Creepy Portrait Wall

This year I decided to go all out on the interior of my house for Halloween. I saw an idea on Pinterest for a creepy type of photo wall and wanted to try it out. It was really easy to recreate and you can put a lot of your own touches on it.

All you need are picture frames, even ones you already own, and the time and energy to search out Pinterest or the internet for photos that fit your theme. In my case, half the frames I owned and the other half I got at thrift stores. I probably spent $5.00 total for frames. I used push pins to hang all the frames as they were lightweight. 

As you can see above, and throughout the other pictures, I'm really into witches this year. I liked this picture above and the fact that it printed with a black boarder. I decided to use a dark red scrapbook paper for the background and put it in a larger black frame. It helped give the overall look of the wall a "darker" feel.

Above are some of the frames I used and a closeup of some of the pictures. Check out those twins! They get me every single time I see them! Just loving sisters right? Or something out of The Shining!?

The above picture is my absolute favorite! As many of you may recall, my love of Halloween comes mostly from my Gran Mac. Unfortunately she passed away this spring and so the witches are a tribute to her. She absolutely loved the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch of the West was her favorite character. The photo itself just seemed like something she would really love.

The cool thing about this frame is that I bought it as-is with no glass so it was really lightweight. I just loved all the different layers and colors of the frame. It was perfect for putting a green background to compliment the black and white photo.

Above is the finished project. I will note that the painting of the girl in white to the left was a $10 picker find that seemed so fitting I just had to have it! You will also see that I put a few "scenic" pictures in there for effect, including the outside of the WDW Haunted Mansion on opening day. And if you look really close you might see a few Grim Grinning Ghosts! It's a little hard to take a quality picture of the overall look, but trust me when I say it's amazing in person.

Next up I will get more into the detailed touches of what makes this a WDW Haunted Mansion theme. All I'll say is be prepared for a whole lot of Leota! Stay tuned to see what's in store....

Creepy Eyes Wallpaper

After a very long time away from blogging, I'm back, and just in time for Halloween!! I've been crafting during the hiatus, I just haven't been sharing it on the blog as we've been a very busy family this year.

I'm not surprised that I had an urge to blog again right around the time I started thinking up ideas for Halloween. As I've mentioned before it is my absolute favorite holiday!

This year the inspiration for my interior decorations is coming from the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion ride. I have a LOT to share with you over the next few blog posts, but I figured I'd kick it off with a simple and very cost effective craft I call "creepy eyes wallpaper".

Note: I did this by myself within 15 minutes but it is a very kid friendly craft if you have little helpers!

For those looking to recreate this craft you'll be happy to know it cost me a total of $4.50. I got the black tablecloth for $1.50 at Dollar General and the creepy eyes for $2.99 at Michael's. Other supplies you will need include scissors, tape, and a stapler, but you should already have that on hand.

After taking the tablecloth out of it's packaging I hung it on the door and found a crease to cut it from to size it right. Make sure you have extra tablecloth on the sides and the top so you can wrap it around the door frame. The only part you'll want to be cut accurately is the bottom as you won't be wrapping that under. As you'll see in the picture above, I had enough excess tablecloth that i could roll it and staple it on the top corner. This will help keep the tablecloth from sagging. You want it as tight to the door as possible.

You'll also want to make sure you pull it tight around the hinges so that you are able to open and close the door without the tablecloth ripping. For the doorknobs, cut a small hole in the tablecloth and push the doorknob through. Don't forget to also cut a hole for the door jam as well so the door will function properly.

After you are finished taping the tablecloth to the back of the door you can begin to apply your sticker eyes. I found the pack I bought at Michael's had a nice adhesive so I'm not worried at all that the stickers will fall off. On the other hand I was able to gently peel them off and move them if I needed to, although I don't recommend doing that too many times.

Above is the finished product! I hope you like what I created.

I think it's important to point out that the reason I call this a "creepy eyes wallpaper" is because you could easily do this on any wall of your home. I chose to do it on this pantry door because the area I am decorating is my kitchen and I was running out of wall space.... which means next up is a wall of creepy photos you won't want to miss!

Candle Holder Cookie Tray

This project was something I've wanted to try for a while. I really wanted to do something like this as dessert trays for my wedding. The few times I went to the thrift store last spring I wasn't able to find the right plate or I couldn't find a candle holder that was heavy enough. By chance, a couple months ago, I found two silver candle holders with a nice base and some decent weight to them. Not too far away, on the same shelf, I found matching China with a pretty blue flower pattern.

I used my hot glue gun on high heat for this project. The truth is I had a "win" and a "fail". I was able to get one of the plates to stick to the candle holder and maintain a grip. The other one wouldn't no matter how many times I tried. (Good thing about hot glue is if it won't stick it's pretty easy to peel off.) 

I'm not really sure what the solution is... possibly gorilla glue? or super glue? If I ever find the time I'll try it again. If this project interests you there are lots of other "pins" on Pinterest that might be able to provide additional insight.

Corkboard Picture Frames

A couple of months ago Crafty Kid was with me at Michaels and we picked up a bunch of raw cork for a school project she was working on. It was marked down 60% and I figured I would eventually find a use for it. Flash forward to a couple weekends ago, my sister was in and we went to the Salvation Army. I found a bunch of picture frames between $.50 and $1 a piece. Score! I knew immediately that I could make some pretty cute framed corkboard memo/keepsake holders.

Supplies needed for this project:

• Raw Cork Pads (4x4 size used here)
• Picture Frames
• Cardboard 
• Crafting Knife (exacto)
• Hot Glue Gun

First thing I did was take out the glass in the picture frame. (Consider keeping it for future projects if you have the room to store it.) I then took a cardboard box and cut it to the size of the frame since this is what you are going to glue your raw cork on to. Make sure to put the unmarked side of the cardboard facing up because the color closely matches the raw cork. Close the back of the frame up. Now you can start to space out your raw cork.

I glued a solid 4x4 square of the raw cork in the top corner with hot glue. From there I started to measure out the pieces that would fill in the rest of the space on the cardboard. I have no tip or trick here. I just eyed it up and tried to be precise. The crafting knife cuts the raw cork nicely. I scored it and then gently cracked the raw cork in half. I then used the crafting knife to clean up the cut edge. I glued these pieces into place until all of the cardboard was covered.

As you can see above they turned out nice! Don't worry about small gaps in the cork puzzle pieces you've now connected. The cardboard underneath is such a close color you can barely tell. Also, if you are truly using these for their intended purpose they will soon be covered in memos, pictures, and keepsakes.

I think this could make a great gift as it can be utilized in both your home or at the office.