A Marvelous Mess!!

Hi! 

It's beens a busy week for me, how about you?

This week I got my Halloween on and made some potion jars:

and some plastic spoon flowers:

Click on the pictures to see how I did it!!

My fave from last weeks party is...

Spider Web Sign from Burton Avenue

Now, on to the party:

Halloween Potion Jars Free Printable

Before we get to the potion jars..... can I ask you to go vote for my Boston Terrier, Chloe? She's is a costume contest this week and needs votes to win:

She's a Boston Red Sox doggy. Her shirt says, "Big Puppy 34"..... you know, Big Papi? Get it? 

Anyway, click here to go to the site, type the name Chloe into the box above the pictures, and then submit!

Well, I showed you how to make the flowers yesterday.... seems only fair I show you how I made the jars!! Honestly I never could have made the jars without the incredible help of that awesome blog The Graphics Fairy.

First, I found some cool jars with enough space to put a label on them. One was from a local store, the other was from me having a couple glasses of wine. To get the old labels off the wine bottle I did a little trick:

~I filled up the bottle with the hottest water I could get (not boiling, of course) and then I put it in a tub of water that was the same temperature. Then, I added baking soda to the water. I waited 60 minutes and by that time the labels were much easier to come off. Just a little tiny elbow grease and voila!

I found an image of a Bat on the Graphics Fairy and I took it and edited it to make it look older and more Halloweeny. Click on the picture and feel free to save and print (just don't forget to credit me and the Graphics Fairy if you use either photo):

Then, I found an image of an Iguana at the Graphics Fairy and Halloweened it again:

Not bad! 

I printed out the photos on some cardstock and then mod podged them onto the bottles. I only used the glue where the pictures went.....wherever extra was showing I just scraped it off with my fingernail, once it was dry. 

I filled up the bottles with brown and bright green liquid; brown paint with water for the bat, green with water for the iguana and added my plastic spoon flowers with some raffia as some decor for the bottles. I had one bottle that couldn't fit a label but looked like it had Halloween flair, so I put some black paint with water in that one:

I love them!!

I shared this post at the following sites, as well as those listed under my parties tab:

Inspiration Exchange

Between Naps on the Porch

Tatertots and Jello

Halloween Plastic Spoon Flowers Tutorial

Wanna try something really cool? 

How about some flowers made out plastic silverware??

These look beautiful intertwined in your Halloween decorations.....

These guys are easy to make but not very good for the environment (though, it is recycling) so try not to make them too much..... and make sure you do it outside. This is definitely a craft for adults only!

Also, if you're wondering about the witches brew bottles in the background, I'm going to posting about them this weekend!!

Here is what you need:

Plastic silverware

Lighter

Pretty simple, right?

~Take all your tools OUTSIDE and get started!!

~Take your silverware and starting with the forks or spoons, break off the bowl area where the natural bend in the stem is. Do this to as many pieces as you plan to have in one flower. 

~Heat up a stem with a lighter until the plastic begins to melt, then push it up against another stem:

~The two should melt together. Do this for as many as you would like to make the flower. I added a fork to the middle of my flower to give it a spookier appearance. After you melt the plastic, it retains heat for a bit, but it cools enough to be unable to melt pretty quickly, so move fast to bring pieces together. 

~You could make a whole flower out of forks, out of spoon, out of forks and spoons..... it is up to you. The trick is, once all the piece have been connected, take the lighter and move it slower around each piece of the flower, making the edges curl and look more like a real flower. The tines will curl in different directions! It's a lot of fun. 

Just remember, the fumes are terrible for you..... do it OUTSIDE and don't do it too often for the sake of our atmosphere. :-) 

I shared this post at the following linky parties (and all the ones in my parties tab above):

Between Naps on the Porch

Tatertots and Jello