IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ... HALLOWEEN!!!

I LOVE the fall with all of it's sights and sounds and smells. The trees are never more glorious than in the fall when they burst alive with their vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and every hue in between. Going for walks on crisp autumn days and watching the leaves gently float like snowflakes to the ground. Hearing the rustlings of the leaves as they are tossed about by the biting autumnal breezes. Eating candied or caramel apples. The wonderful aroma of pumpkin pie or homemade bread baking in the oven permeates every room of the house.  I can't wait for fall!!!  I also love it because of ...... HaLLoWeEn!!! 

What a FUN holiday to make art pieces for and then decorate the house!  I'm having some of my "Artchix buddies" over and we're going to make this cute little witch hat.  I say "little"...actually this paper mache hat measures 12" tall and 16" across at the brim.  Hardly "little".  But, it sure does make an adorable "vintage" table centerpiece or a cute addition to your Halloween decorations.

It's very simple to do. Just spray a paper mache hat with black flat spray paint. Cut tulle into strips. I used off white, orange and black tulle. I cut it into 4 1/2" wide strips. The length of the tulle was probably around 54". I gathered all three together: white on the bottom, then orange and black on top. I ran a running stitch on my sewing machine to gather them together. Then pull up the gathering to make a nice ruffle of tulle. There will be enough out of one strip to cover the brim and also make the little tulle "top knot" on the top of the hat. Hot glue those into place. Cover where you hot glued with some sort of covering. Gathered and ruffled crepe paper works well.  I used some tissue paper garland. Next, I sized and printed out some "vintage" Halloween postcards and Stickled them to make them come "alive". You can mat the postcards on Halloween fabric, card stock, kraft paper or pretty much anything you can adhere to the hat.  Stickles or a nice little tinsel garland makes a nice finishing trim. I found some gold stars in the Christmas section of Hobby Lobby. I sprayed them with Glossy Wood Tone to "vintage" them up and dull their gold shine. It worked great! Then I hot glued them onto the hat and it's done!

Next....I'm working on a mixed media piece.  It's a Halloween canvas!  Spooky!!! 
Can't wait to show it to you!!!