Witch, Please!

I was poking around an antique mall with friends a few weekends ago, when I came upon an old photo that just spoke to me. It was a photo of four women, and the two ladies on the ends happened to have pretty creepy eyes. With Halloween approaching, I knew I just had to make them into a small coven of witches. I trimmed the cardboard the photo was mounted on and added a border made from Dazzles thin line stickers.  The two creepiest ladies each received a nice broomstick, and all were adorned with witch hats. I added a few dark black "buttons", and one skully badge.

Usually, I would scan a photo like this and use the reproduction, but I do feel that using the original photo makes a much better result. It's a little scary gluing things down when it's a one of a kind, but the result is definitely worth it. Here, I enlarged it for you so you can see those eyes, especially on that witch on the left. She's definitely working on a spell.

Stay spooky!

Haunted Halloween Surprise Box

I don't know about you, but if someone gave me a beautifully wrapped little gift that had a tag proclaiming it "haunted", I might think twice about opening it up. It's so tempting, though. I do love Halloween, and look how fun that bow is...

But beware! This is not an ordinary box, it's an exploding box straight from Alpha Stamps. Once you lift the lid, the sides of the box slowly open, and you see exactly what's doing the haunting.

Yikes! It appears to be a forgotten cemetery, and one of the grave's occupants seems to be clawing his way up from underground. I cut those hands off of an unfortunate plastic skeleton.

The chipboard tombstones were painted in mottled black, grey and white acrylic paints, and then embellishments were added: a silver medal flower on the cross, some rub on scrolly lines and a painted RIP on the rounded stone, and a silver skull charm, also painted, on the pointed headstone. Some tiny bats, cut out of a chipboard border, fly overhead. A spooky skull has also made an appearance.

There are also a few pumpkins in the graveyard. The two in the back help stabilize the chipboard fence. The flap of the box with the night sky on it is supported in the back by some clay so it remains upright when the box is opened. I added a faux orange side behind it for symmetry.

Would you open it? Happy haunting! For a complete list of supplies, click here.

Teeny Tiny Halloween Shriney (x 3!)

It's the most wonderful time of the year: college football, and Halloween crafting. Yay! Today I present to you three out of the five adorable mini Halloween shrines just released from Alpha Stamps. The opening of each one measures just 2" by 2". The tallest one shown below is a little less than 6" tall. So cute! Here's what I did with mine...

For the Raven October Shrine, I painted the front with acrylics, and gave the raven a witch hat and a red rhinestone eye. The interior is lined with a very dark paper (with bats!) that is pretty much impossible to photograph due to the depth of the box. Please use your imagination.  Three tiny trick or treaters stand on a bed of moss and select from the available pumpkins. I considered printing out the "pumpkin patch" sign, but every pumpkin patch I've ever been to seems to sport a crudely painted sign, so I hand painted the sign in the interest of historical accuracy. Rickrack covers the tabs that show on the front when the box is assembled.

I love the orange polka dot paper that I used on the sides so much that I used it on all three of the shrines.

Here's a slightly better view of the inside.

I considered painting details on the top part of the Haunted House Shrine, but once I painted the back black, I really liked the plain silhouette, so I painted the front plain black as well. This shrine was lined with a dark purple paper with a bed of moss on the floor. A full moon smiles at a black bat, as two little black rats explore the graveyard. Black and white baker's twine hides the tabs on this one.

There's that orange polka dot paper again!

The interior. The rats were actually tiny white mice, but a little black paint made them look more sinister and rat like.

And, the cat. I gotta be honest: I am not a cat lover by any means. However, there was something about this cat that I just couldn't resist. This shrine is similar to the others, so it comes with the 2" by 2" square opening, but I gave my kitty a mouth. And teeth. I cut a piece of shirt cardboard just big enough to attach to the front, and painted a nose and mouth. Once the paint dried, I cut out the interior of the mouth, and it was the perfect size to catch a big ole black rat. The cat looked so happy, that I felt it needed a Halloween party hat.

And yes, the cat got the orange paper sides as well. Kitty better watch out, or that rat's going to get away!

There are two other shrines in this set: a cat sitting on a pumpkin, and a cat in front of a full moon. I might get around to constructing those soon, but I'm working on a different Halloween project for next week first. Meanwhile, if you want to make some of these tiny shrines, click here for a complete supply list.