2011 Halloween Foyer Decor

Re-purposing is a great way to keep costs down when decorating (or when creating of any kind, really). I love taking something old and giving it new life. I ESPECIALLY love it when it involves glitter!!!

As I took my returnable cans and bottles back to the store a few weeks ago ($.10 per container here in MI - you BET I'll return 'em!), the machine wouldn't take my empty IBC Creme Soda glass bottles because they don't have a barcode on the bottles themselves. I figured I'd just take them back to the original store I purchased them from and continued with my shopping. I TOTALLY forgot to stop at the other store to return my IBCs on my way home. But I swear that as soon as I walked in the door, I had an epiphany!

I cleaned out the bottles and caps and took them directly up to my Creative Studio to get to work. I thought about designing my own Halloween Labels for this project, but figured that if I could find something pre-made (and free) online that I liked - why re-invent the wheel? I found these awesome free potion label printables online! Sa-weet!

After printing my labels, I cut them out and - using a foam brush - glued them to my bottles with Mod Podge. I brushed the Mod Podge directly onto the backs of my labels so that I didn't get any glue outside of the area I needed it on my bottles. I smoothed them out well, making sure there weren't any bubbles.

Now I needed to do something about the IBC bottle caps. Even though they were orange (very Halloweenie), I didn't want to be able to see the logo on the cap. I opted to cover them in Martha Stewart Black Onyx Fine Glitter (LOVE that stuff). I just brushed on more Mod Podge and covered the cap in the glitter. Ms. Stewart's glitter covers VERY well - there's no need to paint the object before glittering. Once my new potion bottle was ready, I filled it with water that I tinted with purple food coloring. I looks more black than purple - but that's okay. Still something that I wouldn't want to drink! Cost of project: pretty darn FREE!

I found this white skull and black pumpkin at my local Michael's. Something about that little skull piqued my interest and I knew he had to come home with me. I love him just the way he is - no altering needed. The pumpkin needed a little something, so I striped it using my white Sharpie Poster Paint Marker. I then glittered the stem (bring on the Mod Podge!) with Martha's Purple Sapphire Fine Glitter. When I put the pumpkin and skull together on my foyer table, the skull was just dwarfed by the size of the pumpkin. I had a few small decorative boxes in my stash, so I took out the black & white one, removed the lid, flipped it over and VOILA - a stand! The bottom of the little box was originally white with a barcode on it. More glitter to the rescue!

Thanks for dropping by! Check back in tomorrow for my Halloween Dining Table Centerpiece!

- Veronica