Halloween is one of those holidays you either love or hate.
Unless you're me, in which case you both love and hate it. In a related note, I also both love and hate exercise, John Grisham novels, Spanx and America's Next Top Model.
When it comes to Halloween decorations I'm not big on the cartooney, cutesy stuff. Think more Addams Family, less Munsters. For one thing The Addams Family were infinitely more elegant than the Munsters. Candelabras, smoking cauldrons and marble floored ballrooms. They had better taste than the Carringtons when you think of it.
Creepy really can be beautiful if you're focused. And creepy but beautiful was exactly what I wanted for the Halloween wreath I planned to make this year.
So when I eased my way past the people wearing slippers as actual footwear in the Halloween aisle of my local Dollar Store, I had to keep a sharp eye. Only look at things that had qualities I would have in my house on any given day, let alone Halloween.
What I came away with were some black skulls covered in sparkles, 8 black feather boas and some black cotton gauze.
The Dollar Store didn't sell any styrofoam wreaths big enough for what I wanted to do, so I hijacked a garbage bin behind a furniture store and grabbed 3 sheets of styrofoam to make my own wreath.
And here's how I did it and exactly what I used.
Materials
Table of Contents
A Few Black Sparkly Skulls - $ 1 each
8 Black Feather Boas - $2 each.
Black Gauze - $1
3 Sheets of Styrofoam - Free
If you choose to make your own styrofoam wreath form because of your excessive cheapness (and laziness ... couldn't be bothered to drive to Michael's) you have to glue your sheets of styrofoam together.
This way you end up with a nice, thick wreath. Not an unnice, skinny wreath.
I used 3, 1" pieces of styrofoam to make a HUGE wreath. You don't have to be as excessive as me. I tend towards excessiveness.
After you glue all your pieces together with regular white glue, let it dry overnight.
The next morning, when you wake up bright and cheery, full of vim and vigour, stretching your arms over your head just like they do in breakfast cereal commercials, your styrofoam will be perfectly adhered, ready for shaping into a wreath.
The first thing you'll need to do is regress to grade 6 math class and make one of those circle making things out of a string, a pin and a marker.
Do the same thing in the centre with a smaller circle.
Grab the trusty 1970's electric knife you bought at a church bazaar and get 'er revved up. Maybe stretch your arms over your head again, just for good measure.
Cut the outer styrofoam circle. An electric knife is the easiest way to cut styrofoam. I'm not saying you won't have flying balls of styrofoam everywhere. It just makes it easier. Be forewarned that you will be trying to clean up styrofoam balls that have static clinged themselves to every part of you and your kitchen. For the next week.
Good job. Now your outer circle is cut out perfectly. I'm quite impressed with you.
Now cut the centre circle out.
In just moments I'm going to wrap the black feather boas around the wreath, but to make sure they stay where you want them you should cut some wire into 2 inch pieces ...
... and then bend them over so they're like modified clippy things.
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We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
Start wrapping and clipping your boas around the wreath.
When you've applied approximately 17 birds worth, you'll have something that looks like this.
If you need a little more room in the centre of your wreath, just clip away some of the feathers so you have a bigger opening.
Allow the cat to court it's newfound love for a minute or two then shoo the cat away.
I randomly cut small pieces of the black gauze and then pinned them "pleasingly" on the wreath. Just wherever I thought it looked good. It was at this point I had to show some restraint, remembering I wanted a classy and elegant Halloween wreath. My "excessive" gene had to be stomped down for this one.
Every so often hold your wreath up to see what it'll look like hanging.
The sparkly skulls I got from the Dollar store had tooling and ribbons around their necks and came on sticks. However, I didn't like where the sticks were, so I cut them off ...
... and placed them where I wanted them, in the backs of the skulls. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love these sparkly styrofoam skulls. They make me want to grin and stretch my arms above my head like I'm about to have a delicious bowl of sugar cereal.
This is another place I had to show some restraint. If you want to know the truth, I actually bought 8 skulls expecting to use them all and thought it was entirely possible I'd need to go buy more. But when it came down to it the wreath actually looked better with only a few skulls. Too many of them and they weren't as noticeable.
Hang it on the door, bat your eyelashes at Gomez and call it a night.
Oh yes! And I put mini-lights into it for nighttime viewing.
If you plan on doing this yourself for Halloween keep a couple of things in mind. The wreath will end up costing you $20 - $25 depending on where you get your supplies but you can use it year after year. So all in all it's pretty inexpensive. Even if it costs you $30 ... it isn't disposable so that's a deal and a half really. It'll last you as long as you can keep your cats from humping it to death.
Also, improvise. If you can't get feather boas, use all black gauze. If you can't find sparkly skull heads, use crows or spiders or anything else that gives you a tight squeeze, cool breeze ... leaves you with the shiverees Don't worry if you can't find the exact same materials I have. Just get things you like. As you can see, I happen to think the wreath looks best if it's monochromatic. An all white version of this would also be beautiful and unexpected.
And on *that* very Martha Stewart note ... happy wreathing.
Love Morticia.
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Shannon
Love this and love how you did the directions, made me smile, and now because of your wit, I am going to try this, so thank you!
Amy
OOOhhh I love this wreath. I agree with you I so love the Addams Family. Click Click.
Jen
I have the exact same electric knife but it was my mother's. I use it to carve turkey. And foam to make cushions. Yum.
jodi
I absolutely love this wreath adn I an having trouble finding the skulls. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Karen
Jodi - Just leave your search until a little closer to Halloween. You'll find them everywhere then. Party Planning stores, costume stores, Dollar Stores. :) ~ karen
Trendy Tree-Jeannie Pence
Fantastic wreath! I want to share on my blog with a link to you)))
Karen
Thanks Jeannie! But don't get me thinking about Halloween! I'm still trying to savour July! ~ karen
Nancy Muritz
My only questions are how large a diamiter is the wreath and did you wrap the boas in and out of the center, like that around? Thanks! I love this and am considering doing it if I can find suitable materials. Nancy
Karen
Hi Nancy - I can't completely remember, but I believe I made the wreath to be around 15" across. You can make it whatever size you like, really. I did wrap the boa around and around the wreath so he entire wreath was covered. Front and back. I did this because it was going on a glass door and you'd be able to see the back of the wreath. If you're putting it on a solid wood door and no one will see the back you could just weave the boas around the front and inside of the wreath. Good luck! ~ karen
ShawnA
Ok I have to ask, I have not seen a White Rose store in years, and your glue is from white rose. Do the stores still exsist or do you have a huge supply of glue. I know in Barrie I bought a ton of the crafting supplies when they closed, but again that was years ago. Loved the store so if you have found one somewhere please share. Thanks and love your ideas never stop..
Karen
ShawnA - Thanks! LOL! Um. Nope. I too bought that glue when White Rose went out of business! It's HUGE. Unless I build a full sized house out of popsicle sticks ... I'll never get to the bottom of it. ~ karen
Danielle
Brilliant!! I love how elegant this is and yet oh so creepy. Now where did I put my boa...
La Maison Fou
I love the wreath, I too am a dollar store diva!
Love the end results! I too fell victim to the sparkly skulls, you may want to put some of your extras under glass. I stacked several on an aluminum cake stand and topped with a large cloche tpeed dome. Served up skulls.......
Great to find your blog, via the vamp!
L.
Anemone
OMG....i swear thats like the sexiest wreath ever...its elegant...wowoowowo...i love it soo much...thank u Karen...u are great...u made me see halloween decor in whole new light...
cannot beleive how beautiful it looks...seriously
Annabell
Just beautiful. I've been wanting to make one of these and now I see it beautifully done. Any plans on making a centerpiece (hint, hint) ??? I want one of those too but haven't gotten around to it.
Thanks!
Amy Hadley
That's the most beautiful, classy creepy wreath I've ever seen. Well done.
Patti
Did you see the cute little teenie weenie glittery skulls in bags of like, 12 at the dollar store? I bought some skulls myself, which are going in a vase, and I'm dumping some little glitters in, too!
JennyM
Hmmm... I have an autumn-y wreath going on right now. But I bet I could spice it up with some subtle sparkly skulls and spidery things for next week...
livelybrowsers
Thanks for good stuff
Josie
Karen - not sure if you've ever stumbled upon this website before but I think you'll just fall in love with it.
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/
Thank you for the inspiration!
Mary
Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful ideas. Your blog is more than a pleasure to read. It brightens my day and uplifts my spirit. Your writing is honest, humorous, and universal.
Again, I thank you for letting me (us) into your home and your mind...our most private and precious of places.
Cathy
If you love skulls, check out the Sears Wishbook, page 41, skull glassware. I know I've spent too much time reading your blog when I think of you while flipping through the catalogue. Thanks for the laughs!!
Oona
I AM TOTALLY STEALING THIS IDEA.
Karen
I give you permission. :) ~ karen
Adrienne Audrey
It looks awesome!
Melanie
I am so relieved to see that I'm not the only person who still has a giant bottle of glue from White Rose (as well as several unopened cellophane bags of glittery pom-poms).
Karen
Haaaaa! That made me laugh out loud. I looked at that bottle of glue when I was doing this and thought ... I cannot believe I still have this!
Katie
Bahaha I also have a number of bottles of White Rose glue pilfered from my highschool art classroom when it was torn down for a renovation! Funny thing is until I read this comment I hadn't thought of the fact that they were anything unusual!
Langela
I am not fond of most Halloween stuff. It is usually gory and gross. But I found your wreath to be quite attractive and elegant in a dark sort of way. Nice job, Karen!