Altered Halloween Book

This one was so fun and it was also easy! I saw a tutorial posted on pinterest on this site. He gives a picture tutorial on how to make them and I just followed it exactly.

I used a book I got at the thrift store for a quarter, then glued some chipboard on the from to make a frame, label, the ridges on the spine, and the candelabra. The label is from a Sizzix die and the candelabra is from the new Tim Holtz Ideology release for fall. It reminded me of the candelabra in the hall of the Haunted Mansion, so I put 999 on the label and on the spine I named the book Happy Haunts (but don't worry, there's always room for one more!)

After I got the chipboard glued in place, I mod podged paper towels over the entire cover. Let it dry, then painted it black. Once that was dry, I painted the raised portions gold with my finger so it wasn't too perfect. Then I cut out the title and 999 from black cardstock. I painted the letters gold before adhering them to the spine. The last thing I did was to do an antique wash over the whole thing with a dark brownish grayish paint that I mixed from odds and ends of paint. I watered it down and washed it on, and wiped it off, then let it dry so it looks like years of dust all stuck into the over of the book.

The font is "Haunted" by Lifestyle Crafts (used to be QuicKutz.)

Book Print Pumpkins

I found this idea on pinterest and it linked me to this site, but there were no directions, so I just did my own thing.

First I took a heap pumpkin from the $ store, paint, mod podge some leftover black leaves, and an old book from the thrift store.

Paint the pumpkin cream first or the orange will show through and it looks weird. I was hoping for cool, but it wasn't, so paint first.
I tore the pages of the book. It is old, so the paper is crackly and it will tear easily. Keep that in mind when mod podging, because you need to be careful.
Mod podge the strips from the pages all over the pumpkin.
Let it dry.
Paint the stem black.
Glue gun some black leaves and some kraft colored stems from the floral section of the craft store.
That's it, you're done!

Note: If I hadn't used a really old book, I would probably have added a step where I antiqued either the paper or the whole pumpkin afterward, but the naturally yellowed paper from the old book was really cool, so I just left them the way they turned out.

Halloween Silhouette Pictures

These little Halloween decorations were very quick and easy to make!

1. I bought some 4x6 black frames from the Dollar Tree, then I bought an old book from the thrift store.
2. Tear a page out of the book and adhere it to some 4x6 paper to fit in the frame.
3. If you have SCAL for a Cricut or other cutter, download the free Silhouette SVG file that I made and cut some silhouettes out of black cardstock.
4. Adhere the die cuts to the page from the book and pop them into the frame.
5. Voila! You are ready to get decorating.

Download the free SVG file here: Silhouette SVG