Tag Archives: Halloween

Halloween Invites done!

October 7, 2014UncategorizedHalloween, memories, PartiesWilliam Davison

Well this year I waited too long before working on my invites… but I buckled down last night and finished up a vintage looking invite for my annual Halloween party.

Not my best and most creative invite, but I think a very nice looking none the less.

Below is the cover… a spooky scene with a full moon (which we won’t have the luxury of having this year near halloween), a flying witch and a Jack-o-lantern with a nosy cat! (of course not my artwork but two different ones put together, postcards) The corn stalks and sky with the black, orange and white clouds reminds me of the simpler time in the halloween of yester year that I remember growing up with. The decorations were hung in the classrooms and we as kids made construction paper owls, bats, ghosts and ghouls… ah the good ol’days!

Inside I left the pumpkin and cat… giving just enough information to get the point across and keep it simple…

I wanted to have an elaborate invite with cool steampunked theme… gears that turned, a banner with an old timey feel giving the invited guest a feel of the 19th century’s British Victorian era… a feel like the party would be all the rage and an event that is not to be missed… but now looking at my invite… I feel a vintage, more real and more my style invite shaping up.

I will print, cut out and glue each into a folded sheet of construction paper, letting me relive my days again of fall, elementry school and the excitement of being a kid during Halloween!

Halloween Baby Doll – “Day Of the Dead”

October 24, 2013Halloween, UncategorizedBrush, Crafts, Day of the Dead, Doll, Halloween, Hot-melt adhesive, Papier-mâché, PlasticWilliam Davison

Every year I have created at least one new Halloween baby doll for my collection. So, last year I did a Day of the Dead baby doll with eyes that roll back open when the doll is sat upright, movable head, and its very own festive custom paint.

I have done some pretty cool baby dolls for Halloween, but to me this one doll really is the coolest and, at the same time, the creepiest and most fun to create. I find my dolls at the local thrift stores taking care to find the ones with all plastic bodies, eyes that roll (and for my zombie doll a few years back, the tube that would allow me to make blood and green stuff come out of the mouth, depending on what I filled the squeezable holding bladder) and any other feature I might want to turn into a special effect.

Here is some other dolls:

Some commonly used items for this type of project:

Sharp knife, hot glue gun, spray paint, acrylic paint, paint brush, scissors, CelluClay (a

Papier-mâché-type product sold at craft stores), aluminum foil, fabric and a plastic baby doll.

After taking the clothes off (and tossing them in the washing machine for re-use on other projects) and cleaning the plastic body of the doll with water and a few drop of bleach, I can guarantee that my doll is clean and ready for me to work on. Also it removes crayon marks, dirt, juice or anything else the doll was pulled through in its previous life. A clean canvas is key to the creative flow. A light sanding will also allow paint to stick better, so you might want to rough up the plastic body a bit.

I typically pull the head off, cut out the eyes with a sharp razor, and start my transfer of the eyes back into the plastic skull. Cut a hole big enough for the rolley eyes and hot glue them into the skull. On this doll, I also cut the hands and feet off to allow plastic skeleton hands to be hot glued on in their place.

20121003_172301

Next is the paint! I use acrylic paint with a base coat of flat black spray paint.

: Custom Paint!

He is ready for the kiddies . . . Halloween . . . and to be on display for whomever comes during the month of October!

I think the creepier the better. Have to keep those Trick-or-Treaters on their toes! As they get close, you can see their faces turn from ones of sugar-filled happiness to ones of horror and disgust!

Scarecrows!

October 11, 2013Decorations, Halloween, MakeHalloween, ScarecrowWilliam Davison

If you have a murder of crows invading your front yard or you want to add a bit of fright for the kiddies on Halloween night, then the perfect Scarecrow display will do the trick, for scaring those treaters.

A simple poles with cross beam design provides the support, clothes from a thrift store or your old jeans that don’t fit can be the start of a very fun and cheep display. I stuff my old clothes with newspaper and take safety pins (around the belt line) to secure the pants and the shirt to keep the pants on and the shirt from letting out the newspaper stuffing.

Wood poles and twine or zip ties and a screw to secure.

Shirt on pole — Put the shirt on the pole, with the arms of the shirt around the cross dowel.

pants attatched — The grey lines are to represent safety pins to secure the pants to the shirt. Remember…the pole will need a place in back of the pants to come out behind the pants or cut a hole or run it all the way down the pant leg on one side.

The stuffing is up to you… how much or how little is a way to make your scarecrow who you want it to be.

I use a support that anchors the base to a fence and a spike that is sunk into the ground for added stability.

20130929_155848 — Finished Scarecrow with fence.

Add a pumpkin head, and some lighting, a hat or even a few strategically placed black birds or an owl and you are all set!

Spooky Candle Holder in an Hour!

October 4, 2013Arts and Crafts, Decorations, Halloween, MakeCandlestick, HalloweenWilliam Davison

Thrift stores have it all… if you are looking for something and it doesn’t have to be new, and you can take your time to find it… then for pennies on the dollar you can find treasures! One such treasure… a brass candle holder for three candles.

Now I wanted to make this candle holder for my Halloween party covered in spider webs, dripping blood and super creepy… I got started and realized it didn’t need to have an “over the top” covered in craziness… a simple design made it classy yet, when lit, it was an eerie sight… you judge.

: Puts out good light, just warn guests to remember their surroundings and Hair and Costumes are flammable!

I started by painting the brass flat black, added with a glue gun small skeleton hands I found at the hobby and craft store, added a painted plastic skull to the top and finished with 3 (Halved) blood dripping candles. The beads were an after thought and not permanent to the decoration but added for the color to tie in some other decorations.

A simple design and a fast build (less than 1 hour total) made for a nice addition to the decorations for the Halloween party. I ended up finding the same candle holder a few months later, and will make a twin for the other side of my sliding glass window.

Pumpkin Head Baby Doll!

October 2, 2013Arts and Crafts, Decorations, Halloween, MakeCrafts, HalloweenWilliam Davison

Every year I have create at least one new Halloween Baby doll for my collection… but now it is time to share my creations… This year I did a Pumpkin Head baby doll with the eyes that roll back open when the doll is sat upright, movable head, and its very own custom fall robe.

I have done some pretty cute ones for Halloween, but to me this one doll really is the cutest, littlest and (at the same time the creepiest) most fun to work on. I find my dolls at the local thrift stores taking care to find the ones with all plastic bodies, eyes that roll (and for my zombie doll a few years back, the tube that would allow me to make blood and green stuff come out the mouth, depending on what I filled the squeezable holding bladder) and any other feature I might want to turn into a special effect.

Some commonly used items for this type of project:

Sharp knife, hot glue gun, paint, paint brush, scissors, Papier-mâché, spray paint, tin foil, fabric and a plastic baby doll.

A few items used to make a Halloween Baby Doll, not all items pictured... so please see text! — A few items used to make a Halloween Baby Doll, not all items pictured… so please see text!

Taking the clothes off (tossing them in the wash machine for recycle on other projects) and cleaning the plastic body of the doll with water with a few drop of bleach… I can guarantee my doll is clean and will not get me sick with some kiddie germ I have not seen in 30 years. Also it removes crayon marks, dirt, juice or anything else the doll was pulled through in it’s younger life. A clean canvas is key to the creative flow.

I typically pull the head off, cut out the eyes with a sharp razor, and start my Papier-mâché using the head as a base and work slowly to build it up. Setting the eyes back into the appropriate place (or not, DEPENDING on if you want A HUNCHBACK baby doll) and letting the molded wet paper dry. Once the paper is semi dry it is time to add the scars, wrinkles or cut in the nose and mouth. Add teeth (plastic fork tines), sew a robe for the baby doll body and paint!

I think the creepier the better… keep those Trick-o-Treaters on their toes! As they get close and see their faces turn from sugar filled happiness into one of horror and disgust!

Tomorrow… a candle holder that will be the talk of your Halloween Party!

Halloween is in 30 days! Party invites, decorations and more… all in 30 days?

October 1, 2013Arts and Crafts, Decorations, Halloween, MakeHalloween, PartiesWilliam Davison

The Fall air and chilly nights has put me in the mood to do some cool Halloween decorations, plan a Halloween party and show others how much fun and how easy it really is to make your own decorations and invites for your next Ghoulish Party!

With party invites I needed it to be fast, as I wanted to send them out to family and friends to give them enough time to put it on the calendar, schedule a baby sitter, and prepare for a costume (no one gets into my Halloween Party without a costume!), so the invites were done in one day… and sent out the very next day.

I gathered some of my last year decorations, placed them on a table with good lighting and started taking photos! After several changes I got what I thought would be good for an invitation card photo. I cropped the back ground clutter, dropped it on a night sky (with moon) background and… looky looky… a spooky invite!

Cropped and dropped onto a back ground of the night sky with moon.

Next, printing them out on my photo printer I could add the required text on the back! Making them a postcard and since my photo paper is blank on the back… all that was required was my excel address list and printing out my invites on the reverse side of the photo paper made for a quick and easy invite.

Added info and made the size a postcard.

Tomorrow I will discuss the Pumpkin Head Baby doll decoration, the center of attention in my invite photo….

Hope you will come back to check it out… 30 days of making, crafting, cooking, planning for a Halloween party to remember!

Turns out… I am Crazy!

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