Casa Bella Chic: A Very Special Halloween Exclusive!

A couple months back I was going crazy looking for a good website with some vintage images and vintage crafts. I think I looked for hours for something that was worth my time.One site that caught my eye was a very clever site run by two men named Martin and Scott. Martin is a Kindergarten teacher who naturally needs to be crafty to keep his kiddos happy. Scott is a self proclaiming Better Homes & Garden addict that has always loved to express his creative side. Both Martin and Scott had a collection of vintage postcards and images and were so nice to want to share it with everyone that they decided to make a website, Vintageimagecraft.com.

Their website is fun, creative and hilarious at the same time. My kind of people (wink).

They have a monthly newsletter with the latest crafts, vintage images and fun blogs. You can sign up here

Well my kiddos, I have a surprise exclusivly for you. They have released 3 new Halloween projects just for us to see. They won't be officially on there website until later this month! Are we lucky or what?

I think something really fun for Halloween is making and decorating a Halloween tree. I like to decorate it in fall colors so I can take off the ornaments and redecorate with some thanksgiving and Pilgrim images later on.

So here we go...are you ready????

First of all you will need a black Halloween tree. Sometimes, the dollar store sell some or you can find a mini Christmas tree and spray paint it black. If you just want to buy one,Current has a really nice one. Click on the picture to get it.

Current: $24.99

Now for the fun Halloween Ornament Projects from our friends from Vintage Image Craft !

Halloween Clown Ornament:

This is a very sweet little ornament that would be perfect on your Halloween tree or hanging over a door knob.

Materials Needed:

Vintage Image from Vintage Image Craft

Heavyweight Matte photo paper

Thin orange and black ribbon (about 1/8'')

Orange and black beads with large holes

8'' medium weight copper wire

Some good craft glue

Hole punch

Needle-nose pliers

Scissors

Instructions:

First Print the image on your matte photo paper. Trim the paper nicely making sure to leave 1/8'' border around the image.

Glue the vintage images back to back and pressing them flat to make sure there are no air bubbles. Let dry
Now, with them dry you can trim them to the final size.

Take your hole puncher and punch a hole in each corner.

Make a lose spiral with your copper wire by twisting it around a pencil 4-5 times. Bend the wire into a hanger shape.

Add 2 beads onto each end of the wire about 1" from both ends.
Now, put the ends of the wire through the two holes you made with the hole punch at the top of the ornament.

Pinch the ends tight

Place the beads over the ends of the wire and bend the the remaining end over the beads to secure the hanger to the card.
Cut four orange and four black ribbons, about 12'' in length each.

Place two orange and two black ribbons length wise on each other and then fold them in half. Put the folded end through one hole at the bottom of the ornament.

Bring the loop around the corner to the front of the card and feed the other ends of the ribbon through the loop, pulling tight until the ribbon is firmly knotted.

You may decide to put a dab of glue on the back of the knot to prevent it from coming off.

Trim the ends of the ribbons

Now hang this on your Halloween tree.

** If you want, embellish your ornament with glitter or other fun Halloween trims.
** To make the Halloween pumpkin stick out (3-D) you will need to print 4 copies of this image. Cut out just the pumpkin two times . Put some adhesive foam squares on the back and press it over the first pumpkin image.

Vintage Black Cat Ornament:

This is a super cute ornament and is the perfect addition to you Halloween tree! It would be cute to use them as cupcake toppers also. Just print them out on card stock, add glitter. Glue it onto a toothpick and tie some cute black or orange ribbon (thin) under the image (where the image and toothpick meet) and place it on top of a Halloween cupcake! Too sweet for words!

Materials:

Vintage Images from Vintage Image Craft

Heavyweight photo paper

3/16'' thick Foamcore board

2'' thick tinsel garland (in Halloween colors)

3/8'' wide and 24'' long black ribbon

Good craft glue

Foam mounting squares or tape

Scissors

Craft knife ( you will use on the foamcore board)

Self-healing cutting mat (for the foamcore board)

Instructions:

Print the images on the matte photo paper.

Trim carefully with scissors.

Cut the foamcore board into a 1 3/4" circle

Glue the foamcore circle in the middle of the back of the pumpkin on one image.

Apply craft glue to the foamcore circle, place the other trimmed image exactly over the reversed image and firmly press until the glue is dry

Cut the garland tinsel to a 6" length

Glue the edges of the foamcore circle between the paper cutouts.

Now, starting at the top of the ornament, push the tinsel garland between the paper cutouts onto the glue on the foamcore disk, circling the foamcore, ending at the top.

Press under a heavy object (like a book) and let the glue dry.

Tie the ends of the ribbon together

With the bow at one end of the loop, insert the other end of the loop between the back to back images of the cat.

Cut three or four 3/8" squares of foam mounting tape and stick them together in a block (they should equal the thickness of the 3/16" foamcore board).

With the hanging ribbon pressed down into the tinsel garland, place the mounting-tape cube behind the cat's head, and press the heads together to secure.

Fluff up the tinsel garland again, and you should have the ribbon looped under the mounting tape and ready to hang.

Witch Ornament:

The perfect addition to your spooky Halloween tree!

Materials:

Vintage Images from Vintage Image Craft
Heavyweight matte photo paper
3/16'' thick , black foamcore
1/4'' wide, black decorative braid ribbon
Faceted plastic or glass beads
Beaded pins
Good craft glue
scissors
Craft knife (for the foamcore)
Self-healing mat ( for the foamcore)

Instructions

Print the images onto your matte photo paper.
Trim the images carefully with scissors
Using one of your cut-out images, trace the image onto the foamcore board.
Cut out the shape with a craft knife

Glue the images to each side of the foamcore and press them flat
let dry
Cut a 17'' length of the decorative braid ribbon.
Glue and pin the braid ribbon two ends to meet at the bottom.
Work the braid up one side, gluing the braid to the foamcore and placing a pin in every few inches.

Once you reach the top, start gluing the other side of the braided ribbon up the foamcore.
When the 2 braids meet at the top make a hanging loop (center and glue it)
Insert a beading pin into a bead, dip the point in craft glue, and insert it into the braided edge, next to the hanging loop. Do this around the edge until you have beaded the whole ornament up to the hanging loop.

****I was also thinking you could make fun little flag banners using different images. This can be really fun using vintage fabric, paper,glitter, buttons....you name it!This banner is made by Geraldine from Rock A Bye Retro. This one is on sale at her etsy shop for purchase!