Shadow Boxing

Halloween has to be my favorite holiday, and my favorite way to celebrate the day (other than pumpkin carving/decorating) is creating a Halloween Haunted House Shadow Box. Every time I visit a thrift store, I'm on the lookout for shadow boxes, or things that could be made into shadow boxes. The base shown here today was a thrift store find that cost me $1.99. It started out as a wooden silverware divider.
Turning it sideways, I was able to balance my skeleton on an abandoned skull, while juggling three smaller skulls (that would have been where I'd have put my forks). Due to my generous inheritance of crafting supplies, I now have enough tiny Halloween figures, stickers, buttons, charms, etc., to make at least a dozen or more creepy shadow boxes.
I've even started facilitating shadow box workshops at a local antique store that supports local artists. I supply all  materials and shadow boxing is a favorite workshop offered there. So I finally found a way for my passion to (help) support my art!
Below are a few shadow boxes I offered as samples for previous workshops, to inspire participants

Both shadow boxes are single compartment frames. The black framed one above features a column of giant skulls guarding the doorway into a witch's castle, with a sinister skeleton welcoming the unsuspecting visitor. The black cat should be a dead giveaway, but I watch too many horror movies...
The white framed box below features a view from the outside of both the landscape,eerily watched over by a misty skull. The view of the house foretells a witch's supernatural power over the house (the giant spiders don't help the ambiance).

:A few details about the supplies I used: the haunted house is from a Christmas clearance sale on miniatures at a Dollar store.  I painted them black and rubbed the edges with a little silver ink. The backgrounds are printed on plain print paper from websites like The Graphics Fairy.

My first Haunted Shadow Box House took me a week to finish. It was shaped like a house with a lot of little cubbies which I filled with background papers, sometimes adding cardboard to vary the depth of each cubby. It measured over 24 inches high and about 18 inches wide. I sold it to the owner of the antique store for a good price, and she brings it out every October to lure her customer into coming in and signing up for the Halloween workshops. Here's a pic:

So now you know I have a kind of creative fascination with Halloween and the macabre. I'll leave you with one last piece of holiday artwork. It's a table centerpiece for Dia de los Muertos.

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