Witch Way Is the Candy?

Hello All!  When I first saw this sweet image, it had already been discontinued.  Even though I figured it was a long shot, I cannot tell you how many I checked eBay to see if anyone had listed her .  Of course, no such luck :(  But then, on my day off from work --which is a glorious occasion in itself LOL!--and as I was catching up on my blog reading list, I saw a post that My Favorite Things was going to re-release her!!!! (Witch Way is the Candy?)  I know had to be the first person to place my order - LOL!

I absolutely *love* her and the rest of the stamp set is pretty adorable too.   Here are the products and details for the card:
I used W7, W5, and W3 for the hat, cape, and boots and YR18, YR16, and YR12 for the dress.  Her hair and cat are colored with
C9, C7, and C5
Banner for the sentiment - Mama Elephant Tags A Lot  and that single sparkling clear little sequin is from Pretty Pink Posh
Little spider - Mama Elephant Bootastic.  He was stamped on black cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed with Ranger orange embossing powder
Buffalo Check printed paper - Authentique Bewitched
Candy Corn printed paper - American Crafts Bootiful Nights
Card Frame - Mama Elephant Madison Avenue
Card - Paper Trey Ink Cardstock

Yay! for the upcoming long weekend!  I'm planning to be in the craft room.  Whatever your plans, I hope you have a wonderful time :)

Practicing Thriftcraft: A Bewitching Centerpiece!

Hello All,

Back in August when my sister and niece came to visit, we went thrifting and I found this glass boot:

It was $5.  I thought it would be fun to try making it a stylish witch boot for Halloween like I did with this more traditional looking witch boot and this one.

I went to Michael's and picked up some supplies:

The boot was hollow so I also bought a Styrofoam block that I cut in half and shoved down inside to hold the flowers in place.  Luckily, all Halloween florals were 60% off and decorations were 40% so I went a little overboard :)  The witch hands were a must.  I wasn't sure how I would use them but they were inexpensive and just so cool!  Plus, they reminded me of the hands I used to decorate the witches table from last year so they got tossed in the cart!  After a lot of snipping and bending and fussing, I came up with this:

I thought it was finished but... the more I looked at it, the more I thought it looked like those hands were conjuring!  LOL!  So, I set out to find something magical to float between them.  Like this:

Cool, during the day.  But as the sun sets...

Hocus Pocus!  A magical spell is brewing!

In the dark, the orb bathes the table in a purpley light that of course I can't get a good picture of - darn it!  It looks pretty awesome.

The orb is a "starsphere" from Save on Crafts.  But let's just pretend it's magic.

Have a great week!

I'm linking up!

Made in a Day, Halloween Spooktacular Linky Party
Elizabeth & Co.: Be Inspired Features and Link Party #180

More Witchy Decorations

Hello All,

October is whooshing by!  The mantel in the family room got the "witchy" treatment too!

I used most of these decorations last year but this year, it was all about the potion bottles.

I thrifted most of the stuff shown --the only things that weren't are the tall(er) purple glass votive holders, the spiders jar, and the green, purple, and orange bottles. 

The small, purple bottles to the right of the toad are old bitters bottles and are in the shape of a ball and claw.  The clear glass bottle next to them is so stinkin' cool - it's an old (1940s-ish) Fly Ded insecticide bottle!  It actually has "Fly Ded" embossed on the bottle. 

I don't know anything about the iron candle holder but I really love it; I wish I had a pair of them!  The attached witch hat-shaped snuffer is so cool.

I put green lights behind everything on the mantel and then light the votives in the purple holders and it makes such a lovely glow!

Are you ready for Friday?!

I'm linking up!

Coastal Charm:  Show and Share No. 234

Witches Tablescape

**updated to add pics of the finished centerpiece!**

Hello All!

I love this time of year.  Pumpkins, falling leaves, a chill in the air, pumpkin-flavored everything, Halloween --love it --I love it all :)

This year, I wanted to do a Halloween-themed dining room table.  It started with these ceramic hands from LTD Commodities for cheap ($4.95 each)!

Creepy and cool, yeah?  Even though they are meant to hang on the wall, this is how I imagined displaying them:

They're mounted to wood blocks:

There's one at each place setting and I used a fabric remnant to wrap around them and hide the blocks.

The hands look like they are reaching out or grabbing at you...

...well, at least that bowl!

Awesome.
The orange glass goblets came from CB2.

Look at that gorgeous color!

There are a number of thrifted items on the table -- solid brass chargers (8 of them for $15):

black glass goblets by Libbey (99 cents each):

This Crate and Barrel (it's marked!) cake plate:

and (another) Victorian boot planter that I spray-painted and filled with a witchy-looking plant:

*update!  I finished the centerpiece-

These super tall, glass candlesticks weren't thrifted but I did buy them on clearance a few months ago from ZGallerie.

Gonna getcha!

Have you started your Halloween decorating yet?

I'm linking up!

Between Naps on the Porch, 318th Tablescape Thursday
A Stroll Thru Life, 238th Inspire Me Tuesday
Elizabeth & Co, Be Inspired Features and Linky Party 139
Coastal Charm, Show and Share Party No. 233
From My Front Porch To Yours, Treasure Hunt Thursday #178 & Highlights

Practicing Thriftcraft, No. 3 and an Update to Clock!

Hello All!

In my previous post, I shared my Halloween mantel which included a thrift store clock I spray painted green:

I wanted to decorate it more but couldn't decide what to use.  Then it hit me:

I had cut out and framed a silhouette of a witch using the Cricut cartridge "Happy Hauntings."  I just adjusted the size and used black damask-embossed Bazzill card stock!  I also added an orange rhinestone to the bottom of the minute hand.  Now I think it looks finished:

I popped into the Salvation Army the other day and I saw this:

I love the art deco look of this mid-century peacock.  The fact that he's missing a beak and corona...

didn't deter me.  I plunked down my $1 and carried it out.  When I got home, I pulled out some supplies, found a picture online of what the missing parts looked like and created some prosthetics :)

Once I had the pieces they way I liked, I glued them and let it sit for a few hours before I painted it.  I didn't mind the gold color so I just wanted to "wash" it with Rustoleum hammered bronze while of course covering up the clay.  Here it is now:

I'm linking up!

The Thrifty Groove, Thrifty Things Friday
Elizabeth & Co.:  Be Inspired Features and Linky Party #91

Practicing Thriftcraft, No. 2

Hello All,

I saw this idea on the Internet and it stuck in my head -- you take an old picture you find at a thrift store and alter it to your liking.  Like this from David Irvine:

LOL - that's so great!!  You can see more of his work HERE!  (and if you want to purchase any prints of his work, go HERE).  There is also this article, Adding Monsters to Thrift Store Paintings which features the work of Chris McMahon:

Isn't that so cool!?  Now these guys are artists --I am not!  But, I wanted to try it all the same; especially to create something unique for Halloween.  I kept my eye out for something I thought I could add something to--like a pumpkin in a window of a little house print or a ghost popping out of a barn pic or something--anything I could alter simply :)  Well, I found something I could work with!  Now, this is fudging just a tad because in my excitement to alter the paint, I failed (UGH) to take a "Before" pic so I had to use "PaintNet" to "erase" my sharpie marks.  Here is what the original looked like:

I saw it had water damage but it's an actual painting --woo hoo!  The tree is what caught my eye.  I wanted to fill it with crows!  But then I noticed the lone figure staring off into the sunset (I guess it could be a sunrise??? but for "my" creation, it's a sunset - ha! ha!)  And I thought, with a pointy hat and long dress, it could be a witch!  So here's the painting with my Sharpie alterations:

And then I thought, what witch would be without a black cat?  So I added one :)

I am also quite pleased to have "cleaned" up some of the water damage.  I used Bic Mark Its, a sharpie and Copic markers.  I thought about adding those crows but thought it would be over-doing it a little.

So, now that I have my perfect altered painting, I decorated my mantel:

Here's the breakdown, left to right:

super cool iron candle holder with it's own snuffer - I think it is handmade.  I found it at the Goodwill outlet.

Books - "spell book" from Hallmark a few years ago, Anne Rice's The Witching Hour, and the Witch of Blackbird Pond --a shelf sitter toad, also from the Goodwill outlet (I got it last year); and the small feathered owl came from Michael's this year (40% off).

Next is the ceramic boot I painted last year (THIS POST):

The opalescent green lidded glass dish is by Mosser, it's a reproduction of Heisey Glass pattern, Ipswich (I bought it from ebay) the two decorative bottles came from B-Thrifty (99 cents each), the framed witch silhouette is from last year too.

The small cast iron compote is by the same manufacturer of the dish I found last year (HERE) and the witch hat is from 2010 when I decorated my porch with witchy stuff (HERE) I just changed the bow for this year. The "stand" is a thrifted black wooden candlestick I found at the GW outlet.

And finally, the clock:

It was a thrift find!  The pendulum works but the clock arms don't move so I went ahead and painted it up for Halloween.  I think it needs stripes or a great Halloween saying but I haven't been inspired yet as to what to put on it so it's just green for now :)

I'm linking up!

Elizabeth & Co, Be Inspired Features and Link Party #90

Take care,
Lisa