My Favorite witches

These are my favorite witches.

 Hildegourd.................................................and Forest Pansy

 

Vintage Halloween Candy Containers

Vintage Halloween Candy Containers

I was excited to make these cute Halloween boxes. I used Styrofoam balls that are smooth. Much easier to work with. Get paper mache boxes to fit. (Actually, you want the boxes to look a little oversized because you're going to cover the Styrofoam balls with  paper clay and make them bigger.)

I stuck a skewer into the bottom of the Styrofoam ball and then stuck it in some Styrofoam packing protection to dry. The skewer makes it much easier to handle the project. Work a thin layer of paper clay over the Styrofoam ball. (Paper clay is smoother than celluclay. Easier to work with, but maybe harder to find. If you can't find it, plan on doing some sanding on the celluclay--or have a more rustic finish.) Keep working the paper clay until it is fairly smooth. Then add the details. I dug vertical grooves in the pumpkin with a pair of needlenose pliers. Any tool with the shape you want will work. Just dig down to the Styrofoam level and smooth it out. I dug out eye holes with my finger tip, twisting in a circle.

For the cat's ears, I cut slits in the top of the ball (before the paper clay) I cut triangles with tabs on the bottom from corrugated cardboard for ears and jammed them down into the slits. I squirted in  some white glue. Once the ears are covered with paper clay and supported with extra clay around the base, they look pretty good. For the cat I also pinched off a little clay for a nose and puffy cheeks--or jaws or whatever they are--under the nose. I used my fingertip to gouge out a smiling mouth. When the head is covered and sculpted to your satisfaction, stick it in the Styrofoam packing chunk to dry.

Next day gesso the head and the paper mache box. Or use some kind of primer on it. You can cover the box with pretty paper or paint it. Paint the lid and the inside too. Paint the head as desired. I found that tiny details like teeth or eye pupils are easier done with a paint pen or permanent marker.

I covered everything with a gloss glaze when it was finished. You might be happier with a matte glaze which would make it look  more vintage. You can also sand and/or glaze the corners of the boxes to age them. I drilled a tiny hole into the center of the box lid and then ran a small screw up through the lid and that skewer hole in the bottom of the head. Lots of glue, and it should stay solidly attached. I covered the joining, and helped support it with a strip of tightly gathered ribbon. Decorate as desired and enjoy your display!

Easy Vintage Halloween Pendants

I'm pretty dumb about this, but I can make bread! Anyway, I made these cute Halloween pendants from downloaded vintage Halloween art and various pendant bases. I used blank dominoes, pendant bezels, slide frames and dog tags. They all turned out cute. In each case, you carefully trim the art to exactly fit the pendant. (That's the hardest part.) Mod Podge the art onto the pendant base. Smooth it down to the base material. After the first coat dries, apply another coat or two to make sure the picture is sealed. You can embellish with Glossy Accents, Resin, or just more coats of Mod Podge. You can even use Mod Podge with glitter to embellish. But you know what you're doing. It's easy. I'm going to have my granddaughters make these to wear this month.

Easy vintage Halloween pendants

Piano Roll Blues

My musical prodigy granddaugher (brilliant like all the other grandchildren!) needed a piano. She loves to play, but plunks away on a piano so out of tune, even I can tell. So I got online to find a nice inexpensive digital model that would be easy for her apartment-dwelling mother to move around. After the cat woke me at his usual 5:45 am (He hasn't learned about Saturday yet) I found one at near the right price and quality. Since it was posted around midnight, I hesitated to call too early.



I started calling around 7:30, while out yard-sale shopping. I called about every 15 minutes, never getting an answer. Frustrated when it neared 9:30, I rechecked the number--Yup, inverted the digits. So I dialed the right number and got the seller on the phone--still available. Amazing!



I rushed home to unload my yard-sale treasures so I'd have room for the piano. Brought things into the house, then rushed out with my ice water, wallet, address and cell phone. That's right, no keys, which I discovered after I'd locked the front door and tried the car door. The car immediately set up an amazingly obnoxious beeping. Couldn't get back into the house. Couldn't stop the beeping. I ran around to the back, balancing my water, wallet, cell phone and address, dug out the hidden key, went into the pitch black garage and tried to find my way down the stairs into the house without dumping said water, wallet, etc or self.



I got into the house, with the car still beeping, and couldn't recall where I'd put the keys. So I looked for the spare key, no luck. Finally, I remembered, for the early morning yard sales I'd worn a jacket, hastily discarded when I unloaded the car. The keys were right there in the pocket where I'd put them.



Racing out again, I finally quieted the car and waved red-faced to the neighbor. Away I went to see the piano. It looked good. I bought it. Backed into the mailbox as I was leaving.