Halloween Skull Home Decor Wall Plaque with Tutorial Instructions

 

Spooky Home Decor

The spooky month is upon us.  Time to get out the Halloween home decor - or make new decorations.  

Today I'm sharing a DIY home decor piece made for October's Creative Embellishments Challenge of the Month.  

Each month comes with a new vision board and a new twist.  This month, the twist is to add wings and it so happens that Creative Embellishment has some rockin' chipboard bat wings.    

so I added Creative Embellishments - Bat Wings Set 2 .  I also feature  Creative Embellishments - Mini Gears 3 4 Set Of 12 and Creative Embellishments - Steampunk Skulls.  

  

Creative Embellishments - Bat Wings Set 2	Creative Embellishments - Mini Gears 3 4 Set Of 12	Creative Embellishments - Steampunk Skulls

The chipboard treatments were kept super simple - with acrylic paint washes.  The bat wings were painted with a black acrylic paint wash (water mixed with paint).  The steampunk skull and gears  were painted with a white wash - you guessed it, acrylic white paint mixed with water.  

So the real question is why bother adding water to the paint to thin it?  Why not just "go for it" and use full strength acrylic paint?  Great question, Grasshopper.  The details on the chipboard skull and bat wings are pretty crucial to the chipboard design.   If I cover those up, I lose the integrity of the pieces, in my opinion.  The paint washes thin out the paint and do not clog up the fine details like paint would.  

Now the amount of water you add is all up to you.  No magic recipe - but more a matter of satisfaction level and end results.  I always test my washes on the back of the chipboard first before applying.  This way, no tears are shed.  

There's NO crying in crafting and paper play.   Shouldn't be tears at least. 

I added a some finishing accents from Buttons Galore as well.  Of course we all know shaker sequin mixes are essential in making fabulous shaker cards and crafts.  But they are also perfect for adding accents on any project.   

The wall hanging uses Buttons Galore's Haunted House Sequin Mix (Tin) , here and there to dot the piece with a touch of texture.   Haunted House Sequin Mix  is a cool mix of sequins in a variety of shapes and sizes.  This particular mix includes a bit of purple and I left the purple sequins off this project.  My vision was a monochromatic spooky piece.  

3D Buttons are another fabulous addition to any project.  Buttons Galore has a spooktacular selection of Halloween 3D buttons for all your Halloween creations.  I used the TombStone 3D button from

 Buttons Galore 3D Buttons - Spooky Carded Buttons at the top of the plaque as a center for the bow. 

Thank you for stopping and happy crafting. 

 

  Shop Here: 

Creative Embellishments - Bat Wings Set 2	Creative Embellishments - Mini Gears 3 4 Set Of 12	Creative Embellishments - Steampunk Skulls

  

Buttons Galore - Haunted House Sequin Tin Ll322	Buttons Galore - Spooky Hh126

Skull Shaker Canvas Mixed Media - Home Decor for Halloween

Create Your Own Spooky Home Decor for Halloween

 Today I am showcasing how cool shakers can be when added to a canvas. It's simple to make your own home decor mixed media piece.  

While this looks complex and difficult,  I think the hardest part was letting the pieces dry. 

Scroll down and I'll tell you how easy this was to make using Creative Embellishments shakers and chipboard designs, and  Buttons Galore shaker mix. 

Here are the chipboard pieces I used for this 8x8 canvas board.  

Creative Embellishments  - Skull Shaker

Creative Embellishments - Gears 1 in - Set of 12

Creative Embellishments - Steampunk Skulls

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Creative Embellishments  - Skull Shaker

Creative Embellishments - Gears 1 in - Set of 12

Creative Embellishments - Steampunk Skulls

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The Chipboard Treatment

The chipboard pieces, including all the layers of the shaker, were painted with vanilla colored acrylic paint using a dry natural sea sponge.  I like using a dry sea sponge to dab paint onto the chipboard for a  sort of dappled , uneven effect.  I didn't want complete coverage  from a paintbrush.  

After the vanilla acrylic paint dried, I added a little silver paint to the gears and the steampunk skull.  Nothing fancy - just touches here and there.

Let's Talk Shaker Mix

The shaker mix selected is from Buttons Galore/28 Lilac Lane, called Marshmallow Sequin Mix.  This particular mix was chosen because it was the most impressive in person for the skull.  Unfortunately it's not too prevalent in the images, because of the tone on tone (white on white). 

Finishing The Canvas Board

The canvas board used is a simple 8inx8in white canvas board. Nothing fancy was done - just spray mist and then heat dry with my heat gun. 

Once the canvas was thoroughly dry, I attached the shaker and the additional chipboard gears and Steampunk Skulls and placed the canvas into a picture frame with the glass removed. 

The last finishing touches were to glue some black cheese cloth to the picture frame and accent the canvas with various sequins from 

 Buttons Galore - Haunted House Sequin Tin.  This mix is a blend of black, purple and silver sequins - which added a subtle but intriguing pop of color to the finished canvas. 

Thanks for visiting and spending time with me. 

Happy crafting.  

Shop here: 

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Creative Embellishments  - Skull Shaker

Creative Embellishments - Gears 1 in - Set of 12

Creative Embellishments - Steampunk Skulls

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28 Lilac Lane - Marshmallow Sequin Mix

Buttons Galore - Haunted House Sequin Tin 28LL

Creative Embellishments - Shaker Set

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Purple Romance Cards - Chipboard Style

It's August 1st and time to present the August Challenge at Creative Embellishments.  I cannot believe I am actually saying "August" already but time doesn't stop for the daydreamer like me.   

The rules for the challenge are actually quite simple.  Take your inspiration from the image below and run with it: card, layout, canvas, any thing goes. But you must use some Creative Embellishments 

This is the image from the challenge.  You can see the post and rules here. 

I created two cards inspired by elements from the challenge image.  My paper choice (Graphic45 - Fairie Dust Collection 12x12) was inspired by the the leaves in the trees.  Next, the beautiful and ornate "Heart Dangle"  chipboard center piece (simply painted deep magenta) is my interpretation of the couple in the image.  They are surrounded by the Fancy Oval Frame, which has been embossed for a shiny effect to resemble the reflections caused by the rain.  

The second card was inspired by the street lights with colors from the image.  The lights are represented using  "chipboard gears 1" painted deep magenta with Graphic 45 stickers as buttons.  These are set over the Creative Embellishments - Lace Border 1 - painted lime green.  I also added green gems for the twist - to add a shiny element to the project.  

These are the chipboard pieces  I used:

Creative Embellishments  - Heart Dangle 2

Creative Embellishments - Lace Border 1

Creative Embellishments - Fancy Oval Frame Set

Creative Embellishments - Gears 1" set of 12

 Once again, I used Graphic45 - Fairie Dust Collection 12x12  because I love the purple and green combo in the collection.   The chippies used here include the beautiful and ornate "Heart Dangle"  chipboard center piece painted a rich plum color (Prima Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Plum Preserves paint) and the Fancy Oval Frame, which has been embossed for a shiny effect to resemble the reflections caused by the rain.I painted the 

The second card was inspired by the street lights in the challenge image as well as the rich colors.  The lights are represented using  "chipboard gears 1" painted deep plum  with Prima Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Plum Preserves paint. 

The gears were topped with Graphic 45 stickers from Graphic45 - Fairie Dust Collection 12x12 as buttons.  These are set over the Creative Embellishments - Lace Border 1 - painted with Prima Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Green Gold paint.  I also added green gems for the twist - to add a shiny element to the project. 

Be part of the August Challenge at Creative Embellishments.  You can play along right here.  

 Where to shop?  

You can grab some cool chipboard from Creative Embellishments right here.  

Creative Embellishments  - Heart Dangle 2
Creative Embellishments - Lace Border 1
Creative Embellishments - Fancy Oval Frame Set
Creative Embellishments - Gears 1" set of 12
Graphic45 - Fairie Dust Collection 12x12
Prima Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Plum Preserves paint
Prima Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Green Gold paint
Lindy's Leaf Green Chartreuse embossing power