How to Decorate for Halloween: Chatter Teeth!

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a weekend elbows deep in clay and Halloween crafterin' and, I'm not even gonna lie, I.Was.In.Heaven. Seriously. In fact, just tonight, I asked el hubs-tastic if there he thought there was a book publisher out there who might be interested in a new edition of Encyclopedia Britannica of Halloween Crafter'ness cuz I just might be the gal for the gig. Case in point: these Halloween Chatter Teeth!

I created these bad boys after settling on the theme for my Candy Corn Tree: Monster Mash (BTW, have you entered to win a $150 shopping spree yet? If not, what in the world is wrong with you, get yourself here, right meow!) Don't ask me what this has to do with traditional monsters...other than the iconic Rocky Horror Picture Show image. I mean, that qualifies as a classic, right?

In all honesty, the idea came to me from my sketchbook. A year ago, I filled my sketchbook with Halloween-themed ideas and these chatter teeth were one of them. After a pinch of troubleshooting, I discovered that these silly teeth were super easy to make. So much so, I created a video just for you! Here you go:

To create these bad boys, rustle up the following:

* Aluminum Foil I like the stuff in the precut sheets cuz I'm too lazy to cut. Hit up the Dollar Tree for the Aluminum Foil for Lazy People. Yes, that's the actual name. 

* Rigid Wrap Plaster Strips I like the stuff from Activa Products which you can find here. By the way, full disclosure and such, I often work with Activa Products. But I do truly love their products. Case in point...

* Celluclay I don't care what you say, Celluclay is my JAM, boy! I love the stuff, it makes my world go 'round. 

Now, if you've never worked with plaster strips, lemme just say, it is a gift sent from heaven above. It dries so quickly! It has the strength of ten horses! It's quite possibly the best thing ever!

But I say "quite possibly the best thing ever" with a grain of salt. Because, in all honesty, Celluclay is the best. I'm telling you, get you some, I'll make you a believer. I will say that the stuff does take FOREVER to dry so, for the love, put your creations in front of a fan and rotate, rotate, rotate. As mold loves to grow if you do not. At least in the humid mold-growin' breeding grounds of middle Tennessee.

AND once dry, paint with acrylic. 

And display where big mouths and loud mouths hang.

Out of laziness, I did not cover the chatter teeth with a clear varnish. The acrylic had enough shine to give these guys the sheen they needed. 

Once complete, these chatter boxes can be displayed just about anywhere! In the living room...

In your Candy Corn Halloween Tree...

Next to a decapitated head of Dracula...I mean, really, the choice is yours. 

Wherever you decide to do, just don't for get to enter to win THIS GIVEAWAY, for the love of all things chatter teeth-y and holy. Okay?! 

Read more »

Monster Mash Halloween Tree and a Giveaway!

Big GIVEAWAY and discount offered in this here blog post...keep reading for your chance to win!

Hello, Goblins and Ghouls...I'm super stoked to share with you my Monster Mash Halloween Tree! I was recently given this amazing Candy Corn Tree from Treetopia and tasked with coming up with a theme to not only decorate it...but create the ornaments for the tree as well. For the creation of the decorations, I reached out to my friends at Activa Products for some of my favorite sculpting supplies. I'll be sharing one of my favorite creations here in this blog post, the Spooky Scary Skeletons! 

But first...my tree!

 I received my tree from Treetopia lightening fast. I was surprised when I unpacked it just how big, full and bright it is. I absolutely love this big ole candy corn tree. I will say, I was a little overwhelmed at first: how was I going to decorate this tree? It already looked fabulous enough as it was. Here's a peek at my unboxing of the beast:

Super easy to assemble and such a full tree! I love that I don't have bald spots in my tree.

Back to decorating...I was like, HOW?! But then I got to thinking: I've always loved the classic Universal Studios horror movies like Frankenstein, Dracula, Bride of Frank, The Mummy...you name it. With that in mind, when Monster Mash came on while I was playing Halloween music in my art room, I knew THAT had to be my theme. So, Monster Mash Halloween Tree it was!

Nothing says a dance party like some disco balls, amirite?!

Over the next couple of days, I'll be sharing with you a TON of Halloweenie How-to's as I show you how I created nearly every bit of spooky decoration on this tree. Today, I thought I'd share how I created these Eye-Popping Spooky Scary Skeletons! 

Here's your list of supplies:

* A plastic skull. I found mine at a local craft store...but right now, you can find a plastic skull just about everywhere. 

* Aluminum foil. I like the cheap stuff from the Dollar Tree because it comes in precut sheets that are the perfect size.

* Rigid Wrap Plaster Strips. I love plaster strips because they dry so fast! I used them in the making of the eyeballs.

* Cheesecloth. Check the cooking/baking section of your grocery store. 

* Liquid Starch. Sta-Flo is my go to. Mostly because I want that to be my rapper name. Sta-Flo Stephens.

* Acrylic Paint and Paint Brushes. 

Once you learn the magic of liquid starch and cheesecloth, you are gonna be like me and go crazy covering everything in it! You can see that's just what I did here to create ole Frank. 

Be sure and stay tuned right here and my YouTube channel as I share all of these Halloween DIYs with y'all!

 Like these silly chatter mouth teeth...

And more monsters from the mash like The Mummy...who I find to be the most frightening part of my tree. 

 Or maybe it's Dracula trying to bite through the caution tape! By the way, you can find out how to create these eye-popping ornaments here:

Lighting fast video of how to create these fun and funky eyeball ornaments. 

 I have always loved decorating for Halloween but this tree just took it to another spooktackular level. You can find my Top Ten Fall Crafts here for more ideas. 

 But now that I've shown you around my tree and shared a couple DIY's with you, let's talk about that give away, shall we?

Treetopia is allowing me to giveaway a $150 Gift Card to their online store! That's right, I'm super excited about this one...if you've not explored their site, then you must. They have so many trees to offer with my current favorite being the Candy Corn tree, obviously. However, next on my faves: THEIR RAINBOW TREE, what?! How perfect would that be in an art room, right?! 

 Here's how you can enter to win:

1. Comment. Leave a comment below and share your favorite horror movie of all time. More importantly: leave your FULL NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS as well. 

2. Follow. If you are on Instagram, follow me here and Treetopia here! If you are not on IG but on FB, then you can find me here and Treetopia there. 

That's it! I'll let all y'all know this Friday, October 13th who the lucky winner is!

 If you don't win...or if you just cannot wait to purchase something from Treetopia right now, they are offering a 15% off discount! Just use the coupon code: TTHWDIYQ17C. This offer is only good from today, October 9th through the 27th. 

What an exciting giveaway and discount, right?! I am itching to get myself another Halloween tree. That black and white stripe one is calling my name, y'all!

But I'm pretty sure the neighbors have enough to say about one Halloween tree...best not start adding more. 

 By the way, if you create any of your own skulls and eyeballs, please make sure to share with me be tagging me in your preferred social media outlet. I'd love to see what you create. 

Stay tuned for many more Halloween How-to's...my list of spooky DIY's grows daily. October just isn't long enough for me.

Or my eye-poppingly handsome friends. 

Too much? Eh, never! Let it all hang out, Gus!

I even have plans to make a variation on these guys...but we'll see if I have time this year to tackle that craft. 

Be sure to enter to win that giveaway, y'all, it's a good one! I'll let you know the winner this Friday!

Read more »

DIY: Top 10 Favorite Fall Crafts

Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. So it should come as no surprise that I start thinking about it in August, decorating for it in September and craft for the big day all the way up until October 31st! Today I thought I'd share my Top 10 Favorite Halloween Crafts. These are my personal DIY's...not ones that I've done with my students. I'll be sharing my fave fall projects for kids this week, so stay tuned. Until then, here are my Top Ten!

1. Celluclay Pumpkins These pumpkins were so stinkin' fun to create! You can read all about the process right here. I was inspired by a SUPER expensive collection of vintage Halloween buckets that I so wanted to purchase. But the price was just bananas. Once I took a closer look, I realized I could make them myself with Celluclay. This was the start of my love affair with Celluclay (I'm not ashamed to admit it: I'm addicted to the stuff!) and a whole slew of pumpkins was created. Here's a tutorial:

What I love about Celluclay is that you can adhere it to anything. It doesn't require gluing; it doesn't crack or flake off; it dries with a great texture...my list could seriously go on and on. It's just fab. Which leads me to my next craft...

2. Celluclay Book of Spells More fun with Celluclay was had when I picked up an old jewelry box from the thrift store and made it into a Book of Spells! I covered the entire box with the Celluclay and then built up the skull with additional clay. 

While at the thrift I picked up a stash of bottles that I decided to make into potion bottles. I simply added the clay to the bottle and it stuck!

Add a little cotton to the top for a puff of smoke and potion bottle complete!

3. Zombie Head Planters Easily my most favorite thing I created last fall were my Zombie Head Planters. These guys crack me up! I stuffed 'em full of fake plants so they could be used year after year. 

Oh, look, it's my ex-boyfriend. He always was such a looker.

4. Cheesecloth Bride and Frank The miracles of liquid starch, y'all. I found this figurine at the thrift and covered it with cheesecloth and liquid starch. This gave it a great texture for me to paint. Find out more about how this was created here. 

Or check out this quick tutorial!

5. Bride of Frankenstein Painting My painting pride and joy is this number...I loved creating this painting! It was def a challenge as tonal paintings aren't the easiest but I really loved doing it. I was all set to create a Frankenstein version but I spent so much time on this one, I didn't have time for the other. Maybe some day!

6. Day of the Dead Clay Heads I LOVE hosting Halloween craft nights, it's one of my fave things ever. Here is one craft we created with polymer clay. More details here on our craft night fun! 

 7. Embroidered Day of the Dead This reversible Day of the Dead necklace was a great way to pass the time while traveling. I love embroidery but rarely have the time/patience for it unless we are on the road. 

I love being able to wear this necklace two ways since it is reversible.

8. Dead Head Planters This idea I found whilst pinterest'ing and had to bring it to life. I simply spray painted some planters white and then went to town! More details here. 

9. Pumpkin Marionette This paper clay pumpkin was inspired by more vintage Halloween decor. I simply created the parts of the pumpkin and, when dry, added the wire. I think I might have to make more of these. It's always fun to have a little collection of canvases and clay laying around for painting and sculpting fun! 

10. Witchy Textured Painting Speaking of paintings...the base of this one was actually an old painting of mine where I was playing with texture. On an impulse I decided to paint over it and I love the result for this painting. 

Okay, brace yourself. Not only do I have fall projects for the kiddos lined up to share with you but I've also got a huge blog post of JUST my Halloween ensembles! Stay tuned. 

Love to hear about your fave spooky creations!

Read more »