A Diamond in the Stuff

Witch’s Scroll and Spooky Porch

Courtney Carmean — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 13:00:33 +0000

October is officially upon us. The past couple years I haven’t been in a “decorate for Halloween” kind of mood, much to my son’s dismay. So this year I PROMISED that we would SPOOKify our front porch. Shortly after said promise I got an email from the good people at PRO WORLD INC asking if I would like to give their HTV (heat transfer vinyl) a try! Well yes I would and I know JUST how I will put it to use! Enter the Witch’s Scroll and Spook Porch!

First of all, they sent me some gorgeous black glitter HTV. Yay. However, I have actually never cut glitter HTV before so I decided right then and there that this was my time to try! For those like me, fairly inexperienced to the HTV world, I broke it down into a few steps:

1: First I cut out some fabric I had lying around. It was a thick cotton canvas, I knew it would hang just how I wanted it to and it was readily available!

2: Then I designed and cut out my “image”, which just so happened to be words. Can anyone place where this quote comes from?

3: Once I had the HTV cut and weeded (might I had, it was a DREAM to weed. A DREAM!) I positioned it onto my cut out fabric.

4: Then I tore off a piece of parchment paper and laid it on top of the HTV and clear carrier sheet.

5: I cranked up my iron as hot as it would go and I pressed each section for 15 seconds each. Once all the HTV had adhered to the fabric, I removed the carrier sheet and did another press just using the parchment paper.

6: To finish it up, I grabbed a small stick and glued it to the top of the fabric. You’re probably asking yourself right about now if this lady has lost her mind. Most definitely. But we’re not getting into that now.

Ah, it’s all coming together now! Pretty fabulous right? Have you guessed the quote by now? It’s from Macbeth, you know with the three witches standing over their cauldron reciting this spell.

I picked a font that I thought looked hand written (shorelines script) like one of the witches scrawled it out. It looks so good with the glitter vinyl too. Well I was absolutely in love with my new Witch’s Scroll at this point, however my porch was certainly not living up to it’s fabulousness and I DID promise the boy that we would have an awesome Halloween porch this year.

So I got busy on creating a porch that was special enough for my new door-hanger! A trip to the local park got me some fabulous dead branches (and free I might add!). The hubby loaded the back of the truck with a bed full of these huge suckers. I also picked up these incredible pumpkins, which just so happen to be called fairytale pumpkins!

Threw a few bats up on the branches and called it FABULOUS! I mean it’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea but I’m just not into the gory, scary, morbid side of Halloween. But this, this I like!

It’s not jump-out-and-make-someone-need-a-fresh-pair-of-undies scary, but it definitely has a spooky feel too it. I’ve already successfully creeped a couple neighbor kids out so I’ve got that going for me!

Alright, so tell me what you think? Are you dying for a Witch’s Scroll for your door and a super Spooky Porch now? I thought you might! Thanks everyone for stopping by and have a great week!!!

I just may be partying with some people this week!

this post contains some paid product, but all thoughts and opinions are my own

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Want more ideas to get your Halloween into gear? How about my Halloween Mantel?

{BOO}tiful Halloween Mantel

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 07:00:00 +0000

It’s not a big surprise that moving into a new home requires some decor changes. Some things fit, some things don’t. Some things end up in different rooms or with new purposes.

Well it really shouldn’t be any surprise then that my holiday decor also needs some adjusting in the new house. I’m not sure if it’s the move or just my evolving style, but when I unpacked my Halloween decor I decided that my mantel needed a new look. Not to mention that I now have a big beautiful real mantel to decorate now.

Check out my new BOOtiful Halloween Mantel……

I was already using the large black frame for my previous mantel (and other holidays as well) and I decided that I wanted to add some more frames to the mix. Lucky for me I always have a stack of frames laying around this place….you never know when I will get inspired to whip something up.

When it comes to Halloween I love to stick with “traditional” colors, as long as they are bright. I don’t really like to do a lot of literal Halloween fabrics, papers, etc. so I go with the traditional colors in funky patterns and textures. In the end it really does reflect my general decorating style: vintage with a contemporary twist.

I kept the mantel pretty simple; just playing with a few colors, textures, and shapes. I included my BOO Blocks that I made last year for one of my make and take classes. They love their new home on the mantel!

You may have also noticed the candles in the fireplace….I thought in between roaring fires it would be nice to have a bunch of mismatched white candles burning. I propped a small mirror behind the candles to double the candlelight. I just love the flicker of candles….especially as we settle into Fall. It just feels right.

So what do you think of my new BOOtiful Halloween Mantel??? What kind of holiday decorating style do you have? Vintage? Modern? Country? Retro? Whimsical?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

Spooky Bat Chandelier

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 07:00:33 +0000

When Jo-Ann’s contacted me to create something for their #spookyspaces event it left me a little stumped. Traditionally I do not LOVE the spooky side of Halloween. You won’t find any ghouls and goblins at my house, so to say that this theme was a challenge would be an understatement. All it took was one trip to Jo-Ann’s to spot some awesome black bats and I knew what I wanted to do….and it would even be a bit spooky too!

My supplies (all found at Jo-Ann’s):

-3 different size quilting hoops

-Paper or foam bats

-Black craft paint

-Black string or twine

Also round up some scissors and hot glue.

First I removed the inner circles of the quilt hoops (the ones with out the screws). I only used the inner circles for this project. I painted them with the black craft paint on all sides, inside and out.

When the paint was dry I used some black twine to attach the three hoops to each other. I started with the largest hoop at the top and descended down to the smallest. This made the base for my chandelier.

Then it was time for the tedious part, attaching all of the bats. I hot glued pieces of black string in between two foam bats and left a long piece coming out the “top”.

Once the two bats were glued together and the string added, I decided to “fluff” up the wings a little bit. It just gave a little extra dimension to things.

I used hot glue to attach each of the bats. The ends of each string were glued to different spots on the inside of the different hoops.

Once all the bats were attached it was time to hang it in my porch. Luckily now I have a huge covered porch with a beautiful large hanging light. I decided that this would be the best place for my Spooky Bat Chandelier.

I climbed up our very tall ladder and hung up the chandelier with more of the black twine.

I have to admit…..it’s pretty awesome!!!

With the light shining, bat shadows are cast all over the walls of the porch. As the bats spin and twist in the breeze the shadows fly around the walls. The effect is pretty amazing.

I am super thrilled with the way that my Spooky Bat Chandelier came together!!! Just the perfect amount of spookiness!!!

If you want even more spooktacular inspiration visit Creative Made Simple by Jo-Ann’s.

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Want to create this spooky creation or another masterpiece of your own?

How about a 50% off coupon?? Ya I thought so!!

Simply right click the image and print. It’s that simple!

Disclosure: I was given a gift card for supplies for this post. All ideas and opinions are my own.

October Make and Take {BOO Blocks}

Courtney Carmean — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Last week I hosted my October Make and Take. Since it is October after all, the project of course had to be Halloween related! I decided we would tackle some BOO Blocks this month!

So I choose the project, invited all of the ladies, and we had a great night of crafting!!! I had a big showing of ladies this month, which makes it all so much more fun!!! If you look closely you may notice a couple things…..they decided that spelling out certain words and covering some of their faces would be fun….just as long as they know it’s STILL going on the blog!!!

So, do you wanna make some BOO Blocks for yourself???

Here’s what you need:-2×6 blocks (Cut to 6in, 7in, and 8in)

-Scrapbook Paper

-Craft Paint

-Ribbon

-Mod Podge

-Letters

The first step it to cut the blocks down into 6, 7, and 8 inch pieces. Then it’s time to use the craft paint to cover the blocks. I choose to stick with alternating orange and black.

Once the paint was dry it was time to decoupage. I used some Mod Podge to attach the scrapbook paper to the fronts of the blocks. I alternated paper to match my painted blocks.

Then it’s time to add some letters!!! The letters are made from black cardstock that I cut with my Cricut. I waited for the Mod Podge to dry and then added the letters with a little more podge. When I make things like this I cover the whole thing in podge to protect both the paint and paper.

All that’s left to do it the embellishments. I decided to keep things simple and just add some ribbon. I alternated the colors of ribbons to contrast with the blocks paint and paper. The ribbon loops all the way around each block at ends in a pretty bow on the top of the block.

I think they turned out so cute! I think everyone’s turned out so cute! Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun with these! If you decide to make some, I’d love for you to send me the link so I can see how yours turned out!