Halloween Decor

After pulling out all of my Halloween decorations, I just wasn't quite satisfied with what I had. So, I thought, did some Internet research (I love http://www.howdoesshe.com/) and got to work. This was the end result. The mantle, at least. How did I create this work of art? Well, let me share.

First, I made a trip to the thrift store. There, I found the black roses, a brass candelabra, assorted round tins, and I stocked up on picture frames. None of them matched, but that doesn't really matter. Once I got everything home, I took the frames, the candelabra and one of the tins back and spray painted them all a glossy black. It took a couple of coats, but for $0.98, I got seven black frames, was well as a spooky black candelabra.

Then, came the making of the silhouettes. Yes, those are actually my kids. I tried the old fashioned - get the kids to stand next to the wall, shine a light, and trace - method, but that would require children to sit still for more than 5 seconds. Not even Joy is capable of that. So, after several failed attempts, I just stood the child against the wall and took a picture of their profile.

Then, I opened up Word, inserted the picture, and used the line drawing feature to trace the outline of their profile. Once they were all done, I sized them to fit the frames I had, and printed the profile on black card stock. Then, in the back of each frame, I put in some Halloween colored card stock and added the silhouettes. They turned out really cute. As you can tell from this picture, Joy did not have a ponytail on the night her picture was taken, but she does in her silhouette. I added that later, because it just looked weird going straight down the back.

For the bats, I went to http://www.familyfun.go.com/ and looked up their printable bat template. These were printed on black card stock and framed like the silhouettes.

After the mantle was done, I moved into the bathroom. I covered the assorted tins with scrapbook paper, stuck tapers in the black candelabra and put in the bat picture that didn't fit on the mantle. If I had a Silhouette, I would have gotten clear hand soap, pulled off the label, cut the word "Boo!" out of black vinyl, and stuck it on the front of the soap container with an orange ribbon. As it is, I only dream of owning a Silhouette. However, I am vastly contented with my decor for the year, and the kids are loving looking at their silhouettes on the mantle!