Blood, Parchment and Coffins

Our theme for 2010 was The Count's castle and we did our best to set the mood 

with decorations and food, but that information is for another post, on another day. 

Today I'd like to talk to you about our invitations.  

They needed to fit perfectly with our vampire theme.  I wanted them to be playful but

authentic, as if they were made by the Count himself.  I scoured the web looking for 

something that might catch my eye.  Finally, after hours of searching I found it.

I found this awesome website and it had just what I needed ... Coffin Boxes!

These mini coffin boxes were free to download and print, so I did :)

Then, I needed the actual invite.

My idea was to make it seem like this was an actual invitation from The Count, so I needed to make it look like it was written on old parchment paper with a fine quill pen.

I found a free paper texture online (sorry, I can't remember the website), opened up

Photoshop, and got to work.  

I wanted to keep it fun, so I added a little humor, found a font that was as elegant as The Count, and included some blood spots, because you can't be a vampire without blood.

The letters were then folded up nicely and placed in the coffins and delivered to the proper victims ... er, I mean guests.  Everyone loved it and it set the tone perfectly for our Halloween party.

Halloween Trophies

Here are my newest creations ... My Halloween Trophies!  :D  They're a set of 5 but here are the first 3.  Best Male Costume, Best Female Costume and Most Creative Costume.  I love them ... hope you do too :) I'll post up the other 2 once they're painted.  Enjoy and Happy Halloween.

The Count ... portrait

Who's this dashing fellow?  ;)  Happy Halloween!

Happy October 1st!!!

Happy October 1st everyone ... If only I could make Halloween my full time job, then I'd have time to do so much more.  Alas, I must work with what I have ...

So moving on ... Here are The Count's Brides (isn't he a lucky fella) ... well their heads at least.  I used this papier mache type clay that my brother made.  It was a little hard to work with but it still served its purpose.  These fine ladies will be behind a sheer curtain so details aren't too important.  I hope to finish them this weekend as well as the rest of the house. 

Happy Halloween! 

The Count has hair!

Well I couldn't take it anymore. Seeing The Count's bald head was just too unbearable, so I went to JJ's Party House and bought him some hair. Ah, yes. That's much better. He also now has a body and some clothes. I'm just waiting for the animated hands I ordered to come in. I can't wait, I think it will actually look like he's playing the piano. I guess I should give him some pants too lol. But I think, time wise, everything is going smoothly. Can't wait for those hands to come in!

Happy Halloween planning :)

The Count ... update

Well here he is ... painted. Now isn't he a stud of a vampire :) He's still a work in progress but everyday he seems to come more and more to life. I can't wait for them to start filling the stores with Halloween products ... The Count needs some hair!

Halloween ^_^

Halloween is just around the corner and I can hardly contain myself! As you can see, this is my favorite time of the year. ^_^ I've been thinking and planning props since June. :: tee hee :: And I'm really excited, I'm almost done with The Count's head. And who is the count you might ask. Well he is my main vampire prop. He will be sitting at our piano this year playing some eerie tunes. Like I said, I'm almost done with his head. I painted it last night and started work on his body. I just need to wait for the Halloween season to officially start so I can find just the right wig to complete his look. Also, I thought it might be fun to hand-make some vampire trophies for our Halloween party. So, always making my life more difficult, I decided to make 5 trophies out of the same clay I used to make The Count. I started on the "Best Female Costume" award last night and I'm pretty happy with how it's coming out. I'll post some pics of her soon.

Halloween is almost here ... I can feel it coming ... and I can't wait!

Happy Haunting!