Halloween Ghost Painting

Here's my newest Halloween painting. I started it around October 10th and it was finished October 14th. I was getting tired of my other Halloween--I didn't even put it out this year; it might end up in the Goodwill pile. This new painting came about because I found a cool, oval shaped ornate frame at DI over the summer while in Utah and I thought it would be just perfect to frame a Halloween painting. I didn't have any solid plans for this painting initially, but I knew I wanted a ghost and a pumpkin with an eerie, misty forest in the background. I started by tracing the oval shape of the frame on the canvas--no need to paint anything extra! Then I painted a blue-gray background, and next I started the ghost, but soon figured that I'd better paint the trees before going any further. I did not map out anything with pencil before painting; I figured any awkwardness or unevenness would just add to the creepy vibe of the painting. The pumpkin was fun to paint but my orange paint is crap, so I had to do lots of layers, and it took longer than was I was hoping. But I like how it turned out. I meant to paint hay around the pumpkin/on the ground, but it ended up looking like a nest. A happy accident that I went with---since there was too much negative space around the ghost's head, the nest gave me the idea to paint some crows flying around. Here's my line of thinking: the pumpkin had decided to make its home in the crow's nest, and that upset the crows, so they are flying around in a frenzy and are plotting to attack the pumpkin. The ghost is standing guard to protect the pumpkin. That's the story of this painting that I'm sticking with! The crows were the easiest part--I printed out some silhouette images I found online and cut them out and traced around them and just painted them in black. Is it compositionally amazing? I don't know, but I like it enough that I'll let it hang in my front room for a few years and see how I feel about it then. At the last minute, I decided to paint some red eyes in the painting. Since I mixed it with some metallic gold paint, they glow in real life (can't see in the picture unfortunately). The painting itself was finished--yay! Now time to get it in the frame. I simply cut the canvas with some sturdy scissors around the edge of the oval shape. But now I needed to get the frame itself ready, which was easy because all I had to do was spray paint it black. After hanging it on the wall, I decided that it needed one last thing--some sconces on either side to complete the creepy haunted house vibe! I ordered some off Amazon and stuck in some battery-powered candles--I love the way the whole setup turned out!

Gotta start somewhere...I started with the ghost.

Pumpkin, trees, and nest added. Hmmm....needs something else...

....crows, and glowing creepy eyes! All done!

Painting the frame black

All framed!

The sconces with the candles complete the haunted house look!

From afar...

Random October Happenings

Here are some fun stuff that happened in the month of October:

Oct. 6

My cute metal spider candle holders broke, even though I tried to be so careful with them (I bought them in Utah). Instead of throwing them away, I removed the old broken glass and was able to use them after all---candle holders!

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Oct. 7

Orthodontic appointment for all three this time! Elisa got her braces on. She wasn't happy about it, and she wouldn't show me her new smile for the camera. I think she looks so cute in her new braces. She hasn't said much about them since so I guess she's gotten used to them

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Oct. 8

I received a request from a neighbor down the street to help with some additions on her daughter's dance dress. She wanted some length added and some straps as well. I said sure--I could do that! I had to use some fabric from my own stash since what she had provided me with didn't work. It didn't take too long to pull off, and it turned out so cute! I got to revisit my old dress-making days and got a little cash in my wallet!

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I told Erik he should frame his diplomas. I didn't mean take over the entire wall of the office haha!

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We received the shipment of our LVP order from Floor and Decor. I had to make room in the garage for it. First, we had to move Gabe's car, and I cleaned up the rest of the area. I very quickly and somewhat haphazardly organized stuff on the shelf--most of it was Erik's. But, it was nice to have it off the floor and somewhat neat. 

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Oct. 11

We went out for dinner at Kneader's with Elisa's friend Jayde. It was fun!

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https://youtube.com/shorts/7WehdvROlpU

Oct. 18

Ian played the piano for the primary program this year. I played some songs, but Ian played most! I joined him playing Teach Me to Walk in the Light on the organ for the closing hymn the following Sunday. He also played prelude and the opening hymn (hymn 67, the kids were amused by that) Glory to God on High on the organ that Primary Program Sunday. He did a great job!!

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Oct. 22

Ian had his very first band concert! He decided to play the trombone for band, and this was his first year of being in band. Erik managed to get a few pictures and videos of Ian during his concert. There isn't a stage so its always hard to see the kids in the band unless they are in the front row playing flute or back row standing up for percussion. The songs the 5th grade band played were really basic, so the concert didn't last very long. Will I miss band concerts when they are over? No, but I try to enjoy them while one of my kids are in them!

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Oct. 24

Elisa and I found this Japan/Hello kitty tasting box at World Market on clearance so we decided to buy it. She had fun trying all the different snacks from Japan.

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Oct. 28

Even though I bought this bowl a year ago at Goodwill, a was curious about it because of its weight (it is way heavier than you'd ever think by looking at it) and its sparkle and detail (so pretty!). I uploaded these pictures to ChatGPT and it gave an estimated value of $100 and said it was from the early 1900's. I can't remember what ChatGPT said the brand name most likely is--it does not have any maker marks on it. I like to think I have a pretty good eye when it comes to picking out the good stuff. 90% of Goodwill is pure garbage, so it's always a treat to find something like this. And I paid around $8 for it!

Ian's Treasure Chest Makeover

I saw this cute mid-sized treasure chest at Goodwill and thought it would be fun to paint it Mario-themed for Ian. I started the project towards the beginning of September, but I had to set this project aside since we had the cruise to go on, so I worked on it a little bit into October too. It took me way longer than I ever thought it would, but that seems to be the norm for projects--they always take longer than expected! First, I had to get the original paint off. It was and ugly black and gold. I wish I would have taken a picture of how it looked to begin with. Whoops. Anyway, the paint stripping part--ugh. It was a pain, mostly it was because I was too stubborn to buy actual paint stripper at first. I wanted to keep this project as inexpensive as possible, which ended up being for naught. I started by scraping the paint. Then I tried some acetone. It worked pretty well but dried up to fast. Then I ran out of acetone, and instead of being smart and buying paint stripper, I bought more acetone instead. I hope I didn't do any damage to myself from breathing in too much of it haha! Yikes. When the chest was stripped as good as I could get it, I sprayed it with some bright green spray paint that I bought off Amazon. I did not like the way it turned out. The paint was splotchy, uneven and way too bright. So back to the beginning. This time I was smarter and bought some actual paint stripper and some nicer green paint at Walmart. I spent the next few days stripping off the green spray paint, and even a bit more of the original paint that I didn't initially get. And then sanding, sanding, sanding! 

Then it was ready to paint (again!). The newer green paint was so nice to work with and looked much, MUCH better than that bright green spray paint. I used Waverly inspirations chalk paint, and it went on like a dream! I put a few coats on and let it dry, and I was on to the next step/fun part of the project: painting the Mario figures! I let Ian choose which characters he wanted on his box. Then I printed them up on the computer to the size I wanted and transferred them on the top and the front using pastels and a pencil. I took the chest up to my craft room and got to work. I started with the front side and painted a Koopa and Bowser (just like Ian wanted). The surface had a slightly rough texture due to the cheap-o pressed particle board used in the construction, but it was still paintable.  Then I painted Mario and Luigi on the top. The texture on the top was much smoother (actual wood) so the characters look a bit brighter and clearer on the top than the ones on the front. I like how the characters turned out--super fun and bright. No problems painting them, although I did have to adjust how Mario was holding the star since otherwise it wouldn't fit. I painted along the raised border a similar shade of green as the spray paint.   

Even though the painting part was all done, I still wasn't finished! I took the chest back outside and sprayed it with a few coats of clear protectant. There wasn't much hardware on this, but what there was I had previously taken off to make it easier to scrap, sand, and paint. I used painter's tape to cover the hinges on the back, but everything else got removed and cleaned. Before I could put the hardware back on, the old velvet lining had to be replaced--it was icky. I found some new pretty blue velvet lining with a sticky backing. I used modpodge glue as well to make extra sure it stuck on the wood. The original lining came out in pre-cut chunks, so all I did was traced their outline on the new stuff. It all went perfectly up until I ran out, and then I had to wait a few more days to get the new lining. I put back the hardware sometime during this step--most of it was sandwiched between the lining and wood. The new lining was looking perfect until the very last piece--I think I accidentally stretched it too much, so it got a couple of wrinkles in it, but it's nothing too noticeable. And that's it! Finally done! It now lives in Ian's room--he uses it to store some of his plushies.

I picture of the first paint job. You can't see it very well, but it was very blotchy and uneven. 

Scraped and sanded all that bright green paint off.

Now for the fun part!

One Koopa down

Some of Bowser done

Almost done!

The front is finished! Just need to paint the white border a bright green

Gloves first, I guess...?

Luigi done.

On to Mario...

I took some pictures just in case I forgot how the old lining was placed. Its pretty ugly, isn't it?

Washing the old, dirty hardware with Barkeeper's Friend. They went from gross to shiny-new in seconds!

All done! Turned out cute!!