Dollar Store Design School #3 and #4 - Last Minute Halloween Fabulousness

2 quick (and of course inexpensive) ideas for Halloween decor!

First up... #3 - MUMMY PUMPKIN!  I know this isn't anything new but it's crazy cute and I'm telling you that you can find everything at The Dollar Store... at least I did.

Buy:
1 faux pumpkin (I saw them at the store when they first got their Halloween items in but didn't grab one then so I had to buy a real one.  I got one for $3.50 at Walgreens.)
1 roll of white gauze (buy 2 if you have a large pumpkin)
1 pack of "google" eyes (The pack I bought has 125 eyes in a variety of sizes.  125?  In case you are making a cyclops or a purple people eater?)

Items I already had:
black paper
tape

I found what I wanted to be the front of my mummy pumpkin and taped the gauze to the back and just kept wrapping it around until I was happy with the way it looked.  Then I slid the large google eyes behind the gauze and pulled the gauze a bit until you could see them but they were still held in place by a few strings.  Then I cut a small little mouth from black paper and tucked the corners in.  DONE!

#4 - Creepy Centerpiece!

To buy: 
3 cups/glasses/votives... whatever you like the shape of.
3 candlestick holders
1 pack of flame less candles (3 to a pack)
1 bag of Spanish Moss (I already had this from the Halloween Wreath I made)
Spider webbing and plastic spiders

I already had: 
hot glue gun
cute little ghost

This one is easy too! Just add glue to the top edge of the candlestick holders and then place the votive/bowl/glass on top of the candlestick holder. Make sure it is centered on the holder.  Wait for them to dry completely.   Then add some Spanish moss and one flame less candle to the bottom of each bowl. Place the 3 candle holders where you want to set them up and then stretch some of the spider webbing over them. Place the spiders on the edge of the bowls, around the base... anywhere you'd like. You can also add any other little items you might have. I put the little ghost on the edge of one of the bowls. That's it!  See my finished project here:

You could also use these as a little candy holders or use in a dinner buffet or dessert bar.

Dollar Store Design School #2 - Halloween Wreath

Since I've started these Dollar Store Design School lessons I have learned a little something about shopping at the Dollar Store for craft items.  When they first get new holiday items in (You know... that time when you say: "Halloween already?" or "Christmas already?  It's not even Halloween!") you need to go ahead and buy items you will need for crafting.  If you wait, then all the good stuff will be gone!

That said... I will try to start posting ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas decor soon since they already have those items in the store.

For now I have our Halloween Wreath tutorial.  It is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.  Listen to The Raven read by James Earl Jones HERE.

This is what I purchased from the Dollar Store:

Bag of Spanish Moss

Wreath
Black Bird
Black Roses/Spider bouquet

I had: tape, glue stick, hot glue gun, scissors, piece of thin cardboard (back of a legal pad) and a piece of raffia that I found in the yard.

I created the "NEVERMORE" sign and just printed it out on paper and then cut it out.

So the first thing I did was to glue the paper NEVERMORE sign down to the piece of thin cardboard and cut out around it.  It just made the "sign" a little more sturdy.  Then I poked holes in the sign and pushed the raffia through. I put a little piece of tape on the back of the holes just to hold the raffia in place. It doesn't look "neat" but I didn't want it to.

Moving on to the actual wreath...
I pulled out some of the moss and arranged it at the bottom of the wreath until I liked the way it looked (that leaf was totally in the bag with the moss). Some little pieces of moss shook loose and that's ok.  Keep those little pieces for our next project!!!
Then I used the hot glue gun to attach the moss to the wreath.  Again, this does not have to be perfect. It's supposed to look like a birds nesting place.

Now it is time to add the bird.  (Here is where shopping early comes in handy.  Some of the birds were a little worse for wear when I was at the store. I pawed through them until I found a decent looking one.)  This bird actually had wire on his feet so it was very easy to attach him.  I just found a place on the wreath that I liked and wrapped the wires around the wreath.  The thing I liked about this wreath was that it was messy... like a bunch of twigs twisted together.  Perfect for the birds nest look I was going for.

I attached one of the black roses to the wreath with hot glue and hung the sign from one of the twigs of the wreath.  I was concerned it might blow off the wreath though so I put a little hot glue on each side to attach it to the wreath.

Super easy and super cheap... $4 + what I had on hand at the house.  You could easily do this for $2.  Just buy the wreath and the bird.  Find items from your yard for the "nest" at the bottom.  If you wanted to get really crafty you could just buy the bird for $1 and make your own wreath from twigs.  I'm afraid I don't have that kind of time!!!

What do you think? I hope you all like the wreath and that it inspires you in your holiday decorating efforts.  

Up next on Dollar Store Design School... Creepy Centerpieces!!!