Super Simple Shivery Paper Halloween Bats

Each year when I decorate by black tree branches for Halloween, I always make sure to add these tiny paper bats to the display.

They are perfect for an indoor display at Halloween time. They are so light that they swing and sway with the slightest passage of air as you walk by. Such fun!

And they couldn't be simpler to make.

What you will need is black crepe paper and very thin florist wire.

Cut your paper bats from folded over crepe paper so both sides are identical. Curl a 6"-8" length of florist wire around a pencil and with a small dab of hot glue attach one end to the back side of your paper bat.  Stretch the wire out slightly to wrap it around the tree branch, wreath or arrangement then stretch it out a bit more to position your bat. The more you stretch out the wire the more shivery the bat will be! Blow on your tiny bat and see it dance and wiggle!

I grouped mine 3 at a time for this display. I LOVE the way they came out. This would be a fun kids' craft and your could go all out, making LOTS of these bats for your house. Crepe paper is recommended since it is so light. Copy paper or cardstock is too heavy.

Try it out and see how easy but neat these bats look in your holiday house!

Quick Change Wreath Decor

I had this idea to make wreath decor that was easy to change out on different kinds of wreaths and didn't require loads and loads of hot glue to hold them on.

Here's what I came up with.

I crashed my stash and found all kinds of colorful, glittery Autumn leaves, berries and twigs. Most of them are from the Dollar Store. That's a good start!

I wanted the backing to be sturdy enough to hold all the elements but also lightweight and thin enough so the design would blend with the types of wreaths I want to decorate. The Mountain Dew box was just the right weight. I hot glued all the leaves and rosettes and berries in place on the front then attached florist wire through several holes in the cardboard on the back. 

Voila! A pretty arch of autumn colors and elements ready to go on a wreath form. I added the glittered coppery butterfly for a perfect pop of shine.

Here it is on my coffee filter wreath. It looks great! I made the wreath with white coffee filters hot glued to a basic twig wreath. Even unadorned it is pretty but this added flair is just gorgeous!

And here is the same spray on a burlap wreath I made. Presto, change-o in just a few seconds! Wow, this is working out better than I'd hoped! I made the burlap wreath using hot glue on a straw wreath form. The mix of the plain burlap and the colorful arrangement really pops!

And here is a spray on a plain old twig wreath. The fancy and the plain really look good together. Again, it took mere seconds to switch from one wreath to another!

And here it is on a tan coffee filter wreath that I made using a Dollar Store hula hoop as a base. I really LOVE how this looks all together! Not only does it look good it is super simple to change over from one wreath to another. I think it would even look good over a round mirror for a neat accent!

I'm thinking of doing another arrangement with black and purple spray painted leaves for Halloween and then, of course, another one for Christmas. Those will both be fun projects, I'm looking forward to them!

Come link up at these parties and join the fun.

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/2014/09/up-in-smoke-again.html?utm_source=Friends

http://www.simplenaturedecorblog.com/fabulous-friday-partyfall-features/

http://www.pluckys-secondthought.com/link-up-52/

Make a Grungy Primitive Pumpkin for Halloween

 I make almost all the accessories for my Halloween witch dolls and their pumpkins are no exception. I cannot find exactly the right primitive looking Jack o' Lanterns for my projects so I make them. 

Say what?

Yup, this grungy little guy is handmade. All it takes is a styrofoam ball, tissue paper, mod podge or white glue, craft paint and a stick for the stem. Here is how!

Start with a round styro ball. Smoosh it down with slow, even pressure to make slight flat spots on top and bottom. Then use the tip of a skewer or skinny paint brush to score in some seams.

Use the tip of a craft knife, x acto blade or even a steak knife to cut the eyes, nose and mouth holes.

Coat the whole ball with mod podge or white glue. Stick it on a skewer or the handle of a paint brush for the next part.

Tear your tissue paper in small pieces, less than 1" square. While the pumpkin is still wet lay the paper pieces carefully over the whole ball, using a soft skinny paint brush to gently coax it into all the crevices. This smooths out the surface so your pumpkins looks pumpkiny and not styrofoamy. 

;o)

After the tissue layer is dry paint your pumpkin with bright orange craft paint.

 Once the first layer of paint is dry, go over all your crevices and holes with a q tip dipped in brown paint. Get it in there and don't worry about being neat about it because the next thing you are going to do is use a clean q tip to remove the excess brown paint. The brown paint in all the crevices will make your carving details POP.

Poke a hole in the top and hot glue a short stick in for a stem.

Next, use another q tip with black paint and get it deep into your carved face crevices. See how delightfully prim and creepy this makes your pumpkin look? 

I hot glued a tiny silk leaf to the stem and put him in a miniature basket. I LOVE it!

You can make this prim pumpkin out of bigger styrofoam balls, too. Next I will try to make some primitive grungy skulls out of egg shaped styrofoam. That should be fun!

 This would be a fun craft for kids with proper supervision. The  neat thing about primitive pumpkins is that they never have to look perfect. Have fun with it!

No Mantel to Decorate...But I Do Have a Baker's Rack

(Copyrighted photos of gorgeous decorated mantels go here)

Truly, too many beautiful mantels to choose from! But you know what I'm talking about; totally swoonworthy mantels decorated to a "T" for every season, holiday and occasion.

 I have no such thing in my house. Sad.

But, making the best out of what I've got, I DO have a totally cool custom made wrought iron baker's rack made by The Welding Man. That's it in my header above at top left, loaded with gorgeous cobalt blue glassware. LOVE.

And here at our new home I've been decorating it for the seasons, holidays and special occasions. I'm nothing if not resourceful.

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2013/12/black-and-white-and-red-christmas.html

Here's the baker's rack today...but who knows for how long? lol!

I painted the Clason Mountain artwork to commemorate the beautiful view at our old house. I painted the middle piece because I wanted to use the same colors. So much BLUE, go figure. 

And then I started pulling things together from the rest of the house. As usual, I don't subscribe to the "less is more" school of decor. Load it up, baby!

                                 

I "frosted" the glass in the lantern for a soft glowing look, then added a string of Christmas lights. Go here for the details.

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2012/10/wax-paper-frosted-glass-twinkle-lantern.html

I still collect cobalt glass but I've slowed down and asked the fam to slow down also. But it's hard to resist that gorgeous color!  And yes, I collect the letter "A." I have over a dozen so far and I'm ready for more.

On the bottom shelf I added more blue glass and lots of vine balls and decor balls for texture. The silver blingy button decor ball is one of my favorite decor projects. Go here for the details....

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/04/silver-button-blingy-decor-ball.html

I also made the glass marble decor ball out of a Dollar Store Christmas ball and half marbles. Yeah, there's a post on that, too.

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2013/05/glass-garden-balls-diy-part-1.html

Just a few short weeks ago the baker's rack looked like this....

.....loaded up with all the music themed, green and white decor for my sister's wedding. So who needs a fancy shmancy mantel? I've got these neat baker's rack to decorate and soon...it will be time for Mother's Day decor!

DIY Oversize Acorns for Autumn Decor

Ah Pinterest, you font of ideas and things I MUST MAKE right now! LOL

I love the huge acorns I've been seeing  at some online shops but they are hugely expensive, so I was thrilled to find a way to make my own.

Here are my oversize burlap and twine acorns that were inspired by a Pin.

I like how they came out!

Here are the inspiration acorns.....

...posted by Dannyelle over at Life Is a Party.

Cute and clever, right? They are totally up my alley and I had everything I needed to do this on a Friday night. Here's a link to her DIY post for these neat acorns.

http://www.lifeisaparty.ca/2012/acorn-craft/

                             

I spray painted some oversize plastic eggs brown and moved to the next step.

I hot glued the egg halves together, then glued on burlap circles to cover the pointy end. LOTS of pleating and glue makes this work. Then I took apart some pine cones and glued the bits around the top along with a twig stem to finish, just like Dannyelle.

Hmmmm. This resembles her acorns but not in a good way, LOL! She said in her post they were a bit fiddly and I agree. Plus my pine cone pieces did not give a neat look to the topper.

So, tweaking must occur.

     

I thought they looked a bit too long so I hot glued two of the fat ends together for a rounded shape. Already this looks more acorn-y. Is that a word? It is now. And instead of pine cone pieces I used twine. Lots and lots of twine, plus a shorter bit of stick for a stem.

Here's a shot of both kinds of my finished acorns....

I really like the short, round ones with a twine top. The other just does not look as good as Dannyelle's. Pinterest fail?

I used loads of wrapped twine for a fat top. Love it!

Ooh aah! It took me a little over an hour to make these, tweaking and all. And they were free since I crashed my stash for supplies. Love that!

I'll be joining the parties in my sidebar, come visit and have some fun.

Add Book Page Leaves To Your Fall Garlands

Here is an easy project that turns out great, and you can probably do it with stuff you have on hand. I use old book pages for loads of things but this is one of my favorites. I add leaf cutouts from old books to Dollar Store garlands and really kick up their style factor.

Using a leaf pattern traced from a real life, a fake leaf or online, simply trace the shape onto a printed page of an old book. With good, sharp scissors you can cut through about six pages at a time. Here you see one size leaf we cut to add to the garland.

And here's a smaller size. Please excuse the painty, gluey crafting hands! Use a glue stick on one leaf, add a length of florist or craft wire, then put another leaf on top. You can make as many as you like, it's easy peasy and they look so cool. I believe Pottery Barn had some similar leaves a few years back for a very pretty price.

Just use the wire to twist the leaves into the garland. Here is one garland we made last year. I love the way the book page leaves "cool down" the vibrant colors of the garland. You can add as many as you wish and the wires let you "fluff" them any way you want for a fuller look.

Here they are with another more muted garland. This was for the long stair banister in my daughter's country style house. I love the way they look!

Here is a garland of oak leaves hung on a muslin curtain. Such a complement to the colorful leaves and the creamy colored muslin.

And here is one, paired with my primitive star garland, that I've looped around my entry way mirror. I really like the way the book page leaves look with all the vibrant hues!

And here's a shot of a garland used in a Thanksgiving tablescape. Add a few book paged balls and some glass ware and you have a stylish and colorful centerpiece.

I've used book pages for years for so many projects that now it is my go to look when I style my house and studio. With the holidays coming on like a freight train it's time to style up some neat decor again.

I'll be linking to the parties in my sidebar. Come visit and join the fun!

Making a Grungy Prim Pumpkin from a Styrofoam Ball

I sold one of my primitive witch dolls on Etsy and found, when I went to pack her up, that she was missing a prim pumpkin in her basket. Vanished! I make almost all the accessories for my witch and Santa dolls so I just decided to  make another one... and for once took enough photos to capture the process. 

Yup, he's not a cute and pretty Jack like you see everywhere at Halloween. My pumpkins have character!

So here we go.....

I have a stash of styrofoam balls and grabbed one in the right size. This process will work for any size foam ball. I flattened the top and bottom with a saucer to make it less round and more pumpkiny. Then I scored it with a small paint brush handle.

Using my clay tools I carved out a face. You can also use the tip of a steak knife, an X-acto blade or anything that will give you the holes you want. Crumpled up tissue torn into small pieces will cover the curves of the ball and Mod Podge sticks it on. Use a soft paintbrush and just smooth the tissue on gently. This takes the styrofoam look away from the ball and makes it look more pumpkiny and gourdy. You know what I mean!

 Here I've used pumpkin orange and red to paint the whole pumpkin. You can let this dry naturally or, if you want a bit of warty skin texture, use your heat gun to dry the paint. Hold the heat close to the pumpkin surface and you will get a bubbly, bumpy effect in no time! Go slowly and steadily so the warts form but your styrofoam ball does not melt. Soon your paint will be dry and textured.

Next, add a bit of burnt umber paint to your pumpkin then blot it off with a rag while it is still wet. Use a damp q-tip to clean up the details. If you take off too much just put more paint on and blot, q-tip it again until you get the contrast you want.

                             

I wanted my Jack to have some grungy teeth and I used the tip of a butter knife to press them into the mouth seam. Then I added black paint deep inside the eyes and nose holes and along the mouth. Use a damp q-tip again to clean up your details but not too much. Don't worry, you can keep adding and taking away paint until you get just the right grungy prim look you are happy with!

I have a jar o' twigs in my stash and found one just for this guy. What, you don't have twigs in your stash? A stick from the yard will do or even a small  cinnamon stick. I added two silk leaves (which I grunged with a little burnt umber paint since they were too bright) and a bit of curly rusty wire to my Jack and voila!

My prim Jack looks happy in his new home and tomorrow he'll be travelling with his witchy mistress to a far city.

This process works for any size styrofoam ball and you don't have to carve them like jack o' lanterns at all. You can make some grungy primitive pumpkins for your Halloween and Thanksgiving decor. I guarantee no one will have pumpkins just like yours!