Happy Halloween Ornaments

This is my favorite time to craft, especially with miniatures, because a bunch of new spooky stuff is available at Alpha Stamps and I am itching to get my hands on it. There's quite a few partially begun Hallowe'en projects littering my craft table, but lately the days have run into one another and before I knew it, the month was half gone! Eeek! 

I couldn't let another day slip by without making something, so I grabbed a few things, snipped some bits, and glued stuff to stuff and after only a tiny while had two small hanging ornaments. 

Originally, the plans for the Large Spider Web Mirror Frame were a tad more elaborate than what it turned into, but using it for this project means I will have to get more stuff from Alpha Stamps. I am not broken up about that. :D

Before telling you how these ornaments were made (which is scary easy), I first must say how impossible it is to photograph shiny, glittery, reflective things. It's the pits. For instance, the spider web in the first ornament was painted with a silver guilding paste (so shiny) before being covered with Stickles glitter glue (more shinies). I used Silks shimmer acrylic paint on the spider but alas! All of the sparkle is lost in the picture. 

Anyway, to make the ornament, all I did was paint and paper the Large Spider Web Mirror Frame, dismember and reassemble a skeleton, add some eyeballs (or at least one...I think he's winking), a witch hat from the Mini Witchy Shape Set, and a BOO banner. There's a glass cabochon over the spider which looks really nice. You'll have to trust me on that one.

The other ornament is made from a Snow Globe Shaker, a really neat item that I also had other plans for, but those plans went out the window once I realized the Black Acrylic Lying Cat and a broom from the Mini Witchy Set fit so nicely on it. The Witch Shaker Ornament was painted black, papered on the front and inside, the cat and a "witch" from the Cinderella Silhouettes Set were glued in, as well as a sprinkling of Glow in the Dark Moon and Stars Slice Mix and Black Iridescent Mini Bats. Yes, I glued the stars and bats in place so, technically, this isn't a shaker at all. Sometimes crafting in an hour leads to forgetting to add the thing that makes it a thing. Oh well. It is still fun. Did I mention it glows in the dark?? 

It is not my week for photography...

So there you have it. Two very quick, very Halloweenie ornaments to hang on the wall or, if you go all out, on your ghastly black tree. Be bootiful, folks!

GO HERE to see the list of supplies for these easy ornaments!

Tricks and Treats Shadowbox

 Hooray, October has arrived! I have been collecting all of my Halloween goodies from Alpha Stamps for weeks and finally sat at the craft table to make a little thing.

It is a sweet 3" x 4 1/2" shadowbox with a notched lid that's stuffed with spooky treats! Inside the shadowbox is a Retro Bottle Brush Tree decorated with Polymer Clay Halloween Slice Mix, a cute Mini Halloween Cake, an altered jack-o-lantern gumball machine, a treat bag loaded with mounds of candy, some ghastly sodas, and a plate of tiny candies. Oh, and an apple!

The gumball machine started out with a red base and a clear globe, but it didn't quite work with the paper from the Halloween Market and Masquerade pads. I very, very carefully broke the clear globe off (wear protective eyewear and gloves if you do this!), discarded the glass, and saved the gumballs. To remove the bits of glass from the inside, I used a heat gun to melt the glue before picking out the glass with tweezers. Once it was clean, the base was spray painted black, and I added some stripes with an orange paint pen. The new glass globe was colored with orange and black Sharpies. I filled the inside with only the yellow gumballs before gluing the new jack-o-lantern globe to the base. The witch hat is made from polymer clay.

I also built a small heavy cardboard shelf inside the shadowbox:

I had leftover candy that didn't make it in the shadowbox, so I pulled out some 1" sytrofoam balls and air dry clay to make a couple of pumpkin pails. Can't let anything go to waste! But before we get into the making of the pumpkin pails, can we talk about the super rad Mini Creepy Sign Post? How cool is that?! The post has signs galore, plus the creepy crows are fab! 

Okay, let's peek at those pumpkin pails:

Hee, hee! They're kinda cute. All you need to make them are a few teensy styrofoam balls, air dry clay (a quality brand, please), acrylic craft paint, wire, and optional shaping tools.

Chop a little off the top of the styrofoam ball, like so:

Smash air dry clay over the ball:

Smooth the outside, then cut off excess clay from the top of the ball and slightly flatten the bottom.

Using a ball stylus or other tool, carve a kooky face, then add the rim of the pail with a strip of clay.

Poke holes for the handle!

Eat Count Chocula while it dries.

Paint!

Attach a wire handle...

Squish your candy inside, and just like that, a treat-filled pumpkin pail!

Happy October to you! Hope you are having a scream creating your own Halloween things, whatever they may be!

And GO RIGHT HERE to see everything used in both the Tricks and Treats Shadowbox and mini pumpkin pails.