"Papering" the Kitchen Walls

I finally got tired of looking at the original wallpaper in my kitchen, so I decided to do something about it. While at Garden Ridge, I saw some cool Halloween table cloths. I was looking at them and thinking the pattern would make good wallpaper. Then it hit me...why not make them into wallpaper?









This is the pattern I chose to cover the wall with:




Here is a partially done wall:



And here it is finished:



I used Duck brand double-sided carpet tape to stick it to the wall. It seems to work pretty well.

I also added some LED string lights and a fall garland to my kitchen bar opening. Sorry about the blurry photos...I really need to get a tripod for my camera.

Halloween stuff is out!

I went to Michael's today and they had a bunch of cool Halloween stuff out. I also ordered several things from Terry's Village that came in yesterday. I have to admit, while I was at Michael's, I felt like a kid in a candy store. They only had one aisle of Halloween decor out and I was told that in the next day or two, more stuff might be coming in.








Here is the Spider Web Votive lit up:



Here's some pics of the resin pumpkin stack and the wooden haunted house lit up:







The silk leaves came from Hobby Lobby:

The wonders of Decoupage

I was sitting around wondering what other useful things I could do with my jar of decoupage. I had some small, round vases that I got a while back and I decided to see if I could do anything with them. I repeated the same process as with my hurricane glasses, but this time, I used some black crepe paper to make a jack'o'lantern face:



I dropped in an LED tea light and took some video:

Halloween Chandelier v.1.1

When I put up my chandelier a few months ago, I tried painting the hurricane glasses orange to give the light a more of a Halloween-ish look. I used orange paint, but they still look more like glowing jars of piss than the Pumpkin Orange light I wanted. I thought about using small glass tiles to make a mosaic on them, but the tiles are way too expensive to cover six hurricane glasses. So, the other day, I saw something that gave me an idea. I bought a few rolls of crepe paper(orange, yellow and black) and some "instant decoupage". Decoupage is French for watered-down white glue with a big price tag. An eight ounce jar was $5.99 at Hobby Lobby. Anyway, I cut the crepe paper into pieces about 1 1/2" square. I then glued them onto the hurricane lanterns with the decoupage. The decoupage is great because it also doubles as a sealer and waterproofer.

Here is what it looked like before the crepe paper treatment:



The end result was better than I anticipated. In fact, I was downright pleased with the way it turned out:



Now that I know this works, I have several small, round vases that are gonna be made to look like jack'o'lanterns. I started working on one earlier. When it's finished, I'll post pics.

New LED Candle

I went to Michaels two days ago and found a cool pillar LED candle. Yesterday, I was at a thrift shop and found a pewter candle pedestal for five bucks. The candle is 6" high and the pedestal is 10 1/2"

Here's a photo of the candle and holder:



And here is a video of the candle in action:



Also, I finally got around to doing something with a mostly blank wall that I had:



It looks better in person, although I don't think my mice like having large objects suspended over their habitats(which can be seen in the bottom of the photo).

In case of vampires....

I made an "Anti-Vampire Attack Kit". No, I don't believe in vampires, I just thought it would go well with the general feel of the place. I'm also in the process of making a kit for a zombie attack. I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a shadow box(50% off, at that). Then I went to Michael's and picked up a wooden crucifix and a wooden dowel to make stakes with. After I painted and polyurethaned the cross and whittled the stakes, I secured the hammer and garlic to the backing with florist's wire. The stakes and crucifix were then rubber cemented into place. I have some lettering that I'll put on later. Across the front it will say "IN CASE OF VAMPIRE ATTACK, BREAK GLASS".



The cool part was that it was pretty inexpensive to make:

Shadow box-$10
Framing hammer-$5
Wood for stakes-$3
Wooden Crucifix-$1
Garlic-$.50

So, I pretty much made a cool* looking wall decoration for under 20 bucks.





*Well, it looks cool to me, but I'm pretty much a geek, though.

I also got a swinging wall hook for a flower pot. I hung a candle lantern by a chain from the hook. I like the way it looks, so I might go get another one.



And if you're wondering, that's The Mummy with Boris Karloff on the TV.

Minor update

I found a good way to cover up some electrical cords. The hot chick I used to date gave me some plastic autumn leaf garlands and I used some electrical tape to secure them to the cords.



Got quite a thunderstorm brewing here in Ft Worth:





Man, I love gloomy weather, but unfortunately, here in TX, it's usually sunny and blistering hot. When it's not freezing cold, that is.