paint – Page 3 – The Reaganskopp Homestead

Halloween is just around the corner and I hope this display gives you some Halloween decoration ideas. It is one of my FAVORITE holidays. I pretty much love every bit of it, from gaudy plastic spiders to sophisticated decorations. Costumes! Candy! I could go on and on. This particular vignette was going for an old-timey, sophisticated macabre.

The cast iron vases were created from two cheap glass vases. You can see the tutorial for faux cast iron here.

I added an old picture, and lord my Mama would smack me, but I can’t remember which relative this is. Surrounding it are spider webs made from hot glue. I thought I was a genius making all those strings… And I was EXCEPT, marble is porous. And the tabletop is marble… *scrape* *scrape* *scrape* Make sure to attach the hot glue to items you know will release the glue easily.

Idea for Sophisticated Halloween Decorations — Check out how well the faux cast iron finish on the vases matches the real cast iron table!

Topping it all off is my lovely bouquet of dead daisies. The whole display makes me feel like someone left these fresh flowers by a lovely picture and then abandoned them for 100 years. I love that dark Halloween feeling! Must be a closet goth at heart.

Tutorials Used

Faux Cast Iron Finish

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See other great crafts, DIY, and decor at these link parties: 52 mantels, Katherine’s Corner, Realcoake.com, Lambert’s Lately, Two Yellow Birds Craftberry Bush, Pin Junkie , Craft-o-Maniac, Twigg Studios, Dream A Little Bigger , I Should Be Mopping The Floor, By Stephanie Lynn

The sugar cube seashell holder and sand dollar were made out of paperclay and covered in liquid leaf. I like the poured look.

This isn’t so much a tutorial as more an answer to a few inquiries I had about the gold elements from the Pink Lemonade Table Decor. There are a variety of metallic paints, waxes, glazes, leafs, foils, etc. for when you want to add shine to a project. Each one has a place depending on the project and the look you are going for. In this case I wanted a poured metallic look to cover the inside of real and scultped seashells and the outside of paperclay sand dollars.

I used Liquid Leaf* to finish these items. The below picture is from Plaid’s website. They have not paid me to say these nice things. In fact I doubt they know this website exists…

You can achieve a leaf-like finish by thickly brushing on a coat and letting it dry. I use some throw away flux brushes so I don’t have to worry about clean up.

You can get a metallic accent by brushing a thin coat on as I did with this Goodwill tray. I did white-wash it with a layer of acrylic paint first and then used the liquid leaf along the bottom edge.

Finally liquid leaf works well on a lot of materials. I finished the inside of real seashells as well as my faux created ones.

To be honest I initially planned on using rub-n-buff but I couldn’t find the tube in the basement. However, I like the look of poured and cast metal that the liquid leaf created. I’ll definitely use it again when I need this particular effect.

Notes

Make sure to put a thick coat on if you want a poured look.

DO NOT touch until fully dry. Just don’t. Let it dry.

You may need to cover the with a clear acrylic top coat. Tarnish can occur and heavy use items will rub.

It stinks. Ventilation is key. Otherwise it is easy peasy to apply.

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Tag: paint

Halloween Vignette

Tutorials Used

Liquid Leaf

Notes