Spice Rack turned Halloween Prop

I recently obtained an old spice rack from my Sister-in-law who thought I might be interested in turning it into a Halloween prop.  Challenge accepted!  

 

Supplies: Expandable foam, acrylic paint, body parts from the Dollar Tree and rope.

Step 1: I removed the test tubes and began to play with the spray foam.  Make sure you read the warnings, it is very flammable and hazardous to your skin!  The foam is pretty messy and has a mind of its own but for this project it worked out perfect - the sloppier the better. 

Step 2: I placed plastic eyeballs into the wet foam and let dry overnight.  The foam really expands so you may need to trim it down a bit.

Great Stuff (expanding foam)

Step 3:  I wanted the foam to have a "swampy" appearance.  I mixed different shades of green and brown acrylic paint together and slathered on the filth.

Step 4:  I painted the lids a similar mud color, emptied most of the spices and added water to the tubes .  The rod iron handle was wrapped with rope and Voila!  

Cost: $8

• Spice rack - Free
• Expanding foam - $6.99
• Paint and rope - on hand
• Plastic body parts - $1

Summer Solstice 2012

by the Big Sister

I recently made a trip back to my hometown of Toledo, Ohio for a much needed reunion with friends and family!  It is no coincidence that I booked my trip with another of my Sister's parties in mind. Please take a peek of the latest party thrown by The Little Sister.

Summer Solstice

the Official start of Summer

when the Earth is most tilted toward the sun

and the day of the year with the longest period of daylight 

and the shortest night

also another reason to throw a party

The Summer in Toledo started out with a vengeance - record breaking temperatures set the scene for a memorable Summer party.

Guests

Adults (Women Only)

 Decor 

Light up paper lanterns glowed against the wooded backyard while candles were scattered throughout the party for added ambiance.

*The clear containers holding the salad ingredients were once yummy scented candles! Wash thoroughly and you have yourself an up-cycled serving dish! 

Little sister was sure to keep the color scheme true to theme.  Galvanized buckets full of ice housed frosty bottles of beer and water.  White, cream and blue linen napkins rolled in silver rings were available for any mishaps. 

Food 

Simple and light with the hot humid evening in mind.

Drinks

Music 

Nora Jones softly played in the background. 

Entertainment 

A psychic medium was set up in little sister's basement - lots of interesting stories! 

Fun was had by all! Have you ever been to a Summer Solstice Party? 

New Kitchen Wall Art

by The Big Sister

We've lived in our house for four years or so now and most of the walls remain white.  I'm slowly bringing life to our home but it's much scarier then some may think.  I blame my overly active brain - it brings a lot of ideas and design to the table but my ideas don't often mesh well together.  

Does anyone else suffer from an interior design identity crisis?  Do you change your interior design style as often as you change your socks?  Do you mix styles that only "a mother could love"?  

....random thought------------------->>> Have you ever seen the movie Cry Baby ?  The above picture has always reminded me of the character "Hatchet Face".   

...and back to business... I always wanted to go to school for interior design (what's stopping me?  ...excuses) and I'd imagine I break every rule every second of the day.  There is a serious "Sybil" design crisis happening here.  

So... my latest design "warm and fuzzy" is in the rustic / chic / modern /  eclectic / warm / upcycled  - FaMiLy.  What does that mean?  No clue.  

...and...as much as I love to post "new" content and ideas that are all mine.... I must give credit where credit is due! I have a few shout outs today as I share my latest kitchen wall update.  

I think most of you are familiar with The Graphics Fairy.  I've used her amazing graphics for many occasions so I knew it would be a great starting point for some inspiration.  I googled my tail off trying to find ideas for inexpensive printable DIY art.  I stumbled upon Twigs and Twirls' great use of the Graphics Fairy Dress Forms and fell in love!  I searched TGF's site looking for anything that could relate to my current style needs and I came up with ....

Chairs (by Graphics Fairy: Vintage Clip art French Chairs, Vintage Clip Art - Pretty Paris Tufted Chairs, Vintage clip art - Frenchy Chairs).

I took some serious inspiration from Twigs and Twirls Dress Form Wall Art (thank you!!)

Where did I start?

Do you remember these GUYS?

Did you know they started out looking like this?!

Are those sheds? porta-potties?

So, the latest modifications..

• Dry brushed the black frame to give it a more worn beachy look
• The background consists of old book pages
• Free printable chair graphics printed from The Graphics Fairy (cut and taped in the middle of the book pages)
• The End

I tested my new happy place out on a small wall in my kitchen and married a variety of styles together.  What are your thoughts?  Do they  make sense? 

Art (above) created by my niece, Karsyn

Thank you A Girl and a Glue Gun for your photo editing alternatives to Picnik now that it has shut its doors to us.  I took her recommendations and used PicMonkey in today's Post.  I don't mind it so far :)  

Thanks for reading!!

Confession Sunday

We hoard Christmas cards!! 

Reasons why...

1. They are too pretty to throw away
2. The guilt of throwing away overly priced cards from loved ones eats us up in side
3. We are determined to recycle them and reuse them in ways unimaginable (unimaginable may be a bit dramatic)

They all seem true but # 3 makes me feel less like the lady who finds dead cats in her garbage filled living room....

***

Big sister - I like to break down the greeting cards from years past and turn them into new Holiday cards.

Greeting Cards Pre-op

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The patient is prepped for surgery 

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Creating a new base for the card (folded card stock in half)

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I used double stick tape to adhere the 

old greeting card image to the new folded card stock

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New cards made from old - mission accomplished!

***

Little sister - She recycles her old greeting cards into gift tags.  

 Cut your desired shape, use a hole punch in one of the corners and put a ribbon or piece of yarn through the hole.  Attach your gift tag to whatever your hearts desires!

Halloween Spell Book {part 3}

I  L.O.V.E. how this book turned out for so many reasons!  Mainly because I was trying to use supplies I already had and didn't know exactly where I was going with it.  Now I have another Halloween prop to contribute to the Halloween Party!

Supplies you'll need:

Thrift Store Book * Brown Paper Bag * Mod Podge

What to do:

Add character to your book spine by adding layers of hot glue

• Crinkle up the brown paper bag and tear it into pieces
• Using Mod Podge, cover the book with the crinkled paper bag

• Glue the front side of the magazine eye (or the flat side of the marble)
• Attach the front side of the glued image to the flat side of the marble
• Glue the marble eyes to the front of your book

• Surround the marble eyes with crinkled brown paper bag to give them a more finished look
• To create the bloody tears, drip layers of hot glue (blow on them to cool in between layers)
• Paint the dried {hot} glue with red paint

Canvas Makeover

Several months ago I wanted to create wall art using recycled magazines and an old canvas. The final product didn't turn out exactly as I anticipated (I thought by gluing yarn across the canvas would give it an added dimension however, the cute little owls are now in jail) Ugh.

Instead of throwing my efforts away I thought I'd give it a second chance.



I started by mixing Mod Podge with several drops of black paint and covered the canvas with old book pages to create a smoother base.

It's not easily seen in this picture but I dripped hot glue up and down the canvas. Trying to create the look of dripping blood.

Cover the hot glue and canvas with black spray paint.

Starting from the top I dripped red paint down the canvas - the messier the better (I've found some paints are thicker then others - the runnier the better in this case so you may need to thin the paint out slightly with a few drops of water)


Repeat the step with black paint (this is quite messy so make sure you have cardboard or a drop cloth below the canvas)

Glue plastic spiders to the front of the canvas and voilà!

An inexpensive Halloween piece of art!

A little known fact ~ I'm terribly arachnophobic so I had a very hard time handling these plastic spiders...


Linking up to :Success U Party @ The Stuff of SuccessCheck out the other parties I'm linking to Here

Witch's Spell Books {part 1}

I went to Savers the other day and scanned their "wall-o-stuff-in baggies" and came across this glorious set of 3 wooden books (the largest of the three is 6" x 4") for only $2.99!

I painted the books with 2 layers of black acrylic paint.

I found these foil embossed stickers at the Dollar Store (painted them black). They were exactly what the books needed!

Scrapbook sticker letters were used to spell out the book titles.

Googly crafty eyes fit perfectly in the center of the dollar store stickers!

Picnik.com was used to spookify the picture

Featured on

I've linked up with:

• Making Monday Marvelous @ C.R.A.F.T.
• I made the world cuter today @ Making the World Cuter
• Just Something I whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
• Motivate me Monday @ Keeping it Simple
• Brag Monday @ The Graphics Fairy
• Tutorial Tuesday @ With Hope Studios
• Made By You Mondays @ Skip to my Lou
• Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
• New Success U @ The Stuff of Success
• Get Your Craft on at Today's Creative Craft
• Creative Juice Thursday @ http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/
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• Check out the other parties I'm linking to Here