Homemade Corpse Bride

This year, the 3rd Annual Witch's Ball had a "black and white" theme.  All costumes had to be whatEVER your take was on "black and white". 

I decided I wanted to be a corpse bride...

Ideally, I would have loved to have looked like the one from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride movie but since the costumes were either too cheesy,too sleazy, or just too dang expensive, I opted to try and make my own version...plus hers is more blue and I needed to stick with the black and white theme.

I was lucky enough to get a deal on a dress from a thrift store...$20!  The only bummer was the zipper didn't work well, but since I am blessed to have a mother who is a seamstress she took the zipper out and made it so I could just lace the back up with ribbon.

This is what the dress looked like BEFORE...

I grabbed some scissors and went crazy on the hem...

I put some black Rit Dye and hot water in a bucket and stuck the bottom of the dress in and let it soak for awhile.  I added some tulle as well since I knew I was going to attempt to make some sort of veil.

I had also found some fabric spray paint and used it to spray the top of the dress as well.  I couldn't believe it when I saw fabric spray paint...WHO KNEW?!  The magic of spray paint for fabric!!

My mom also had a tiara I could use for my veil so I just handstitched the tulle around it and that was it.

I felt pretty good with how it turned out...and I was especially happy to have my costume done for a total cost of about $25!  What do you think?  Would you wear it?



BOO!

BOO!

Did I scare you?! ;)

I am loving my little frame trio...I know I am biased, but I just think they turned out so cute.  This is a pretty easy project to do.  I used 3 of the wooden frames you can get from Michaels for $1 each.  Then using a little Mod Podge and some pretty ghoulish scrapbook paper I started dressing them up for Halloween.  Once I finished that I thought it still needed a little more so then I went around all the edges with black paint and then some black ink.  The inside of the frames is more of the scrapbook paper and then 3 large stickers from my collection. 

 I added a little ribbon...

and even a little charm...

and there you have it...

I set them out in our entry way with a few little pumpkins I had on hand and a couple of spider rings.  Not necessarily scary...but pretty dang cute if you ask me!

DIY Apothecary Jars

Is it possible to still be recovering from a party that was 2 weeks ago?!  If so, I think I am!  My bestie, Gina and I hosted our 3rd Annual Broomsticks, Bitches and Brew Ball (aka The Witch's Ball) on October 8th and I have been so tired ever since!  Of course that could also be from working 40 hours a week in a place that seems to just suck the life out of me then coming home to my other full-time job as a mother to a 12y.o. boy and a drama-filled 10y.o. girl and wife to a hunky hubby who won't stop telling me to "suit up!"  (and unless you watch How I Met Your Mother, you won't have a clue what I am talking about!  LOL!)  Oh well, life could be worse I suppose.

The Witch's Ball was great and everyone had a fantastic time.  I promise to share pics soon.  I loved all the costumes and since we revealed the theme for next year's Ball, I know some of the girls are already putting their thinking caps on.  SO fun!

I have managed to squeeze in a few projects over the last few weeks and I am looking forward to sharing those...today I thought I would show you the Apothecary Jars I made.  The idea certainly isn't something original to me...I have seen them on Pinterest and out there in Blogland but when I saw them I KNEW I had the perfect items in my stash to make some of my own.

What do you think?  I am really loving them and I kept it simple by just using black so I can use them all year long.

I started out with 3 glass candlesticks that I had in my stash...I seem to have a bit of an obsession with glass candlesticks -- didn't realize it until I went looking for some to use as the base of my jars!

Then I used 3 of my glass jars with lids.  I had picked up 4 of them at a thrift store for a total of $2.  They were assorted sizes and I opted to use the 3 smaller ones because the largest one was just too big to make work on the candlestick base and plus I thought a set of 3 would be more appealing to the eye than 4.

I primed the candlesticks and the glass lids (I tend to use the Krylon brand whenever I am spray painting since I have had the best luck with that one.)

Then I used the Krylon Spray Paint in a glossy black after the primer dried.  I used E6000 to glue the glass jars to the candlesticks and placed books on top and let them sit for 24 hours.  After that I put the painted lid on top and...TA DA!!

Since it is Halloween time I found some chocolate wrapped in cute paper and of course the ever popular candy corn to put my jars in the mood for Trick or Treating...

One of my daughter's friends was here over the weekend and she kept looking at the jars and then asked me why we had eyeballs.  "Um...'cause it's Halloween?!"  She just said "Oh."  *shrug*  Guess that means maybe she didn't like the eyeballs?!  LOL!

But I have pumpkins too...

So what do you think?  Do you like?

DIY Halloween Plate Decor

My house is looking like it just threw up Halloween right now...and things are scattered everywhere as I am doing last minute projects and prep for the Witch's Ball this weekend.  One of my easiest projects of late -- even easier than my Feather Boa Halloween Wreath, are my plates I made for the plate holders on either side of my big chalkboard in our eat-in kitchen area.

This is what the wall looked like before I started...

I picked up 4 white plates from The Dollar Store, 2 round and 2 square...I thought it might add a little "interest" if they were a little different.  And I found these Martha Stewart reusable Halloween Window and Mirror Clings.  Got them at Joann's with a 40% off coupon so they were less than $5.

I love that there are so many different designs to choose from and that I can reuse them year after year...and since I don't have to permanently attach them to the plate it will make changing out my plates each holiday easy and storing them a breeze!

I cleaned my plates, picked out my designs and stuck them on...it just doesn't get any easier than that.  And I spent less than $10 on this project...how awesome is that?!

I changed out my chalkboard quote and switched out the plates.  I also made sure to call out the family so that they could "ooh" and "aah" and tell me how great it all looks ;)

I am loving how it all looks and loving the price tag even more.  Can't wait to see what kind of window and mirror clings Miss Martha comes out with for Christmas so I can redecorate.  Guess I will need to try and find some more generic fall ones for after Halloween as well...can't wait!

P.S. If you want to see more fun ideas for projects under $10 and done in under an hour go visit 320*Sycamore's Linky Party!

A Feather Boa Halloween Wreath

I LOVE Halloween...and I have been putting out our decorations for the last couple of weeks.  I know it is early but I am hosting the 3rd Annual Broomsticks Bitches and Brew Ball (a.k.a. The Witch's Ball) with my Bestie in just 2 weeks so I have to be on the ball. (pun totally NOT intended!)

As I was putting the decorations out I had a spot that really needed something and I have this wreath holder I had picked up at my sister's neighborhood yard sale...they actually had 2 of them and now I am wishing I had just bought both.  My mom said that would probably happen -- so apparently even now I don't listen to my mother! ;)

Anyway, I pulled out the wreath holder but alas, I had no wreath.  Not too long ago I actually picked up a bag of styrofoam wreath forms from the thrift store near my office.  There were 5 of them in assorted sizes and I got them for $2!  SCORE!  

So I grabbed the biggest one and threw it on the wreath holder...then looked at it for a couple of days until I could figure out what exactly to do with it.  Getting ready for work one morning I noticed I had some black feather boas left over from the Mother Daughter Dance I did with my daughter at her recital a couple of years ago...

And inspiration hit! (totally HOT, right?  LMAO!) 

So I took the wreath form and the feather boas -- turned out I actually had 3!

and I just started wrapping them around the styrofoam.  I didn't want to commit too much with this wreath as I want to be able to use the feather boas again so I just used stick pins to secure the ends. 

Then I went by Michaels to pick up a few pieces to add to it.  Hunky Hubby kept saying it needed something orange so I took his advice to heart and picked these babies up...

I love the BOO sign and it actually hangs on a chain.  Since I am so non-commital with this wreath it just hangs on the wreath hanger.  PERFECT!  I attached the bow and then one of the spiders.  The bow attached easily enough since it had twist ties on it and then once again I used stick pins from the sewing box to keep the spider in place.  I used pins with yellow balls on the ends so I just grabbed a black sharpie to color them so they would blend in.  It took a matter of minutes to put it all together...

What do you think?

I am LOVING it!  I added it back to the top of the entertainment center.  Will post a pic of its final resting place soon...just have a couple of other things to add before I do :)



I Never...

I put a couple of projects on hold in order to get some scrapbooking in for The House of Paper this week.  It has been a little bit since I really sat down to scrap and with all the new stuff that has been coming into The House lately I couldn't wait to play with all the new yumminess.  The challenge for the Interior Designer's this week was to finish the sentence,  "I Never..."

SO, this is how I decided to finish it...

I NEVER THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS A TRUCK KIND OF GIRL...

Please tell me I am not the only one who has recently become addicted to the show Top Gear on The History Channel?  These guys are SO funny together and even both of my kiddos enjoy watching so we actually have something we can all watch together as a family, which I absolutely LOVE.  I never really gave a "you-know-what" about cars in the past but this show has definitely given me a whole new perspective...and any truck that actually has a LOUD button is for ME!  HA!



I NEVER TIRE OF YOUR SWEET SMILES...

Those are my sweet babies...9 years ago!  HOLY SMOKES...how did THAT happen?  They were so sweet and loving to each other back then...loved being together.  THESE days...yeahhhhhhhh...not so much!  LOL!

I recently finished a super quick and easy Halloween wreath...promise to share it SOON!  I have just been super busy trying to get things together for the annual Witch's Ball I host with my BFF...this is our 3rd year and every year we get just a little bit bigger!  LOL!  Can't wait to share the costume I am making too!  Halloween is totally my favorite holiday!

Crepe Paper Rosette Balls

At the beginning of August, my siblings and I surprised our mom with a 60th birthday party.  It was AWESOME!  We went with a black and white theme and since yellow roses are her most favorite flower we decided to use accents of yellow.  I really wanted to try my hand at making some of the rosette balls I had seen throughout Blogland and I thought making them in yellow would be perfect for the party.

I used THIS TUTORIAL from The House of Smiths although I made a few changes.  Rather than using styrofoam balls I recycled some tissue pom-poms that I had used for my sister's bridal shower I hosted last November.  They were sitting in a box all smushed and for whatever reason never made it out to the recycle bin and since we were on a pretty tight budget for the party I figured it couldn't hurt to see what I could do with them.

I started squishing and bunching them up and forming them into balls...

I just used the blue painters tape I had on hand to help keep the shape and then I cut some strips of white copy paper to put around them as well.  I have to confess, I am not really sure why I did that...maybe to help hide the purple underneath?!  Who knows what I was thinking!  LOL!

Then I just got busy cutting my strips of crepe paper, crinkling, twisting, twirling, gluing, burning my fingers, etc.  I cut the "stems" off of my mine and then starting gluing to my "ball".

I used some of  my leftover "stems" to fill in any white spots that were left in between the rosettes.  Not sure how many hours it took me to complete these or how many times I may have burned my fingers, but the the end I was really happy with  how they turned out. 

And even better was that the whole project cost me a total of $2 and that was for the crepe paper streamers.  I had to get 2 packages of them from the Dollar Store.

I love that I was able to recycle to tissue pom-poms from my sister's bridal shower and I am even more thrilled about these because I am planning a little "face lift" for these very soon for Halloween!

And this is how they looked on the dessert table for the party...

What do you think?

Can't wait to try my Halloween makeover on them...cross your fingers it turns out...and if it does I will be sure and share it here!