When I was little, I wanted to be a witch. I loved everything about casting spells, saving the world ... magic. Well, at least I wanted to be a witch from the movies and TV – I’m thinking Marnie from Halloweentown.
If I’m being honest, the dream has not changed. And, to me, there’s something about October that seems magic. I know all of this can be explained by science, but days become shorter, weather cooler, colours go from greens to yellows, oranges and reds - all of this adds to the spooky, magical atmosphere.
This year, along with decorating for fall, I’ve decorated a bit for Halloween, drawing on some DIYs to make it happen.
Potion ingredient bottles
With a recent trip to a craft store behind me, I had my loot of supplies. My first project was to make blackened potion bottles with stained labels that looked like they had aged. I grabbed two glass bottles for the $8, a can of matte black spray paint for $5.99, two bags of glow in the dark rocks for $8 and jute cord for $1.50.
Spray paint the bottles and let them dry. While drying, brew a cup of tea and steep it until it reaches the desired strength. Use the tea to stain plain white paper (it hurts my soul to waste the tea).
Once the paper and the bottles are dry, fill the bottle with glow in the dark stones. Rip the paper into a thin strip to make a label. Write whatever spooky thing you think would be in the bottle. Glue the label onto the bottle, tie the cord around the neck of the bottle and bam – one piece of decor finished.
X-ray box
While in the paper section of the craft store, I saw mock X-rays of the human body. One problem – I don’t have an X-ray box. But I figured I could make one!
I found a small wooden box- it had three sides and was about an inch-or-so thick. It could hold lights if I put fairy lights inside, lighting up the box. I bought the mock X-rays for $9, also buy one get one free, so I grabbed a pad of spooky Halloween paper and added it to my bag of tricks. I also picked two packs of magnets with adhesive.
I had a bottle of black art paint at home so I painted the wood box black as well as the boarder of a white piece of paper so it seemed to blend into the box when it sat on top.
I glued the X-rays onto the paper, cut it to size and then used the magnets to attach to the box. I didn’t want to glue the paper down because I wanted to be able to take the x-rays down to gain access to the lights.
Witches’ Brew Recipe
I have no idea what would actually go into a witches’ brew recipe (let alone the drink), so I pulled some ingredients out of my hat. Using my retro label maker, I printed out ingredients like newt, spit, wing, etc. Then I filled in the blanks with some Halloween stickers I picked up for $8. Come up with a recipe and there you have it.
Not into crafting? There are a number of number of items that can be picked up like garland, hanging lanterns, jack-o’-lantern kits and more, and the middle of the season is just the time to get them.
Now folks, shall we all get ready for All Hallows’ Eve?
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