Halloween Wall Display

There are just a couple of weeks left before Halloween so I was glad to get this frame put together to hang until the holiday.  We don't do as many decorations now that our sons are adults but something like this is easy to do and adds a bit of fun for the season.

The collage frame was on sale at AC Moore for about ten dollars.  It has four vertical and three horizontal 4x6 spots for photos or decorations.  You can also turn it vertically if that suits your project or your wall space.  The dividing bars are all on the outside of the frame with a single sheet of glass below the bars.

This paper collection from Authentique called "Glowing" was the inspiration for the project.  My neighbor and I found it at our local stamp store and we loved the look and the vibrant oranges.  We both bought the same frame and got together to plan out the design and choose the images to use for each section.

We discovered something interesting while we were sorting out the papers.  Our two 6 x 6 stacks were different.  Most of the papers are overall designs with only slight variations on the page.  When we got to the spiders on the orange polka dots we found out that my two 6 x 6 sections were cut from the top of the page and hers were cut from the bottom of the page.  I had the two spiders hanging down and she had the swirls and a plain orange polka dot section.  We swapped pieces of paper to give her a spider web and me a plain polka dot piece.  I just wanted to mention this because you wouldn't be able to make exactly the same thing unless you have both pads of paper or one of the 12 x 12 sheets of this pattern.

 It was fun to work out which items to cut and where to place them.  We did all of the cuts on the E2 after reviewing the sizes with the Gypsy.

Here is the list of cuts from the Happy Hauntings cartridge:

Top left -  "eek" cut from the bloody font at one inch.

Bottom left - ghost cut at 4 inches on shift level (to get the cuts for the eyes and mouth

Top center - witch hat with spider cut at 3 1/2 inches, hat band also cut in orange (we skipped the buckle).

Center - "Boo" cut at 1 3/4 inches with shadow layer.

Bottom center - fence with a crow cut at 2 1/2 inches.

Top right - two bats, one at 2 1/4 inches and one at 1 3/4 inches (one bat flipped over after cutting)  the moon is a  2 1/2 inch circle - from any cartridge with a circle.

Bottom right - cat cut at 3 1/4 inches.

 Most of the items were cut from plain black cardstock.  The ghost, the moon and the shadow for the word "Boo" were cut from this light yellow cardstock.

 A little inking around the edges with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink adds some depth to the cuts.

We didn't cut the blackout of the ghost and then realized that the bold paper would show through - which could be very "ghost-like"...

I just added a small scrap of black paper behind the head of the ghost so the face would be a bit clearer.

 Once the items were adhered to the 4 x 6 papers we were ready to put the whole piece together.

All of the pieces were cut to 4 x 6 inches, so they fit together neatly in the grid.

I used a piece of 12 x 12 cardstock to keep everything in position.  I just adhered the three center pieces and then added the side pieces, keeping the adhesive in the area that would overlap the cardstock.  The end result was one larger piece ready to place in the frame.

Balancing the elements for this sort of frame can be tricky.  We created a strong diagonal with the orange backgrounds and this is further emphasized by the pale yellow cardstock used in these three sections.  I noticed after I took these photos that the spiderweb on the witch's hat was tilted out to the left instead of hanging straight down as it does in the original design.  It echos the diagonal line (even if it was not meant to be that way!).

The construction of this frame will make it very easy for me to change things out for the next holiday.  I can keep the group of 4 x 6 pieces stored flat on the base cardstock and put them back in again next year.  I don't usually have a chance to link up to the challenges on the Cricut Circle so I am happy to be able to include this for the October Halloween Home Decor Challenge.  It is a random draw so wish me luck!

Are you still making Halloween projects or have you moved on to Christmas?  I hope you have time today to get crafty with your latest projects. Have a wonderful day!

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