Paper Mache Pumpkin, Halloween in June

Not really , however, there are only 135 days left until Halloween! Summer is a great time to work on props, paper mache, paint, glues all dry faster in warm weather and you don't freeze to death while working outside. Just remember the sun screen. Here is a couple of projects I have been working on for Halloween 2012.



I used a lot of bright color this time on my pumpkins. For those of you that may be first time readers and are not familiar with my pumpkins here is a picture of Mask. He is done in my traditional black and white.


I stumbled upon these Soy Paints while browsing at Jo-Ann's fabric store and fell in love with the brilliant colors. They're eco friendly and mesh well with the handmade, recyclable, reuse, quality of my art. Upon discovering them I immediately wanted to incorporate them into my Halloween decor. This is what I came up with. I will definitely use these paints again.



The pumpkin is painted with Tangerine and dried brushed with sunflower, the candles with Lavender and the mud flower is Kiwi and sunflower.

The pumpkin itself is made from papermache, (news paper strips and paper clay), the candles are created from paper towel rolls and hot glue, and the flower is made from monster mud. Here is a link to how I make paper towel roll candles.




I hope this guy (which I haven't figured out a name for yet) inspires you even though it is only June! Halloween is right around the corner.
Here are some candles I have been working on as well, they're works in progress. I hope to be able to show them finished soon.










Enjoy and remember to use caution while building, always be safe.

Halloween Evil Jester Paper Mache Project Recap and Update

Here I am so far with the Evil Jester pumpkin head with the updated pictures at the bottom of the post. I painted the Jester skull and added some silver glittered bells to both of their hats. He is completely black and white with just a touch of silver on the bells which all work perfectly together with the lighter colors absorbing the reflection of the colored lights directed at him. He should make for a great display come Halloween night.

Update: Evil Jester Paper Mache Project

Just started painting him. Here is what he looks like now. He still has a way to go before being finished.

Here is what he looked like before paint. Evil Jester work in progress. It is a slide show so you may have to give it a few seconds for the pictures to start changing.

Killer Candles

In my last post I shared with you one of my Candle Pumpkins so this time I am sharing some of my stand alone Candles.

Both pumpkins and candles are made from the same process, paper mache, paper clay and re-purposed paper towel rolls and anything else I desire to use. If you would like to see more on how I create the candles you can read my DIY Candle How To here. Unfortunately the internet is not equipped with a feature that allows one to handle them because these candle are truly amazing, after seeing them and touching it one would definitely find it hard to imagine that they are made from a simple cardboard paper towel roll.

This is the top of the candle it holds a battery operated tea light so there isn't much concern that it can catch fire. Although if you do not have that concern the tea light is removable and will fit a wax tea light. Not that I am suggesting it, this is just for info purposes only. I personally feel better not having to worry about someone knocking one over while I am not watching.

The face features a cut out just like on a traditional Jack o lantern.



This is the bottom where the light box is attached which not only lights up the inside of the candle but it makes a great stand for the candle.


The light box changes color making for a spectacular light display the inside of the candle I make white which reflects the color better.


In this picture I bounced light off of it from an outside source. There are so many ways to display these, they are just as creepy with the lights on as in the dark.




If you have any questions I love to share so feel free to ask.
Enjoy!
Madame Dewberry

Pumpking Carving

Ray Villafane his pumpkin carving is amazing don't you think?

Coming Soon

Here is a sneak peek at some of the items, handmade props, home and haunt decor that will be available in my new store Haunted Woodland Of Weir On Etsy when it opens this month.


This is one of my pumpkin sculptures. One picture shows how it looks in the light and the other in the dark with color lights projecting on it. I have had a lot of request for these and I am happy to finally be able to make them available to those who want them.























The next two pictures are of a table topper which I have made from re-purposed items. I will be sharing more on my creative process later for those who are interested. The table topper features a skull in which I sculpted. It also has several black roses that I made from monster mud and black glitter. The candles are made from paper rolls and have plastic tea lights instead of real wax candles so one does not need to worry about the fire risks. The tea lights are removable and replaceable.





I am very excited about and looking forward to getting Haunted Woodland of Weir up and running. I hope you will stop by for a visit.