Friday, September 30, 2016

Skeleton Debut at the Heritage Center

Here they are - our entry into the 2016 Skeleton Days competition. After a paint job, and some vintage store finds, they are ready to move to there new home at the Heritage Center.

They are seated in a vintage incline chair!  She has seen something amazing and is pointing it out to him.  Is it an elk?  Beautiful fall aspens? The ghost of Emma Crawford?  If only they could talk.

He is holding Incline tickets while she holds a retro Manitou brochure.
 





Aren't they a happy pair??




If your ever in Manitou Springs, be sure to stop by the Heritage Center.  It is a great little museum run by awesome folks.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Skeleton Days

The Chamber of Commerce in Manitou Springs is giving away free skeletons to businesses for the skeleton days.

 His Lordship and I have volunteered to work on the display for the Heritage Center.  I even donated Mr. Bones!


Our idea is to dress them up as early 20th century tourists and put them in an original  incline chair.  If you are not familiar with it, the Manitou incline operated as an attraction from 1907 until 1990.  Some of you might have even ridden it as children.  The incline is now everyone's favorite extreme hike, gaining 2,000 feet of elevation in 3/4 of a mile.  It is a huge, rough staircase. 

Skeleton Days will run from Oct. 1 through the 28th.  Awards will be given Oct. 29th at the Emma Crawford Coffin Races.  Needless to say, I am working hard and scouring resale shops to make ours the best dress pair on the strip!

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Love This Hand

Little skeleton hand - How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways!


As a back scratcher
 
As a sponge holder
 

As a jewelry tray
 
As a shadow box
 
 As a soap dish

Oh little plaster skeleton hand* - how did I ever survive before you came along? 


 *This retails at Michaels for $2.99.  Paint job courtesy of Lady M.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Gargoyle Make Over

So I have lots of crafts to complete for this Halloween this year.  One projects I have intended to do for years is repaint these gargoyles.  I hate the factory finish on this pair - it is so pathetic.  So I finally sat down and gave them a coat of black paint, followed by dry brush with gray, white and off white.  A little antiquing wax and they are ready for display in the haunted parlor. 




 

Friday, September 16, 2016

Spooky Eyes

Last year on sale I picked up these light-up eyes for next to nothing.  Thought they would be fun in an old trunk and or suitcase down in the dungeon. 








 




It was 60 degrees in my house this morning!  So excited for autumn!

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

None More Black

I regularly visit the farmer's market for produce over the summer.  I mean, nothing, in my opinion, can compare to a homegrown tomato.  Imagine my joy and surprise when I discovered an amazing handcrafted black soap there.  It is so black that I have to agree with Nigel:

It smells of anise, which I love! And when it is lathered ,the suds are black.  Now my whole dungeon smells like licorice. When I head to the market this afternoon, I'd better buy a couple more bars.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Gordman's Picture frame find

Remember last year when I snuck to Gordman's (without his Lordships knowledge) to buy these pictures half price post Halloween?  Well, I found the almost perfect frame for one at the ARC resale shop.  "Almost" because my picture was an inch to long!  So his Lordship and I peeled back the canvas and lopped off the end! It now fits in what I feel is a perfect frame - no need to make over this one.  Take a look:



 Now my other picture ain't so swell as I made this frame from old baseboard.  It will need a complete makeover.




Saturday, September 10, 2016

Bat Shadow Box

My new years resolutions include crafting six times this year for my blog. Other than the clock, I have not crafted once.  That is, up until now.  The Halloween crunch is on and a years worth of projects are being churned out in the next four weeks.  One of my goals was to make more shadow boxes like the little frog I put together last year.  Inspired by Cat Winterfox at Spooky Moon, I went on the hunt for something to showcase in a  shadow boxe. 

 I found just the thing at JoAnns - a plastic bat skeleton dying for a make over.  First off, the skeleton got a paint job consisting of a coat of black followed by a dry brush with buttermilk and then rubbed with an antiquing wax.  I cut a base board and covered it with cheap gray creepy cloth  (dollar tree) using a spray adhesive. I made a little box from wood scraps in the garage and a frame from the trim leftover from the kitchen remodel.  Everything got a coat of black chalk paint, distressed with sandpaper and rubbed with brown antiquing wax .  A little wood glue holds it together and a chain to hang it completed the job!