31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 3 - Spooky Door Decor

 Hello, witches! My project today is a welcome wreath, Halloween-style. I unearthed a wire wreath form I had bought from Dollar Store last year and tried to weave black tulle around it. That lasted 20 minutes! So then I pulled out some leftover orange canvas and wound it around most of the form. 

Continuing to pull from my Halloween craft supplies gather over the years, I found a bare wooden haunted house sign that I just painted black...

and a wood and wire fence I painted grey...

and some foam flowers...

and foam ghosts that used to be part of a banner...

and a few miscellaneous pumpkins/jack o' lanterns.

My hot glue gun saw some serious action. I want to be able to show this off for the next several years.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Is it just outside, or do you do the inside of your house, too? My neighborhood goes crazy at Halloween. There are some neighbors' houses that my kids (when they were younger) would not go up to their doors for candy! Coffins and gigantic spiders and zombies, etc. I just like to put my artwork in the windows and on the doors, and a large vase or two of altered flowers/plants.  

 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 2 - Book of Bones (and where to dig them up)

 

Last summer I picked up a baker's dozen of book boxes to alter for Christmas. You can see them on my blog HERE. Since I didn't use all of them yet, I decided to make a few Halloween book boxes as decor. Here is the box before alteration.

Today's make is a Book of Bones and where to dig them up. I pulled out my Rubbermaid tub of Halloween craft supplies and pulled apart a few Dollar Store skeletons. Using their legs and arms as well as a skull and backbone, I hot glued these parts to the cover to spell out the book's title. Leftovers decorate the cover as well. Next came crumpled tissue paper and homemade mod podge. 

After drying, I used various paint brushes to highlight the letters and body parts. I always use designer papers for the inside of my book boxes and then fill them with goodies. Last Christmas, I made five holiday book boxes, filled them with homemade goodies and gave them to my neighbors and my postal worker. This year, a few more neighbors will get Halloween candies inside their boxes. 

I'm trying to use up my stash of holiday craft supplies, but the Dollar Stores are sooo tempting, especially around Halloween. We'll have to see how long I resist all the goodies, especially after watching dozens of Halloween DIY videos on YouTube! LOL

Do you get kids trick or treating at your house? I used to have so many I had hubby go to the store after running out of treats. But over the last few years, I get maybe a dozen kids and I'm stuck with a bunch of candy. I hope it picks up this year... 

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 1 - Autumn canvas

Hello, my peeps! Starting today, I will feature crafts, decor, haunted tales, cartoons, etc. all with a Halloween vibe. Be prepared to be inspired and a little spooked by my offerings. Today, I created wall decor for my home, altering a wooden box/sign from the Dollar store that was an Easter decoration, now bringing in the Fall season. 

I used some of my leftover stash of papers and adhered it to the front, after peeling, scraping and sanding the original clean. Searching through my Halloween craft supplies, I found the sticker letters spelling FALL and added them after placing a line of pumpkins from my ribbon/trim stash.

I finished off my project with tiny leaf die-cuts and a button (the tree). This was a very simple project that took me more time looking for the supplies than to put it together. Don't you love that kind of project? LOL

I will be showcasing a new make every day in October, some cute like this one, others bringing out the creepy, spooky vibes. At the end of the month, I will randomly pick someone who has left a comment on any of my blog posts and send them a digital copy of my new coloring book. This book features a lot of my Zen doodles as well as others I have not published. Being digital, you can print and reprint on any kind of paper repeatedly!

Do you know why leaves change colors in the Fall? While chlorophyl keeps them green in Spring in Summer, the chemical decreases its production as cooler temps appear in the shorter days. According to Science Notes, leaves also contain flavonoids and carotene (orange and yellow) as well as lycopene and anthocyanin (red and purple). As chlorophyl decreases, these chemicals show their true colors. When the temps lower, leaves lose their bright colors, turn brown and brittle and then die. 

Mixed media - Sewing project or canvas?

 

When I was growing up as a kid, my gram taught me how to sew. She started with cross stitching, moving onto other stitches as I improved. Today I went back to my childhood and spent my craft time in awesome memories of Gram and me. 

The canvas is wrapped in Aida cloth, which is woven and produces tiny holes that needles can easily go through. I didn't cross stitch on it. I first drew my mushrooms with pencil. After using acrylic paint to color my scene, I used a plain stitch to outline the fungi. 

After covering up the painted parts, I used glimmer mists to spray the sky blue and the earth green. I hot glued my two gnome buttons to finish off my project. So, sewing project or mixed media? I think I can safely say BOTH!

Challenges I am Entering:

Everybody Art - Anything Goes

Crafting Happiness - Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Corrosive Challenges - Anything Goes

We Love to Create - Anything mixed media goes

Adventure Time

 

Sometimes my daughter has (ahem) weird taste in TV shows. One of these is a cartoon series called "Adventure Time". Besides the almost unfinished look to the animation, they are a strange cast of characters. The heroes (if you can call them that) are named Finn and Jake. The setting is someplace not on this Earth. There are characters that are clouds, a remote control, fruit and other strange things. 

But she loves it, so when I found a canvas-covered journal in my stash, I decided to attempt to draw the characters. I have to say, they look a lot like the TV show. But my best work is the title, just the way it appears on TV. I used my Posca paint markers on all but the black outlines.

And most importantly, my daughter loves her new journal. So for me, its a success! 

Zen Coloring My Zen Doodle

 .

I posted a Zen Doodle I had drawn back in June. My cousin actually went through my doodle art journal and suggested putting them together to create a coloring book. I gave it some thought and decided to color one of my doodles to see if maybe others might like to color them as well.

And the result is featured above! I love the way her hair came out. I used both markers and colored pencils to try and blend my colors. I'm not sure about the face-it looks too small for her hair. But this is just the first draft. I can print up as many as I wish and try different media and colors. But I hope you like this first draft. 

Let me know in the comments if I should continue putting my doodles together into a collection...  

One Last Deck Decor Item

 

I think I'm finished decorating the "new" deck. My last contribution to it is this large metal vase. I had painted it in aqua/teal colors to match the former deck. Today I spray painted the whole vase. When it was dry, I used a stencil to help me paint a tree in gold acrylic paint. I also painted a band of gold at the neck of the vase. All I had to do to finish it off was find flowers to fill the vase, which I had in my garage.

Speaking of garages, mine and my daughter's cars have centimeters on each side when parked inside the garage. The garage is loaded with bins, furniture and tools from my my mom's and gram's houses. I'm storing these things mostly for my sister, who can't decide what she wants to keep and what she's willing to give away. I'm trying to clean my garage out, but it's a very slow process. I am overwhelmed with STUFF, some of it not my own. Anyone have any ideas to pull me out of my hoarder's dilemma?