Simple Yet Elegant Coffin Place Settings

 

 

When one thinks of Halloween, there are always themes that are tried-and-true.  Traditional themes like vampires, ghosts and goblins, mummies, Frankenstein....et cetera have been around for years and years.  For this year's Halloween tablescape, I thought it would be great to have a mini coffin at each setting designating guests where to sit.  I wanted to add a bit of elegance to the coffins, and I did so by adding fabric liners to each.  Here is my process:

 

You will need:

 

Mini coffins

Black spray paint (contingent upon stock of your coffins)

Dark red fabric such as velvet or a very wide ribbon of the same color

Matching embroidery thread

Quilt batting

Plastic mesh needlepoint canvas

Scissors

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Sharpie pen or crayon

Piece of paper

 

I began this project with several mini coffins from my local Michael's Crafts.  These coffins were plain and ready to paint.  Michael's does offer a pre-painted version, but they only had one in black, and I was a little pressed for time, so I didn't want to order or drive an hour to the next location.  I digress....

 

They are cute, aren't they?  They are available in different shapes, but I preferred this traditional coffin style.

 

I spray painted them all black.

 

 

Once the painting was done, I laid the coffins on the needlepoint canvas

 

and drew a template using a sharpie pen.

 

Trial and error tip:  I found that tracing with the sharpie pen made the template too big of course, because the canvas needed to fit inside.  It took a bit of trimming down with the scissors to get the canvas just the right size.  After using the sharpie to complete the first, I found that using a crayon to sketch over the opening of the coffin and using that as a template instead was a much more accurate method.

I used the first of these to template as many others as I needed, making sure to cut out each template first a little larger, and carefully trimming where needed.  You can always take more away....you can never put it back!  :)

 

Once all my canvases were complete,

 

I wanted to give each lining a little oomph by adding quilt batting.

  I cut out a piece of batting for each,

 

and trimmed them to size.

 

I laid each piece on my wide ribbon,

 

and using a coordinating embroidery thread,

 

added tufts to the lining by placing little knots sporadically down the length of my coffin template.

 

 

This process turned out to be really time-intensive, so in the end, I omitted this step.  Also, if you look at the top of my liner here, the tufts are almost not noticeable.  I believe if you'd like to keep this step, the tufts would show up better if you used a contrasting color like black.

 

 

For the last step, I folded in and hot glued all the sides down just before placing each liner into its coffin (with the uglier sides facing down).

 

It was easy to give some plain coffins a bit of added elegance, and in addition to place settings, these could be used as invitations as well for a Halloween wedding or soirée....or any fabulous macabre get-together!  To see these featured in my 2015 Día de Los Muertos Halloween Tablescape, you may visit the post on my blog Parsimonious Décor Darling here.

 

 

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

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DIY Sugar Skulls (Calaveras)

A beautiful Mexican tradition near Halloween time is the celebration of Dia de los Muertos.  During the celebration, families and friends of the faithfully departed pray to wish their lost loved ones luck in the afterlife.  The celebration lasts until November 2nd, and one tradition is the passing of calaveras to children.  Typically made of sugar or clay, the calavera is a representation of the human skull.  Over the years, the sugar skull has become popularized in western cultures as well. 

I recently planned my 2015 Halloween tablescape, and this year it will have a Dia de los Muertos theme.  Today's tutorial will show you how to take simple skulls and adorn them to look like sugar skulls.  I hope you enjoy the post!

My supply list:
Skulls

Ribbon

Assorted paint and brushes

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Sharpie

Glass beads

Glitter

School glue
Decorative trim
Dixie Cup
Small paper card
Faux flowers
Spray paint


I began with two plain porcelain skulls.

I painted each skull's cavities with black craft paint.

Next, I added lines to represent the teeth of each.

Female Calavera:

I used a dark, rusty red paint

to outline the eyes of my female skull, and after that, used a sharpie to draw a simple pattern around the eyes.

I cut a bit of sparkly palette trim

for each eye socket of my female calavera, and added a few roses on the top of her head using hot glue.

I used the same red paint to draw in little lips.

Next, using a sharpie pen, I drew in some spider web detail.

To give her a little feminine charm, I created a bouffant hairstyle by gluing down a couple pieces of faux hair over a small balled up piece of hair.

Shown here.  Add more roses.

Male Calavera:


I added a simple mustache to my male skull.

To give him a bit of pomp and circumstance, I added a mini top hat.  I started with a Dixie cup.

I used a small bowl with a larger circumference to draw a template onto a small paper card, and traced the circumference of the Dixie cup.

Glue all the pieces together to form a mini hat.

I spray painted the hat black and allowed it to dry completely before gluing it to my skull.

I added a bit of red ribbon to the top hat, and used a sharpie to free-hand draw some simple patterns onto the male skull.

Two pieces of contrasting ribbon became a snappy bow-tie, and I used hot glue to attach it to the male calavera.

Almost done......

I debated awhile before deciding to give the male skull glowing eyes like his female counterpart.  I used two glass beads.

I covered the beads with regular school glue.

I sprinkled generously with red glitter, and allowed them to dry completely.

Completed eyes.

I used hot glue to hold them in place.  Completed Sugar skulls.

I decided not to use traditional Mexican colors, which is also an option, because I was making these to be part of a centerpiece with a vampire theme. To see these Calaveras in my 2015 Halloween  Día de los Muertos tablescape, you may do so by visiting the post on my blog Parsimonious Décor Darling here.

 

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

The Marvelous Maison, a lifestyle blog hub and 

Frugal Fab Fashionista, my fashion blog hub. 

Follow me on Pinterest!!  Please be sure to kindly follow the board guidelines, as it takes time and effort to find fabulous pins across the Internet and Pinterest!  Thank you!  

Thank you for stopping by! ❤

Festive Fall Topiary Door Hangers

Is fall in full-swing where you live?  We just beginning to see signs it may arrive here in California! 

In anticipation of the changing season, I thought, why not try an upgraded version of an old one for Autumn?  One of the first pins I found when I initially opened my account on Pinterest came from the blog In My Own Style.  In the post, blogger Diane Henkler introduced a very simple way to create wonderful decorative Christmas sprays for her outdoor lanterns by using floral foam and a wire hanger.  So incredibly clever.  You may visit her post here. 

In today's post, I am utilizing that simple idea to create festive topiary door hangers with harvest baskets.  I hope you enjoy the post! 

To make two door topiaries, you will need:

Two wire hangers
Two baskets
Two floral foam blocks
Hemp twine
Ribbon
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Wire cutters or floral tool
Foam pumpkins

Begin by removing any paper from your wire hanger.  Stretch the hanger length-wise.

Manipulate the wire of the hanger

so that it just fits around the floral arranging foam, and tie down with the hemp thread.

To add my hanging baskets, I used a roll of medium-width ribbon, approximately one inch wide.

I loved the sparkle and subtle pattern of the ribbon.

Measure two equal strips of ribbon for your door hangers.

Thread the ribbon through the bottom of your folded hanger,

through the top of the basket,

tie and glue down with hot glue.

Use the wire cutters to remove the foliage,

reserving two fuller foliage sprays and setting them aside for later.

I found that hanging the topiaries from the cabinets in my kitchen

as I added all the elements worked wonders.

Continue to fill in until a full, rounded ball forms

To add a little bit of harvest charm, I cut two of the stems from the leftover trimmed foliage

shown here,

and gently pushed it into the foam pumpkin,

and into the foam at the top of my hanger.

On the very tip-top of the basket, I used a pretty plaid pattern ribbon

and tied it into a double bow. Use hot glue to hold in place.

Almost there.....place the two reserved foliage sprays just inside your baskets.

Fluff and rearrange the foliage where you see any gaps.

Finally, here is a look at the hangers on my front doors.

Very festive, fun, and easy too!



To see these featured in my post with the rest of my Fall décor for 2015, you may visit the post on my blog Parsimonious Décor Darling by clicking here.

Where to buy:

Thin ribbon, fuller floral sprays, and baskets, Michael's Crafts
All other floral, foam pumpkins, plaid ribbon, foam blocks, and hemp thread, The Dollar Tree

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

The Marvelous Maison, a lifestyle blog hub and 

Frugal Fab Fashionista, my fashion blog hub. 

Follow me on Pinterest!!  Please be sure to kindly follow the board guidelines, as it takes time and effort to find fabulous pins across the Internet and Pinterest!  Thank you!  

Thank you for stopping by! ❤