Halloween haunting DIY 2

I ADORE candelabras. This next project is perfect for those who may prefer not to use real candles. instead, make your own using a hot glue gun, a big bag of glue sticks, PVC pipe couplings & Flame-less flickering tea votive. This tutorial on how to make a faux dripping candle appearance is in a coveted copy of the book "How to Haunt your house" by Shawn & Lynn Mitchell. They have 3 in the series of their Haunting books. They are available on their website :http://www.howtohauntyourhouse.com/

as well as a few online book store sources. This project is in their first book of the series. They kindly shared on the DIY network exactly how to reproduce the look, suiting it to what ever decor use you may have in mind. The tutorial is available here

:http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/halloween-decoration-how-to-make-a-faux-dripping-candelabra/index.html

So overjoyed with how easy it was as well as the outcome which produced many "you made that? no way! Teach me how.".

 

For the Halloween party, I creepified the candelabra by adding a black crow and spider webbing. The perfect centerpiece for the creepy foods table.

I could not get the thought out of my head on how to make realistic creepy night animal eyes which would appear as though they are watching you from a far. Finally the light bulb hit and this is what I whipped up. in daylight, they come out looking a bit like one eyed ninjas but set in pairs dispersed through the haunting woods trail... creep factor and distract from the next jolt of hauntingly fright moment. 

 At the Dollar tree {everything is $1 or below} I found a 12 pack of small pingpong ball style eyeballs. You could always make your own eyes using pingpong's but these were available & quick.

They also had 3 packs of the flamelss battery operated flickering tea candles. I bought over 10 packages of these to use for Halloween. From the carved pumpkins, candelabras and the eyeballs. Still far less in cost then already made projects.

 

 Using an exacto knife or drill, you make a hole in the underside. Depending where you plan to put your one eyed ninjas, determine where you want the hole which will be where you insert the plastic flame tip of the candle. You need to test the size of the hole simply by inserting the flame tip into the hole. Too small? I used a steak knife tip to scrape the hole, shaving small bits off to enlarge it until perfect.

 

On the tea light, you put hot glue circling the plastic flame tip. Not too much or it will ooze from the eyeball placement. Just a few spots close to plastic flame tip.

When you are putting the eyeball on, apply it in a small twist fashion as it comes in contact with the hot glue. This will spread the glue in a uniform way that will help prevent oozing as well.

 

 

 

 Cut rectangle shapes, using your dried eyeball candles as a source of amount, with 1 inch wider then the sides, using black tight knit fabric.Find placement of the eye pupil, mark with white chalk for accuracy. Cut an almond shape from this spot fitting to the proper size of your eye to show.

Using hot glue gun, wrap your eyeball light up, making sure the hole is in proper place. You MUST be sure to have every bit covered right down to the base so light does not shine from underneath. Ruining the illusion.

 

 The eye on the left needs more fabric on the base bottom. Off in the distance, in bushes, amongst the fallen leaves around 20 or more feet away from where people will be walking, place your eyeballs in pairs.

These worked out great for our trail haunting. I place them by tree stumps with leaves scattered around to add to the mirage. The kids LOVED it! These flickered to give the appearance of eyes twitching and blinking off in the distance. Making the kids do a double take, giving a distraction as they walked the trail before... BAM! scary guy moment. Screams and jumps. Thrills and laughter. It's all about messing with their perceptions. Distractions that are not "obvious" help knock their guard off. More or less. Mess with their heads. And they could not get enough. Going back on the trail a few more times.

 Now I'm off to see if I can get my hands on book 2 & 3 of " How to haunt your House " for more projects to work on over the next 360 days... I've got a Teen Halloween Haunting to plan in our own house next year. As well as the creep factor to play on with the woods and old graveyard next door.

Halloween. My favorite Holiday just got better.

Sweet dreams,

~Tammie

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Our Halloween Hanuting DIY short series

Halloween is my favorite holiday and this year is even more special. I finally get to expand my Halloween fun by haunting a trail in the woods behind one of Panda's friends home. I volunteered to help the parent with decking out the trail as well as some of the little party details such as the food table. Doing these parties for our children can get a bit overwhelming on our own. Having some help makes itless stressful. Not too mention, a combining of skills most appreciated.

 

I rarely use a glue gun for projects. That is until I began to realize it has far more uses then gluing things down.

I have a few Halloween projects to share with you. This one is all my creation. The others are inspired from other resources.

 

In Frog's garden I discovered some fantastic dead flowers for placing an arrangement on the table. Not just any vase will do. I needed a piece to carry on with the theme.

 

 I grabbed a large glass and began to make crackle spider web effects up and down it's exterior.Keeping the gun tip close to the glass as I trail shaky various size glue strips. Then I utilized the hot tip to squiggle them out which gave a great spidering effect. With a different seasonal theme, this could be done to appear as frost too.

 

Once I felt satisfied with the amount, I grabbed leaves from the yard and stuffed a few in the bottom. The next step was layering them along the walls of the glass so it appears filled to the brim with dead & colorful Fall leaves.

 

 

The next step was arranging dead flowers and stems found in the garden. From Teddy bear sunflowers, basil seed pod strands, dried up zinnias as well as a cosmo appearing flower bunch. I did not want to stuff it full of stems being there must be room inside to retrieve & replace the flameless flickering candle which sets off an eery candle fire effect nestled down inside the glass a few inches from the top.

 

 

To hide the battery operated votive candle, simply place a few small leaves strategically around it's base or just paint the base a neutral color like black or brown to blend it in.

There simply is not a way I have found to share with you the amazing effect seen in person with the candle light on. The votive is great for those dark nights and not so bright rooms. It truly makes it appear as the flowers are on fire inside, casting the shadows of dead stems and heads onto the walls.

This took all but 10 minutes to whip up. Imagine the table decked out with platters of coffin sugar cookies, colored chocolate realistic looking eyeball cookies, deer meat sloppy Joes as well as a few other Haunting foods on a blood deep red tablecloth. Black crows, a realistic dripping wax candelabra complete with flickering flame less candles & bits of glue gun spider webs.{ Of course, don't forget the dead flower arrangement. No proper table is complete without a flower arrangement.

Up next : Have you heard of slender man? Apparently just mentioning this names evokes fear in the minds of the heathens. I'll also share how to make your very own Hauntingly awesome Candelabra. Perfect for everyday use, especially grand for ghoulish mood setting.

 Stay tuned for some Haunted trail DIY & more Halloween treats to whip up.

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie

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Bride of Frankenstein & the Werewolf {Mum & Son dance}

Lil man's school began having a Mother & son dance last year. This year's theme was The Monster Jam which also meant one of my favorite things. COSTUMES!

I  Picked up a Vera Wang bed sheet from the thrift store and whipped up my costume as well as finding platform chunky boots. I refused to wear a wig so when I found a Bump it on sale at the hair supplies store, I grabbed it. Although it did not help that much, I ended up teasing my long hair & I swear, so much hair spray was used to get it to stand that I should have worn a "flammable" sign!

My lil Man went as a werewolf.

 I found faux hair we cut into small strands and applied by small pieces to his face & chest. For anyone attempting this with spirit glue as your adherence substance, grab a cuticle orange wood stick! Use it to place the hair onto the face where you applied the spirit gum. It goes on without a hassle & saves you the sticky fingers with hair looking as though you have an issue.

We did have a prosthetic nose but the spirit glue would not hold it on very long {note we also has an issue with the ears but we kept tapping them back in place- having the hair close to their face edges helped keep it miraged}. The pictures do not do justice on how well he looked. He was even elected to be in the costume contest but beat out by the kid in a K.I.S.S mask... I think his groupies followed him, otherwise he would have slaughtered it! They had to redo the crowd loudness vote 3 times between them!

We have 2 additions to the Hen yard and I have a trip to the Mormon cannery to share but tonight I will cut this short. I have not been feeling well and found out I will be going in for an ultra sonic breaking of kidney stones that will not pass. Yay me! {sarcasm intended}.

I will share more on all the latest news on the hen yard, the cannery & such soon. I even have special permission to get some video footage inside the cannery when I make another trip this week!

Now I must go wash my hair a few times and hope the knots come out. Plus I have werewolf hair to pluck from my son's chest & face...

Until next time...

Sweet dreams,

~Tammie



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Quick creative low/no sew costume year

Due to our week away not long ago, my budget was smacked for Halloween costumes. As in NO money. (I had $9 left on a Joann fabric gift card & that is all we spent plus 50 cents at the thrift store.) Broke thanks to the rental being $200 more then what we thought it would be due to the quote (hidden insurance & stuff) given when it was picked up. Normally all of October is spent making costumes for our little ones. This year, I had to do something different. BUT in no way was I going to just slap something together without getting creative. Making costumes is what I find this time of year so much more exciting.

First up, The beautiful raven haired girl whom fell in love with the young local Glass makers son. Unbeknownst to her, an evil witch that lived just outside the village, had a daughter that secretly admired this boy from afar.
One day, as the young boy & this beautiful young girl walked along the deer trails, not far from the witch's cottage, the evil daughter was out gathering wood for the fire. She soon spotted the two lovers amongst the trees. She became enraged when she saw the young boy holding the hand of this dark haired beauty. The jealous outcast girl could see they were smiling at each other and laughing. Then, the young boy stopped walking. He reached into his pocket, bringing out a cloth covered item he held so delicately.
He slipped this beautiful glass heart he made for her, attached only by a thin ribbon. The rays of the sun glitter along the edges, making the red glass shine as though a thousand lightening bugs danced inside. This gift made the girl so happy.

Her smile beaming up to the young boy as he stared deep into her eyes. She hugged him with delight over such an amazing gift.
The evil daughter stomped back to her cottage, intent of ridding herself of this girl. She carefully selected herbs, roots & other magical ingredients for what she hoped would seal the fate of that village girl.
The evil daughter was able to slip unseen to the girls house. Offering her this "special tea" saying it would ensure a lifetime of happiness with the man of her dreams. The girl quickly made the tea for she so deeply wanted to ensure a happy lifetime with her young love. As the last drop fell from her cup, she began to feel odd. Her skin tingled and her hair began to thicken. She fainted from fear. She knew she had been tricked. All she could think of was her one true love.
When she awoke, she found herself in the form of a crow. The glass heart still dangling from her neck. She tried to call out but the only words she could say was the last word she had thought of during the transformation. "Carl". "Carl". And to this day, as the black crow flies amongst the sky, you will hear the young girls cry as she searches for her lost love.
(Get it? Caw caw as in Carl Carl with a twist). I made this story up when I brainstormed Panda's costume. She did laugh at me and say "You totally made that up mom". Yes. Yes I did. Now go put this on...


Her costume was made with a black long sleeve tshirt under a more dressy style sun dress, given to her from a friend who had outgrown it. Same with the boots. The white capri tights were perfect with the color scheme. The only items purchased were the glass heart & black feathers attached with diluted liquid glue to the basic face mask. I paper matched the beak on before the feathers were applied. Finishing it with a yellow paint. I cut an old bed sheet to make the wings, attached them to her shirt with simple hand sewing of 1 stitch & a few knots. A few feathers added for more emphasis on what they are. Took 3 hours total.
My Little man wanted to be Hobo. Why? I truly do not know. But it worked for me and nothing was bought for his outfit. A raid into the closet brought tattered play jeans, daddy's shirt & a bandanna. The stick had somehow founds it way into our house but that's not unusual. You would be amazed at the things I find from my little Nature freaks, bringing tokens of their day in with them. It may well have served as a sword as they climbed the trees, fighting off pirates. Or as a stick to move a lone garter snake out of their path. Between the rocks in pockets of dirty clothes & leaves under pillows, I am not at all surprised to have found that stick in one of my cupboards.
A little bit of brown face paint diluted, for the scruffy dirty face as well as some old eye liner I had.

Now he fits the part of a railroad traveling hobo, sitting here at an abandoned saw mill not far from our home.

And as for frog, she wanted to be the typical Fairy princess. A few flowers left from another project, 50 cent wings from the thrift store and $4 dollars of fabric during the big moonlight madness 60% off sale at Joanns. The tulle is from a different old skirt of hers. I used a jumper dress of hers as a pattern for the outline and had just the straight side seams & shoulder straps to sew. VERY basic. I left the rest unsewn. I attached the leaf bottom with simple straight stitch, cut to fit around her midsection & freehand cut some leave strips to overlay.

A headband of her sisters holds a lone flower as her crown. Looped on with thread & needle. Voila! Fit for her imaginative play. A wand, made & given to me from a friend, was the accessory she so insisted for her costume.

As for me, I used that old bed sheet to make a hooded cloak & witch hat.I sprayed clear coat krylon (again from another project) onto the finished hat after scrunching it up a bit. This helped harden the fabric & to hold the shape better.

A broom was made from an apple tree branch, stripped of its bark while I watched Frog riding her bike in the yard. The overgrown field just South of us, supplied the straw. All free hand and it came out just fine.


Now to add a ribbon & buckle (made from an antique dresser that was falling apart-I clipped off the handle, using the back plate & pounded holes in it for the ribbon). This will hide the seam of the hats brim to the upper portion. I am using my black bridesmaid dress from my little brothers wedding, as well as a Victorian inspired white top I used in previous photos from my Gypsy tea pictures. Bell sleeves, bunched up bodice peeking from the strapless gown top. PLUS a pair of black combat boots given to me by my much loved Sister in law. Gotta look through the winter clothes bin for some socks. Panda cant find her red & white striped stockings so more creativity is in order.

I hope these inspire you to get creative & not fear a low or no budget for this wonderfully magic holiday. It is the 1 day a year you can dress up however you want (and get away with it).

Happy Halloween!

and as always...

Sweetest dreams,
~Tammie

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