Ornate Chalkboard Frame made from Old (like crazy antique cool) Craigslist Mirror

I know some of you probably noticed my chalkboard that I hadn’t posted about in my Witches Broomstick Wall seen HERE. I realized that I never posted about the change in this antique frame before I posted about the broomstick wall but, here it is…better late than never.

I picked up this frame on Craigslist and it needed some cleaning and a new coat of paint. The old gold color wasn’t doing it for me so once it was cleaned really well (I used my handy, dandy red dishrag and a lot of elbow grease).

I used the beveled mirror from the inside to measure out my board for the chalkboard. and…YES, I saved the mirror so if I ever changed my mind, I can make this chalkboard back into a mirror. This mirror is REALLY heavy and the frame is of wood and is also heavy. Antiques are cool like that…well made.

Painting the old frame white under the HUGE oak tree while the baby takes an afternoon nap equals = a perfect afternoon!

Even the back is primed and painted because it’s so thick that you can see the sides when you look at it down the hallway.

I even got paint happy and painted the last child’s chair that I had meant to paint for oh….before we moved…oh well, at least it got done!

Now back to the gorgeous frame…

Here she is all painted….(slow whistle)…I just love her…so much gorgeous details!

So Purdy!!

The heritage white is perfect for this frame, making it classic and can go with anything.

She is thick and gorgeous! Now she’s ready to hang on the striped wall!

So, I seasoned my chalkboard by covering it with chalk and then pulled out my little crafty projector and realized I was going to have to wait until it was dark to sketch my first typography. (remember 10 foot tall windows in front room) Thank goodness my husband has HUGE textbooks or I never would have had enough books to get the height I needed. One perk of being in graduate school! Ha

I took down my flag from my summer wall and needed something that would transition from late summer until I get my Halloween/Fall decorations. I never could figure out what else to put on the wall so, I just waited until I got my Halloween decorations to complete this wall. My family tree saying was a good transition but, now onto my favorite season…HALLOWEEN!

and now it’s my Halloween Witch Broomstick Wall. I am loving this chalkboard…so fun to change with the seasons.

I am already looking for the perfect Thanksgiving and Christmas sayings….so if you know of any that would look great vertically, let me know. Just sayin’ help a chalkboard lovin’ lady out! :)

ALL TIME Halloween Favorites

So I was talking to my sister today and she asked if I was going to do my annual Halloween party. “Sadly, No,” I told her and she was kinda shocked I wasn’t doing it. (She lives in Pennsylvania) Not that she would have come anyways but….

I am kinda sad because this season really gets my creative juices flowing. I have done some REALLY awesome things in the past for Halloween Parties and so instead of throwing a party this year……I’ll show you some of my NEW Halloween fun I’ve been up to and then take a stroll down memory lane to some of my favorite Halloween Ideas I’ve done in the past. Some real ALL TIME FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CLASSICS! Due to my husband being in school, we have a desk area so he can study and the kids can do their homework. I made it my MAD Scientist area. Poison bottles, a few old books, and a hand dyed paper diagram of a skeleton inviting anyone to come and study…. by candlelight. MmmmWAHhahahahahaha

Doesn’t everyone need to weigh out their frogs before they do a spell?

and have a striped wall full of witch’s brooms at-the-ready!?!!!

This was my spell book I made for invitations two years ago…it was the beginning to a great Witchy Party….which I also spray painted wingback chairs to flank the fireplace…Yeah..it was that cool of a party! (I’ll share some pics and links in just a second) This year I put my spell book by the front door so that you know when you show up here, you are in for a “SPELL”! (can you hear witch’s cackling in the background?)

The Mandy Mirror looks awesome and makes this floating ghost (stiff cheese cloth) reflection even spooookier!

Now for some CassandraDesign.blogspot.com HALLOWEEN CLASSICS…

I painted this Black and white Owl chair for my Halloween party last year…you can check it out here. The chair ended up as a Halloween chair when a fabric painting incident happened. It turned out awesome! Totally worth hand painting. (The person that bought it at my yard sale before we moved was thrilled to be buying it! I am glad it went to a good home!)

Last year was a Mad Scientist Themed Party.

I even made lab coats for my skeleton party favors…..Yup, it’s official…I LOVE Halloween and when your skeletons are going home from a Mad Scientist Themed Party, they need Lab Coats!   ( I am a Laboratory Scientist in Real Life and I had WAY too much fun sewing them lab coats, although it took like 5 prototypes until I figured out a pattern)

Lab Skeleton Halloween Party Favors

This was a side dish at the Mad Scientist Party….Jello in Petri Dishes.

And plastered the front window with X-rays….so that all the lights coming from the party illuminated a Mad Scientist Glow!

I’ve sewn black shredded drapes for the windows and entryway.

The year before the Mad Scientist Party, I had spray painted these wingback chairs purple for my Witch Theme. I even added the black shredded drapes to create the “Masterpeice Theatre” with two wingback chairs flanking the fireplace, look. You can see how I painted them Here.

Yep, I really did spray paint them…and yes, I still have this one and it gets softer every year.

Since I was going for a witch’s themed Halloween Party, I added some fun décor, like this ornate frame with a free-hand painted sillouette of  a witch.

I even hung some lanterns that I had rewired to be plug in lights (originally outside house lights) and added flicker lightbulbs. They were awesome! You can see them lit up Here.

But, one of my ALL TIME favorite invitations was my witch’s spell books. Yeah, people were pretty excited to get these invitations (my friends tell me that they put them out every year for Halloween Decorations….I love that!) You can see how I made the Witch’s Book of Spells HERE.

Witch’s Book of Spells Halloween Party Invitations

The inside was the “SPELL” for the invite and a potion bottle full of Purple Candies. They turned out WICKED cool!

Wow, what a fun walk down memory lane. Oddly enough it doesn’t make me want to hurry and throw a Halloween party together for this year. Probably because I don’t have anything planned for a party and all of our friends that came every year (some drove over an hour every year to come because they had moved away) are back in Utah. It wouldn’t be the same, although hopefully by next year, we will be ready for our Annual Halloween Party with some new friends (don’t worry, you Utah friends are still invited! A little more than an hour drive! LOL)

Until then.  MaWaaaHaaa hahahahahaha…(thriller’s evil laugh at the end of the Michael Jackson song) Ha ha hahahahahahaa….

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

When Witches go riding….

I am just loving my striped wall! It was fun to decorate for summer with the flag and patriotic pictures but, I do love Halloween and I wanted a chalkboard that I could write some typography on! I pulled out my Halloween decorations and before the day was through, I had witch brooms on my striped wall! The kids love how they go down in size…even my baby takes the little green witch’s broom off the wall when we are doing dish jobs so she can help my son when he sweeps the floor! Too cute!

I used my projector to trace my saying on my chalkboard. The witch’s brooms are hung with 3M hooks and velcro strips. The velcro allows the felt brooms to stick and yet be removable (even the baby has figured out how to play with her witch broom and then put it back where it belongs, now if this could continue into teenage years…..Hmmmm..LOL)

The view from the upstairs. The witch’s brooms were skinny enough to hang in this walk space yet create a fun Halloween Atmosphere!

Happy Halloween Everyone!….even if it’s a bit early….I am loving this season. I opened my trunk by the Mantle and all my witch hats, boots and dresses are spilling out and inviting the kids to use them. My 18 month old seems to think this is her personal dress-up box and will continually (Really, like 3-4 times a day) see her walking around in a different witch hat. Green, purple, orange, green….. no preference in witch’s hats, she loves them all! I keep trying to catch a picture of her but, she doesn’t sit still long enough to get a good pic. I am loving the striped wall with the Halloween saying and the old trunk with the witch’s wardrobe. It’s like a witch moved in here for a few short weeks! It’s definitely….’tis near Halloween!