Feelin’ crafty?
Looking for some ideas to help you mark #39. “Make a New Wreath or Fall Decoration for Your Home”, or #18. “Decorate for Halloween” off The Ultimate Autumn Bucket List?
Here are some ideas for you that I have made and added to my Halloween/Autumn décor collection over the last few years:
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Hear No, See No, Speak No Evil Skeletons
These started out as these little skeletons from Dollar Tree.
My other supplies were simply: an X-Acto knife, Gorilla gel glue, a piece of scrap wood, and some spray paint.
I used the X-Acto knife to cut apart the skeletons’ appendages at the joints (wrists, elbows, and knees) – I did this so that I could position them so that they would sit on the block of wood, and so that they could cover their eyes, ears, and mouth.
After I had glued them back together in the positions I wanted, I set them on a carboard box and spray painted them gold. I also spray painted the scrap piece of wood black. After everything had dried, I used the Gorilla glue to attach them to the piece of wood.
I was feeling a bit cheeky when I made this, so I made them each cheating at their hear, see, and speak no…
Apple Witch
Three years ago, my family carved apple witches for my mom’s birthday. It was a fun activity.
I did not record the process, but if you want more details on apple witches/shrunken apple heads this blog has a great post about it.
Anyway, we carved them, dehydrated them in the oven and then made decorations out of them. While n the oven, mine fell over and ended up with a slightly smooshed cheek. When I saw her I thought she looked like she had fallen asleep…so I rolled with it. I gave her a hat, a nightgown, and a cover, and some feathers for eyelashes. I went to Half Price Books and browsed their clearance section and found “The Complete Works of Arthur Miller”.
Every year she comes out of storage to sleep through October open to “The Crucible” on the hutch in my entryway. (Those fake witches are a real snooze-fest.)
Isn’t she cute? Can you believe she started out as green as the Wicked Witch of the West?!
(She was/is a Granny Smith Apple.)
Potion Bottle
When we cleaned out my Grandparent’s house in 2019, I found several small old bottles and I took them (because I come from a long line of packrats, apparently) thinking “I’ll figure out something to do with these, or I’ll recycle them.” I painted this one black and used some the original Gorilla Glue to create the look of an overflowing bubbly potion. The glue naturally bubbles as it cures. I simply put a ring of glue along the mouth of the bottle and then let it run down the sides. I thought it turned out spookily cute.
Easy and fairly cheap. You could use any pill bottle or can from your recycling bin for this project.
Welcome and Harvest Signs
These metal signs came from Dollar Tree – 3 for $1 (at least until they finish raising their prices – FJB). Again, I raided the scrap pile and found two pieces of scrap wood. The lighter one I thought worked for the Welcome sign. I laid it out to get the positioning right, then I traced around it with a pencil.
After that I used black acrylic paint to the traced letters. I went a bit out of the lines because I wanted a shadow behind/around the letters to offer contrast between the silvery letters and the lighter wood.
After the paint dried, I added a few dabs of Gorilla Instant Glue on the black of the letters and set the in place. I put a heavy book over the top of it to ensure good contact with the wood while the glue cured.
The other piece of scrap wood I found was darker, so I simply glued the Harvest sign to it as is. Super easy. Super cute.
P.S. I love love love Gorilla Gel Glue. It is my go-to crafting adhesive. Most of my dollhouse is held together with it, and every single shingle is held in place with it. It doesn’t bubble, and it dries quickly still but affords you a little time to reposition if you need to – unlike instant/crazy/nail glue.
What did you think of these craft ideas? Let me know in the comments below.
These are all such great ideas! And it seems like you should be an affiliate with Gorilla Glue after this post. 🙂
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