Repurposed game pieces for resin pendants.

A recent dumpster dive resulted in finding a brand new box of resin. I have always wanted to try using resin but never had the opportunity. So now was my chance! I took some game pieces that I had found a while back and flipped them over to their backs. They have a little well that can be filled with trinkets and works as the perfect frame. I used several layers of resin to give a dimensional effect.
These are some that I have posted for sale on my Etsy site. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a mold so I could experiment making some different ones. It's time consuming but so much fun because the possibilities are endless. Check back to see more.

Repurposed glass bottle tops turned into Christmas ornaments.

I've been collecting glass bottle tops for several years because I thought they were pretty. I would pick them up at garage sales, thrift stores and sometimes on ebay. Not sure what I would do with them they laid in a drawer just waiting. I came up with the idea of using them for Christmas ornaments.


So I got out some wire and some beads to wrap around the base of the glass tops.


The beads I used are glass beads from a broken vintage necklace.
I wrapped the wire, making sure it was secure and added beads at intervals as I wrapped the wire up into a spiral ending with a little loop.

Here is the finished ornaments on my Christmas tree. And when Christmas is over I can hang them in a window to enjoy year round.

Cinnamon Stick Santa Pins

I've been spending time working on ideas for Christmas. These cute little santa pins are a favorite of mine. I use to make them when my sister and I had our little Herb shop here in Denver. Christmas time was a favorite of mine back then, with all the natural scents, gift baskets full of herbal pleasures and small little gifts to fill your stockings. I've put some of these cinnamon stick santa pins up for sale on Etsy along with some other holiday gifts.

Fairy Cottages

I put up a couple of my Fairy Cottages that I've made. You can check them out

at Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5080869

Trick or Treat

I meant to post some pictures from Halloween night that I took when we were out trick or treating. I was so busy over the weekend and the weather here in Colorado was so nice, in the mid 70s. So we spent Saturday at my sister's house and had our lunch at the park. Below are a few photos I took Halloween night.
My son went as an evil jester, here's the makeup I did on his face.

This is a jack o'lantern that my sister inlaw did, she got the idea from Martha Stewart. There are 160 light in this pumpkin, the holes were drilled and the lights were poked through.

So there were lots of carved pumpkins.

Lighted skeletons and bones.

And then there was Hannibal Lecter who was peering at us as we approached the bowl of candy awaiting trick or treaters. Even as we approached the house we were unsure if he was real or not.

This photo taken of a 2 foot skull is a little dark, but spooky. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves this year, I will be posting all my other Halloween photos and will include a link when I do.

Spooky Counter Top Halloween Decorations

This is the counter top under the witches cabinet. Gold colored lights gives it a haunting glow.I tucked some of the lights inside the caldron under some bloody bones and skull. I used some cheap plastic bones and a skull covering them with white tissue paper and glue. This gives them more texture and allows the paint to adhere to the plastic. Using a brown glaze and a rag I coated the bones wiping away the excess. To finish them off I used red paint for blood applying to places like the eye sockets, nose, and ends of bones.Masks and old books with a skull candy pail sits beside the cauldron.

Turn a cabinet into a witches cabinet for Halloween

For my Halloween party I wanted to turn a glass cabinet that I had into a spooky witches cabinet. I went around the house gathering up items that I thought would be interesting for my witches cabinet and here is the finished look.

I draped creepy cloth across the windows on the inside. They look like curtains that have hung forever and are now all tattered and torn.

I added lots of bottles filled with colored water.

Gourds from a previous years garden.

I found a package of sticky four fingered hands that had loops on the top, so they were perfect to put over the tops of bottles.

Here I added a true love potion bottle, a witches journal and gem stones scattered about.

The eyeballs are candy, I scattered some around and stuffed some into jars. This project was a lot of fun and added a lot of visual interest to the party.

Magical Halloween Table Setting

My theme for this years Halloween Party was Witches, Wizards and other Magical Beings. So I decorated my table using a black tablecloth draped with torn creepy cloth. I then placed different size circle mirrors on the table along with polished glass pieces, tiny pumpkins, small plastic skulls and tea lights in sand filled glass candle holders. The glass candlelight's were placed on the larger mirror circles giving the setting a mystical feel.

Simple Halloween Decor

A big spider crawling over the wall, a dark stranger and a red satin throw on the chair makes this a spooky Halloween vignette.

Make Scary Signs and Tombstones from Construction Foam Scraps

This is how I made scary signs and tombstones from thrown away construction foam. The pieces I used were scraps that were put in a dumpster at a building site. I left the pieces the size that they were, but if you want to cut the foam use either a serrated knife or an electric knife. I used a soft graphite pencil to draw with. First I divided the foam piece into how many letters are in the word and then drew out my letters. Using my Dremel I began to cut the foam away, leaving the letters untouched and carving to a depth of about 1/4".


When I was satisfied with the carving I used a polymer clear coat called Sculpt and Coat to seal the foam. When dry I used a light gray paint as the base coat and a darker gray that I sponged on after the base coat dried. This gives the appearance of stone and helped to accent the letters.
Here is the finished BEWARE sign.

To make the tombstones use a knife to cut the tops of rectangles into tombstone shapes. Then use your imagination on what to carve on your tombstone. I choose to carve skulls, R.I.P. and roman numerals.

Here are the two tombstones finished and in place against my cemetery wall.

Make Magic and Spell Books for Halloween Decor

I found this stack of hardback books next to a dumpster awaiting their trip to the landfill. So I decided they would make perfect Magic and Spell Books for this years Halloween Party. With the books closed I first applied glue to the pages because I didn't want the books to actually open. Then I painted the entire book with black paint. After the paint dried, I used rubber stamps, embossing ink and embossing powder for the spells and magic book. On the big book of magic I just used a silver sharpie. To add some sparkle I used some orange and silver glitter nail polish that I had laying around.
These books will look good when added to my witches cabinet with my other Halloween props.

Make Spooky Halloween Bottles for Party Decorations

The other day I found these labels at the Dollar Store. There was 8 labels in a package for $1.00. I already had some old bottles that I knew would be perfect for this project.

Because a couple of months ago my husband and I found a case of wine that someone had thrown out by the dumpster. It was thrown out because the wine had not been stored right. I found this out after opening a bottle and trying it and finding out it had turned to vinegar. I kept the wine, because you never know! Although the wine had turned to vinegar it was still usable for cooking. And now I've found a another use for the wine filled bottles, Halloween decorations! I soaked the bottles in soapy water to remove the labels. After a few minutes the old labels just slipped right off, so I was able to save them to use for a future project.

Here is how they turned out. The EMBALMING JUICE is my favorite spooky bottle. This large amber bottle is 13" tall, it's one that I already had and didn't know what to do with it.

And the ZOMBIE VIRUS is a vintage liquor bottle that was found in the basement of our building. These spooky bottles will be a nice addition to this years Halloween decorations.

I went and checked my email after I was done with my bottles and there was an email from my sister. She sent me this link to some free Halloween labels that you can print out and use. Some of them are very cool, so I guess I'm making some more Halloween bottles. I've got to wonder, how did she know that's what I was doing?

The next thing I'm working on is my witches potion and spell books. I'll put pictures up when I'm done.

Rosiemoonbeams Halloween Party 2007

Check out all the photos from my last years Halloween Party. The Paper skull above was made by printing out 2 skull pictures, this one was an image I found online. In photoshop I flipped 1 of them, so that when printed and mounted on cardboard and cut out the image is two sided.

This is a graveyard wall mural I did on the wall as you come up the stairs from the front door. Go to Rosiemoonbeams Halloween Party Decorations to view more.
I am busy planning for Halloween Party 2008. I will be posting pictures of the props that I am working on so please check back.

Ghost Pumpkins from my urban garden!

Last spring I planted some flowers in my small urban garden. Some were from plants and some from seeds. But because of our early hot and dry season the seeds failed to sprout. I had added compost from my compost pile that I had started the summer before and tried to keep them watered. Although the seeds I planted failed, there were some surprises. I began to see plants coming up that looked like melon or cucumber leaves. They continued growing and I discovered that they were ornamental pumpkins. I had tossed ornamental pumpkins in the compost last fall after Halloween and Thanksgiving was over. I was happy to see the volunteer plants from the composted pumpkins. Here are my first three Ghost Pumpkins from these plants. There are a lot more of these little tiny 2 ½” white pumpkins growing in my garden and only one little orange pumpkin.

Vintage Halloween Decorations

Last year I wanted something different for Halloween Party Decorations other than what the stores had to offer. So I decided to make some vintage style decorations. Here I will show you how to make a Vintage Halloween Banner. With easy step by step instructions including photos.

Architecture on Etsy

One of my items that I have for sale on Etsy was choosen to be included in the picks of Architecture on Etsy. 24 Vintage Nails from an 1890's Victorian House Great for Mixed Media Projects

Put Together a Costume By Recycling Clothes From Your Closet

Check out my new Squidoo Lense on how to - Create Original One Of A Kind Halloween Costumes from your closet, thrift stores and online finds. Here I talk about how to put together a costume by recycling clothes from your closet or thrift stores. Showing you how to take a basic black dress and by adding certain accessories, transforming it into a one of a kind Halloween costume.