Bubbling Cauldron

Last year, I used to post quite frequently at Ghost Droppings. A user by the name of ScreamQueen posted her instructions for making a boiling cauldron. I decided that I needed a new centerpiece for the dining room since I sort of have plans to turn the kitchen/dining area into a witch's kitchen this year.

This project was made with cauldron, spray foam insulation, craft paint, recycled newspapers and a collection of creepy items perfect for a witch's brew. Luckily, with the exception of the foam insulation, I had every thing else on hand.




I stuffed the cauldron with crumpled newspapers.



Then, I sprayed the foam insulation on top of the newspapers, making sure some "spilled" over the side to make it look like the goo was boiling over.




Before adding the creepy ingredients, I let the foam set up for about 20 minutes so that it could support the weight of the bugs, but was still tacky enough to glue them in place.



After curing for 3 hours, I painted the foam a nice, slimy green color.





I think this will make a great centerpiece this year!
© 2007 Haunted Yard

First Purchase of the Halloween Season

I made my first official purchases of the Halloween season today. Last year, I got a very early start and purchased from many websites beginning in June, only to find out later than many of the items were sold at the stores for much less than I had paid for them online. This year, I decided to wait until I actually saw Halloween items in the stores before making any purchases. So today, at the big mega-retailer, I found some cool Boris mad scientist flasks filled with bubble solution, a body part and a severed finger bubble wand.



Surprisingly, I found them in the summer clearance, but I will be incorporating them into the mad scientist display after the nieces and nephews use up all the bubbles.

I've also been wanting a black cat for the witch I made last year. I was too late to find anything worth buying last year, so when I saw this black cat today, I decided he needed to come home with me.


Vegas couldn't resist having her picture taken with the newest cat in the house.


Lucky was willing to share.


Sweet Pea was curious, and a little wary that we had brought *another* cat into the house, until she realized it wasn't real. Then she displayed her typical cat aloofness.



My final purchase today is a Heads-up-Harry. I had first seen a nearly life-sized version of him here, but the one I found is just the upper body portion.



I liked the half-sized version much better since I could display him in more setting at the smaller size. I think I might put him in the front flower bed on Halloween night. We'll have to see what the weather is like.

Here he is in action.







© 2007 Haunted Yard

Coffin Purse

A few years ago, I wanted a fun coffin purse to carry around for the month of October. I googled around for some coffin purse patterns, but everything was either too small, or not sturdy enough for me. So, I designed and made my own. I sketched out a simple toe-pincher coffin in the size I wanted my purse to be. I transferred the sketch to 1/8" black foam board. I decided to make my purse about four inches deep with a 1 inch hinged lid. I cut out the lid and sides to match and glued the whole thing together with a little hot glue. I wasn't too worried about making the edges clean because I was covering the whole thing in a very cool black fabric that looked like tooled leather. I added an handle, some brass hinges and a little dagger to keep the whole thing closed, and my purse was complete.





I get tons of compliments on it, but for the past two years, I've been carrying around my coffin with my regular checkbook and wallet, and this year I wanted something a little more seasonal for the purse. Enter my new shopping obsession...ETSY! Etsy is an online shop for all things handmade. A quick search for "Halloween" found these adorable little mini-wallets from Carol, aka quiltlady50:

Monster Eyes Mini-Wallet
Dancing Skeleton Mini-Wallets

Carol and I began corresponding, and she graciously agreed to make me a custom checkbook cover wallet for the coffin purse. She showed me her Halloween fabrics and I chose the fabric I wanted for each. The results were better than I could have imagined! This year I will be proudly showing off my coffin purse with very cool and unique Halloween themed accessories.




If you have a chance, be sure to check out the rest of Carol's Halloween themed items (and more!) in her shop at Etsy.