Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  It's amazing how easy it is to create some awesome Halloween decorations out of black construction paper.  I'm loving how great the bats look flying out of this glowing pillar candle.  Hope ya'll are enjoying some candy and fun costumes!  Happy DIYing, chris!

Fun Friday Fascinations #28

#1.  Trinkets in Bloom posted a great tutorial on how to paint your face for a Day of the Dead celebration.  Love this, I might just do this for Halloween.  Give the kiddies a good scare, with a fun pretty twist.  

#2.  This is an amazing tutorial on how to make a zombie baby head by Just Crafty Enough.

#3.  I love how elegant this Halloween decoration is.  My So Called Crafty Life really went for that extra level of awesome with this simple DIY tutorial.  

#4.  Not Halloween related, but still awesome.  Love these ombre painted pendant lamps by Design Love Fest.  I totally want to give this a try.

#5.  Similar idea, but for Christmas.  This would make for a beautiful and elegant Christmas decoration from Ambrosia Creative.  

Have a fantastic weekend, and happy DIYing, chris!

The Zombie Look

We're going to a Zombie Party tonight.  It's required to go as a zombie, there is even a prize for best costume.  I know I'm not going to win any prizes, but I figure I better have some fun.  I totally enjoy dressing up for halloween, and I love scary halloween costumes.  I'm not into princess costumes, action heros, or the worst out there slutty costumes.  That's not what halloween is about.  It's about celebrating the dead, and the things that go bump in the night.  So lets have fun, and be playful while we do it.  Death doesn't have to be a depressing thing, and halloween is all about letting that go.  At least for me! Happy early Halloween!!!!

For the make-up I started with a layer of black and purple around the eyes.  Then added white all over, and blended in around the eyes.  Then I added more black around the eyes, and mascara.  Lots of mascara.  I also used some blue, green, and more purple around the eyes.  Then I used a super textured sponge to add this blood gel I have.  I also added some black around my lips too.  

I also used some gauze tied around my neck with a blood spot.  My bite wound.  I've had the troll earring since I was a kid, and there aren't too many occasions to wear it, but today works perfectly!  Any chance to rock a little troll hanging from my ear I'll take!  

I thought this shirt was appropriate.  I made this in college when we had a visiting artist named Bill Fick come.  He let us use his linoleum carvings to make awesome prints.  I absolute adore this shirt.  I also have a hoodie, with a giant print that takes up the entire back, but I had to retire it.  I don't want it to get ruined.  One day I'll get it framed or something along those lines.  

Well I'm going to finish getting ready, and go have some fun being a zombie!  Have a great saturday, and happy DIYing, chris!

Tombstone DIY Halloween Decorations

With fall in the air, I'm ready for Halloween.  So while working on the house today we took a little break and did a fun project.  We made foe tombstones for outdoor decorations out of some leftover OSB.  We started off by sketching out a cross shape on the wood.  Then Aaron used a circular saw to cut the cross out.  

Next we used Valspar's Stone spray paint and sprayed the pieced of cut out wood.  This stuff does a fantastic job covering the wood.  We only needed one coat to get this nice thick grey color.  

Now we have to let the spray paint dry, and I'm going to work on what I would like to stencil on to the front with some black acrylic paint.  I'll have to share the final outcome whenever I'm able to finish them.  This week is going to be busy though, because we are going on a long trip up to the tippy top of Vermont for our good friends' wedding.  We will be leaving on Thursday, and I know I'll be extra busy with work from Monday to Wednesday.  I hope ya'll had a great weekend, and happy DIYing, chris!

Halloween Rats

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I know it's still more than two months off, but since this is the first halloween Aaron and I will get to spend in our house (hopefully!) I want to make a bunch of decorations.  When I got home from work today I went to work on google looking for some simple Halloween crafts that will  be easy to pack.  Of course I found a ton of cute crafts on Martha Stewart's website, and I decided to start cutting out some of her fun black rats. 

They are going to look amazing on our steps!  I need to cut out a few more rats to fill our staircase, but I have plenty of time.  :)  I used black construction paper, and was able to get six rats out of one sheet.  

Do you love halloween?  What is your favorite holiday?  Happy DIYing, chris!