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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Fast, Cheap & Easy Halloween Decor

I'm still busy decorating for Halloween. Luckily we still have 26 more days. Knowing me, I'll be decorating up to the last minute.

This year I decided to make a lot of my Halloween decor. Mostly due to the fact that I haven't ventured up into the attic to get down my old Halloween stuff. I've been using the excuse that it's too hot. But in the past week the temperature has gone from 115 degrees down to 60 degrees. So now I don't have the "But it's too hot" excuse. This week, the truth finally comes out. I'm just too dang lazy to climb up the ladder and weed through the mess of boxes to drag out the ones in the very back which happen to be my Halloween boxes.

Plus if I make my own, I actually have new stuff to blog about.

Today I will give you a little sneak peek at what I'm doing to decorate my china hutch.


First off, I made this little "happy halloween" sign. Remember back in September when I went to my local Tai Pan Trading store? I showed you a sign that I wanted to buy but I knew I could knock off.

To refresh your memory, here is the sign at Tai Pan Trading. I don't remember how much this sign was. I'm thinking between $6.00-10.00.

And here is my version. I think I like my version better. The cost of this was basically free. I already had everything on hand. The frame came from a thrift store for a quarter as it didn't have any glass or a back for that matter. I painted it black & added a piece of cardboard to fit in the back. I used some scrapbook paper I had on hand to cover the cardboard. I then printed out "happy halloween" from my computer. I then cut it out & placed it on a piece of black cardstock that I cut out a little larger to make it look like a mat. I then taped everything together. I'm happy with the result.


Next I decided to makeover some faux pumpkins and a white Christmas dove from Dollar Tree. I spray painted the pumpkins "heirloom white". And then antiqued the pumpkins with watered down burnt umber craft paint which I slathered on & then wiped most of it off. I painted the stems burnt umber as well.

I love how I turned white Christmas doves into black glittery Halloween crows. I first spray painted the white doves black. After they had dried, I covered them with watered down white school glue. And then I sprinkled black glitter all over them. Well except for the legs & beak. I did pull out the legs so they would be a little longer before spray painting them black. As crows have longer legs than doves.

I already had all the paint. All I had to buy was the black glitter which I got at Michael's with a 50% off coupon. Plus $4.00 for 3 pumpkins (I used one by the Halloween sign above) and 1 package of 2 white doves (I used the 2nd one elsewhere). The pumpkins and doves came from Dollar Tree.


I also made a couple of mummy votive holders (I'm only showing you one of them). I already had the glass votive holders left over from my wedding a few years back. And I already had the googly eyes left over from a Halloween project from years past. All I had to buy was a roll of gauze from the Dollar Tree. I just glued on the eyes & cut the gauze thinner & then wrapped it around the glass.

To be honest, I really made these last year. Lucky for me they weren't up in the attic, but in my closet where I stash candles & such.

And I stole, I mean, borrowed the idea from Thrifty Decor Chick last year.

And I know all of you have seen these chalkboard rocks from Pottery Barn. They are $16.00 for 4 rocks. FOUR ROCKS!!!! Are they frickin' kidding? Who pays $16.00 for 4 rocks? Not me.

I made my own. Again for free. I took 8 river rocks from my own backyard. Hubby wasn't too happy, but it was for a good cause, me. And I just saved him $32.00 plus shipping. So he should be worshiping the ground I walk on.

I already had left over chalkboard paint. So I sprayed 2 coats of chalkboard paint on the rocks. Then I used my chalkboard pens & wrote "Halloweeny" words on each one. Placed them under my cheese dome cloche & called it a day.

Why is it so hard to take good photos of anything behind glass?

I then printed out more Halloween labels to place on these bottles. These labels came from Kristine McKay Designs. You can find the labels by clicking here. I printed them out on some tan colored cardstock & then taped them to the bottles. I also used a little dab of hot glue.

And finally, I picked up a couple of these spider web stickers from Michael's for 99 cents each & placed them on a couple of white pitchers. Instant Halloween.

I'll be sharing my entire china hutch with you, hopefully soon. I just need to finish up a couple of things first.

I hope that you liked my fast, cheap & easy Halloween decor. And please remember, it's my decor that is fast, cheap & easy, not me.



Linking to:

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Saturday Nite Special @ Junky Funk Interiors

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots & Jello

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

22 comments:

  1. I LOVE what you've done! The sign looks MUCH nicer than the one you didn't buy. VERY elegant! CUTE decorations and I can't wait to see more:)

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  2. Very cute Kim...when I saw those rocks in PB catalog I said I want to meet one of the dummies that pay good money to buy rocks from PB.

    Looking forward to seeing the upcoming displays!

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  3. Kim, I absolutely love all of your fast, cheap and easy halloween decor. You sure have been one busy lady!

    Have a wonderful evening.
    Gail

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  4. So many great ideas. I love the bottles, what fun. The pictures are just perfect and with so many papers out there, the ideas are endless. Char

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  5. like very thing you did i love the pumpkins and crow....very nice

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  6. I love everything you did! Those tags are just so cute!

    Jeanine

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  7. Love it all! Totally cute :)!

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  8. You are too funny~ about saving your hubby 32 bucks :) I'd say the same thing. I agree, your sign looks better, and I love those mummys!

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  9. Wow. You are so creative! Your outlook on life mirrors mine and so I find myself in love with you. BTW - Changing Christmas Doves into Halloween Crows/Ravens is just wrong, even though this year I am loving black and white as in, crows, ghosts, spiders and bats. Your sign is infinitly better. Blessings.

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  10. I recently came across your blog and decided to follow it. I am truly enjoying it. You are so creative!

    I've been considering printing out some of your stuff and saving it in a Halloween folder for the future. Right now I have small kids who love tons of color and the orange, black and purple from Halloween. I love your black and "heirloom" white. It's beautiful!!

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  11. Kim, I liked the font that you used for your sign so much better! I like the spider stickers and the little bottles, too. What a fun look for Halloween.
    ~ Sue

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  12. Great decorations Kim! I really love the mummy with the gauze! Great idea!

    I'm right there with you regarding the excused why I don't want to go up to the attic! I'm even thinking I might need to make all new Christmas decor! It's all the up and down that gets to me. I wonder if hubby can rig up a pulley over the roof overhang?

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  13. i think your husband should be kissing your feet or at least massaging them --everything is just too cute

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  14. Kim, you truly have the bestest ideas! :0)

    I really do like your Halloween sign better than the Tai Pai one! The mummy votive is adorable. Love the Spooky )Find a Letter Sign in your last post, too! I've glittered some small plastic doves to turn them into crows, so of course I love your idea there, too!

    Big TX Hugs,
    Stephanie
    Angelic Accents

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  15. Lots of great Halloween decor! I like your sign better too =)

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  16. Great job on all of it! You are very creative. Love the sign ~
    I'm your newest follower and look forward to seeing more of your talent. Stop by and say hi when you can.

    Have a blessed Sunday ~
    Pat

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  17. Great ideas!

    Melissa
    http://www.burstsofcreativity.blogspot.com/

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  18. Oh man, there you go again. Making these incredible decorations. I can't wait to see the spread this year. I have NO idea how you'll top last year! It was amazing! But I'm betting you just may. :)

    Donna

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  19. Hi Kim I'll be featuring this post today! Love the printed sign - looks fantastic! Stop by and grab a featured button if you like. Thanks so much for linking to The Sunday Showcase - I greatly appreciate it! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! ~ Stephanie Lynn

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  20. The mummy votives are so cute I ran out today and bought a bunch of googly eyes and votives at the dollar store! I used strips of cheesecloth I had on hand, and LED votives. I LOVE THEM! They are so cute, I smile whenever I look at them. I've decided to make a bunch and give them to my favorite friends as a Halloween treat. Thank you for the fabulous ideas!!!

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  21. Hi I'm looking for that great pic of the treasure chest you made! Help:)

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