Haunted Pumpkin Diorama!

Hey holiday DIY experts! 
Oh my goodness, I'm so obsessed with this new festive project! HouseMart Ben Franklin still has a few of these dense carve-able Styrofoam pumpkins left, and it occurred to me that I could build a scene inside of one!

Supplies:
Dense styrofoam pumpkin
xacto blade
acrylic paint in 2 colors of gray, black, red, butter yellow, and dark purple
1" wide nylon brush
cup of rinsing water / paper towel
black spray paint
BoBunny black Perler Pen
circular wood disc
sticks that look like a tree
Halloween resin miniatures (jack-o-lantern and gravestone)
copper wired firefly lights (3 AA batteries) 
hot glue / hot glue gun
assorted moss
paper cutout of a moon

First using your xacto blade, cut out an oval circle shape from your pumpkin. 

Next, paint your pumpkin outside dark gray. When dry, lightly and roughly brush the light gray over it. Spray paint the inside black and wait to dry.

Once dry, paint inside the pumpkin with acrylics a sky gradient with the colors blended from black, to purple, to red, to yellow all the way to the bottom, so that the inside of your pumpkin looks like a perfect background for a creepy sunset!

Wait to dry, and then set up wood disc and Firefly lights battery pack inside the base of your pumpkin. Hot glue in place. Allow for easy access to change batteries as necessary. 

Hot glue the paper moon to the inside ceiling of the pumpkin with a clear thread. Hot glue mosses and tree and resin miniatures in place. Again allow for easy battery changes. 

Hot glue the firefly lights every 3 bulbs to the inner circle of the pumpkin. This will create really nice front lighting. I avoided putting any lights too far back. 

Then I used the black BoBunny Perler Pen and made raised tiny black dots all the way around the opening of the pumpkin.

So super cute!
Hope everyone is having fun getting into the spirit of the season! Have a great week!

Bethany @Enchanted Lake

Mermaid in a Jar

Happy Monday! Hope you've had a great week and that you're ready for some mermaid crafting! I can't get enough of the mermaid theme!

Supplies: 
smooth mason jar
warm white twinkle firefly lights
matte Mod Podge
nylon brush
1 sheet light blue wrapping tissue
X-acto blade
pencil
black thick card stock paper
E6000 clear glue
chunky white/clear glitter
jute/twine
scissors
shells
starfish
net


First, cut the approximate length of tissue (in one long rectangle) that will cover the entire jar with an extra inch of overlap. Slowly and bit by bit, paint Mod Podge on to the glass, laying the tissue over it. Since tissue is thin and tears very easily, don't touch or move it once it's touched the glue. To make sure everything lines up at the end, make sure you're checking to make sure the tissue is lined up with the jar throughout the process.

After the jar has been covered, let it sit to dry for 30+ minutes.
As it's drying, cut out a mermaid shape from the black card stock paper. it could even just be the shape of a mermaid tail.


After the jar is dry, add more glossy Mod Podge on the outside around the top and the bottom. Sprinkle the chunky white/clear glitter over it being careful to leave a big clear space for the mermaid to be seen clearly.

Glue part of the mermaid to the inside of the jar. To make her look more realistic in there, only glue one part of the silhouette so that it's not completely smooth to the side. The E6000 will need to cure for 30+ minutes before the jar can be handled.

Throw some pretty lights in there behind her to make it look like she's floating in a sea cave!

And there it is! Super cute mermaid in a jar!

Happy Crafting! 

Bethany @Enchanted Lake