bucks for 4 at dollar store )
ashes (if you have any ,if not sand will be OK )


Take a small amount of ash or sand and place in the center of fireplace (or where you are building a fake fireplace). Next arrange your light(after you put batteries in !!) in the center of the ash .Light dusk or arrange the ash to cover the light but making sure you can see some of the light after you place the pot on.

place the light in center and arrange

Now arrange your rocks so that the pot will be lifted up slightly so you can see the light flickering under it.Next place the pot on the rock and arrange how you want it .

set pot on top of light

Take your skulls and bones and break them up so you can scatter them in the ash.At this point it is all up to how you want it to look .Take your time and place things ,adding a little bit of ash to dust over the bones giving it that "been there a long time "look .

take skulls apart to place under pot

Below are images of my pot after i got it to look like I wanted it CREEPY!!
 

add skulls

skills and bones placement

 This is part one of the Halloween Decorating. I will add the following parts today ,but due to the long post I thought it would be easier to separate the parts!
Part 2 coming up! 
Your never to old to enjoy Halloween!!

Spooky Bone Jars Tutorial

This will be a tutorial on how I make my bone jars for Halloween . These look great sitting on a table or counter .They are cheap and a prop you can use year after year.
Lets begin!


Materials
Jars that will fit your bones 
water
food coloring 
lemon juice or vinegar
fishing sinker or something heavy to weight down bones
and the bones of your choice


I go to the dollar tree and get lots of things and they usually have the pack of bones .The dollar stores in your area should have some  fairly cheap ( I like cheap)


Take your jar and fill it with tap water (remember we are adding to the water so do not fill all the way )

Add food coloring .Just a few drops .You want to be able to see the bones and if it is to light you can add more later. 

I add about  to 2  tbs of lemon juice as a perservitive .You can leave this out if you are only going to have the props up for a short time .I add them because  I leave mine up for a long time.Stir the water to get it all mixed well Now take the bones you bought and add sinkers or small rocks to give them weight .This will help them stay at the bottom of your jar  and not float .If your bones do not have a hole you can drill a  whole big enough to add the weight ,but most times the hole will be on the plastic bones.

Drop the bones in the water and you are done! Now all you have to do is add some spider web ,plastic mouse and  such . This is spooky looking with black lights in the background. When I have mine up at Halloween I will post the pictures. It looks great, Fast ,easy,and cheap !MY kind of Halloween!!