DIY: An Eyeball Necklace for Halloween!

I just finished making my third Halloween craft of the season! I shared my new Halloween dress in this blog, complete with a video tutorial, here. Then I made another dress...which you can see a sneak peek of in this photo. I can't wait to share it with you but until then...let's make an eyeball necklace! Here's what you'll need:

* Large wooden beads

* White and black acrylic paint

* Skewers

* High gloss Mod-Podge

* An assortment of beads

* Elastic string

* Paint markers

* Flat paintbrush

And here's a little how-to:

My only real tips: 

* Work on these in batches. This will allow dry time between the white paint, the iris, the pupils, the highlights and the red veins. Thankfully, the paint markers dry quickly!

* Lay out your design on a plate. This will keep the beads from rolling all over the place.

* Don't worry about 'mess-ups'. In the end, no one will notice a wonky circle or a misplaced bloody vein. Trust me! 

* Have fun! Do this as a craft while watching your favorite horror flick or listening to a spooky podcast to get you in the mood!

Making these necklaces on elastic means I can easily put them together! And slide 'em over my big ole head.

I already debuted my necklace with my new dress at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios! It was fun to dress all creepy for the occasion. 

You'll have to know if you decide to give these a try! And stay tuned...I have so many Halloweenie crafts coming your way. 

Until then...I have my eye on you!

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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!

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