Now as much as everyone hates to admit it, the weather is a changing and certain colder weather holidays are coming up. I skipped ahead a bit and made a fun and easy Halloween craft that will add a fun and spooky element to your house this year. All you need is some scrap wood, sandpaper, white paint and black paint. That's it.
Aren't these just adorable? And the best part is that they are completely customized and so easy to make.
I used scrap 4x4 wood that we had leftover from the deck railing addition and had Luis cut the pieces to various sizes.
Then I went at these bad boys with a palm sander and 200 grit sandpaper. After I worked up a serious sweat removing all of the splinters and rough patches, I brought them inside to my paint area to make them a little more ghostly. After three coats of a bright white in semi gloss I was left with these:
Luis may or may not have thought I was crazy at this point. But I had faith that these would look as cute as they did in my head by the time I was done with them. I let the paint cure for two days after the final coat before I started any of the details, not wanting to have to start all over because I was being impatient.
Once I finally gave myself the green light I grabbed my faithful sharpie marker and got to work:
You could use paint pens or even paint, but I used what I had on hand. I would have rather used a paint pen because the coverage is much better and I have a steadier hand with a pen/marker than I do with a paint brush. But the the sharpie worked out perfectly, and I can always use a paint pen to do touch ups at a later time.
This is where you can have some fun because there are literally no rules to the ghost faces you can create. They can be funny, scary, creepy or a combination of all of those. I like my Halloween decorations to be on the light side of scary so I chose a variation of faces including a funny face.
The face with the buck teeth (far left) is a tribute to my mom because I remember her carving a similar face in pumpkins when we were little. Just trying to keep the tradition alive my for kids. And don't mind the ghost missing his white head, I noticed after I finished his face that I drew it the wrong way. Nothing a little more paint can't fix!
And if you want to make these guys really cool and exciting you should pick up a bottle of this:
You can get it at Micheals for under $5 with a 40% coupon. Make sure to follow the bottle instructions to mix the paint, you don't want to mess up before you even get started! After four coats you are left with a fun surprise after the sun goes down.
I think I could have put another ten coats on and not gotten the exact coverage I wanted, but I'm willing to live with how this looks now. As long as we can enjoy them and Braxton can get a little surprise once he stays up that late, I'm happy with the results. And I cannot get a good picture of these in the dark because the glow is just not enough for a decent picture. If I can manage it, I will post it on Instagram.
Now don't you just want to run out and make these? I love them, especially since the animal hair won't stick to them. I swear my animals will be with me in hair for the rest of my life.
Have you guys used scrap wood to make any fun holiday decorations? It doesn't even have to be Halloween, feel free to share. I'm always looking for new ideas.
Kerby
Linking to:
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday # 224
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