I love Halloween. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I really do enjoy it. Our family has an annual Halloween party and I'm in charge of designing and sending out the invitations every year. I have been using Etsy for pre-designed invitations and then I mount and, perhaps, beglitter them.
I also love decorating for Halloween.
I made this shadow box a couple of years ago when I needed a good distraction. It is very easy to get completely absorbed in miniatures.
Some of the pieces were purchases but I did make a good number of them. The shadow box itself is a Tim Holtz Configurations set. I assembled the components into the configuration I wanted then papered it.
The rest of the bits and pieces came from Etsy, craft stores and my imagination. I printed off teeny labels for the apothecary jars. I made books. Even the hypodermic needle is hand made (using jewelry making bits, part of a ball point pen and straight pin). I made playing cards, tarot cards, a Ouija board and a carefully tied up bundle of ancient spells.
I was going for a cabinet of curiosities, apothecary shop kind of a look. Throw in a little Edgar Allen Poe and witchcraft and that pretty much is my Halloween decorating style.
Bead shops have a lot of things you can use when making miniatures. The little amber bottle (in the toad compartment) is made entirely of beads and jewelry findings. Many of the other pieces have elements that came from bead shops. Etsy is great for miniatures like the cauldron and mouse.
It's fun to bring it out each year and look at all the little details. It was even more fun to come up with ideas and put it all together. This is really what started my interest in getting a dollhouse and decorating it. I promise to show you that one of these days. It is very much a work in progress and maybe instead of waiting for it to be complete I can share the process with you. I bought a pre-loved dollhouse that needs a major renovation. It's about midway in the reno process but I've already started collecting furnishings.
Less than two weeks before the Halloween party! I better get cracking on my costume!
