Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Something Big

Hello, again!

It's time for another wonderful challenge over at Craft Hoarders Anonymous.  Gloria wants us to break open our hoard of fall related treasures and use them on a project for their Challenge #17 "Happy Fall, Y'all".  I was so relieved when she didn't ask for something like sporting goods!  Sorry, I don't have a hoard of those, but I'm sure my husband does!

I've always wanted to do a window display for Halloween.  Every year I decorate our yard or the interior of our home. If we are having a party I decorate both for this one creepy night. I have quite a collection of props--not all the kind you get from a store, but  mostly home made and the unusual.  I keep them in what is now known as the "Creepy Closet", which used to store all our garden supplies. Well...I have a few other places I store them, too, truth be told.

This year, I got my wish(thank you, Kathy, for putting your trust in me!)...so to mark the occasion, I made something new to add to my hoard of Halloween props, and I added these to the window of a local art shop here in our town--Every Good Thing. These are made from bottles I had in my stash, Mod Podge, paint, ink, some stickers, also from my stash,  and some fibers and plastic spiders. I stamped some spider webs on them using Staz On ink.  Pretty simple.  I bought the pewter plate at a yardsale a few weeks ago to add to my collection of "good" Halloween pewter and "silver".

Update:  here are the close up shots I did not have loaded on to my computer at post time.








Here they are in the store display.
I've never dressed a window before, but I thought it couldn't be that hard after altering one of Tim's Assemblage clocks, right?  Ha, Ha!  You've actually got to get INTO the window!  And taking photos is a whole other story.  I did my best, trying at a few different times during the daylight and dark.  The store owner keeps the light you see on all the time for security reasons, so getting a good night shot was difficult, and during the day the purple lights in the cabinet and on the screen don't show up. I think it will look good lit up after dark, when the days get shorter closer to Halloween.  The store is only open until 6 pm (still daylight at this time of year), and  my lights cannot be left on unattended for fire safety reasons.

I won't walk you through this, but just say that everything is either home made or collected piece by piece over the years and has been used in a different way each year.  Every year at our home, we get hundreds of trick or treaters or just people who want to come and see our display. I hope the store will get some extra attention, too.

I hope you can see and enjoy the pictures.

I would like to enter this into the following wonderfully inspiring challenges:

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #17 "Happy Fall, Y'all" Everything is from either my Creepy Closet Hoard or my Halloween papercrafting Hoard-dedicated Closet for each.
Country View Challenges "Sparkle and Shine" Shiny bottles
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Falling in Love With..." Halloween, of course!
Frilly and Funkie "A Haunting Halloween Challenge" Hmmm...what could be Halloweeny about this????
Rhedds Creative Spirit October Challenge "Halloween or Not?" Halloween, for sure!
Artist Trading Post Exchange "Anything Mixed Media Goes" Bottles I created are mixed media

I've had that black cat/pumpkin cut out for years!



I found a way to beat the reflection; but I ended up getting a lot of ceiling in my shot!

Red candles???


Way too much reflection on a hot sunny day!

Can you see the green witches hands holding an old wooden box?


Martha Stewart cling bats on the window.


Hard to tell, but that's a purple spider...I was going for a purple theme, but it does not show in the photos.

Purple velvet cloth behind the skull strings.

Two crow silhouettes on a sconce, and one on the headstone.
This was fun to do...but I think I'll keep my daytime job!  I learned a few things from this...one is I'm not as small as I used to be...fitting into this tight space proved to be humiliating and a little bit clautrophobic!

Thank you for visiting, and for leaving all your wonderful, much loved comments!

42 comments:

  1. Beautiful bottles and wonderfully displayed, Sarah. Simple and striking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Rupa! I need to get over to your site, and see what you are up to, my talented friend!

      Delete
  2. What a cool display.
    Thanks for sharing with us at Craft Hoarders Anon :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment, but it was a HOT display!

      Delete
  3. Love your bottles, and the window display is fantastic. I wish I had a stash like yours and a big Thank you for entering the first ATP challenge.
    Sharon x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was my pleasure to join! Right now, I wish I didn't have a stash at all! It's getting messy in the Closet! First and probably only window display--I can cross it off my bucket list! Thank you for your comment!

      Delete
  4. Fabulous bott4es Sara and your window display is great ! Thanks again for joining us at ATP Exchange. Sue C x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you,Sue. The window display was fun, and I'm glad I had a chance to try it! I wouldn't want to do it for a living. Too much stress!

      Delete
  5. Super Halloween bottles - nice and spooky. Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie.
    Hugs!
    Cec

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love what you did here. Great bottles! Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Glenda! I'm glad you like my spooky bottles.

      Delete
  7. Holy cow Sara, that is quite the window display! I love your bottles and your post made me giggle like crazy! There are so many incredible details, all the bats and spiders and creepy cobwebs! Just amazing! I keep scrolling back up to have another look! Incredible job! big hugs :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, thank you, Pamellia. You are always a breath of fresh air when you leave a comment. I'm happy to share part of my bucket list on blog land! I am also happy to help out the store owner, who is not into Halloween at all. Hugs to you!

      Delete
  8. An amazing window display with stunning makes. Love those altered bottles, so glad you added the stamping on them. Lovely to have another great entry to our Anything Goes Challenge at ATP Exchange
    Hugs Annie x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Annie, thank you so much for your kind words. I know it's hard to see what's going on in the window. But it was all in fun!

      Delete
  9. Oh my goodness! Your bottles are fabulously eerie and the window display is so detailed! Thanks so much for joining us at the Frilly and Funky Challenge!
    Hugs,
    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Nancy! What a pleasure to get a visit and a comment from you! I am a big fan of your work!

      Delete
  10. LOVE it ALL SARA!!!! Great work on the windows... love all the pictures... really a fun window... so happy that you got to take all these pictures... you should make a little book of it... it is a great window display... and you can do this in quite a few stores... Love, Light and peace...Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, Bonnie! So nice to have you visit:)! Yes, a fun window, but happy not to have to do it for a living! Great compliment coming from YOU, my friend! With the amount of "stuff" I have, I could do several store fronts, but I'm not planning on it!! Got to get started on our yard! Very sweet comment from you, you talented lady!

      Delete
  11. Your bottles are wonderful Sara! I can only imagine how long it took to dress the window :)
    Thank you for joining us at Rhedd's Creative Spirit this time. Julie Guest Designer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julie, thank you so much for your comment. I'm excited to find Rhedd's Creative Spirit and would like to continue to join. Had a little problem trying to join for the 3rd time this challenge. Any suggestions? PS the window dressing didn't take as long as writing these long posts of mine!

      Delete
  12. This is simply gorgeous! an incredible job, I bet the owner was pleased! Thank you for entering your project at Rhedd’s Creative Spirit. Sammy-x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so kind! I think she was happy! She's not into Halloween. I did it as a favor to her...a labor of love!

      Delete
  13. You have clearly found a new talent!! great job! Many thanks for joining the Rhedd's Creative Spirit challenge and good luck!!! Melissa (DT)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Ha! You made me laugh! Not sure I have what it takes, but it felt good to do her a favor!

      Delete
  14. Halloween is clearly your favourite time of year Sara! To furnish a store window with so many spooky delights is a feat indeed - a far larger scale than most of us would ever dare! LOVE the bottles which look like they've been around forever. Thank you so much for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Jenny x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jenny for your compliment on my bottles! Can't wait to start decorating our home for the big day! Yes! Halloween is my favorite!

      Delete
  15. How amazing! Those bottles look like they were just dug out of the crawl space under a haunted house. (That's a good thing in this case! LOL) What a wonderful job you've done dressing these windows! Fabulous! Thanks for sharing with us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathy! Your comments always leave a huge smile on my face!

      Delete
  16. Fabulous bottles, love all the windows and the spooktacular elements. Thanks for joining us on the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Those bottles are wonderful! Such cool effects. And that display window looks amazing. Thank you for sharing with us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow have I got some catching up to do on my comments. This window display Is AMAZING Sara! Love the hanging skull and fabulous cross. You have a wonderful stash of Halloween pieces. Love it all. Karen.x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I've got to get busy on replying to my wonderful comments! Thank you for visiting, and leaving your sweet comment! I really appreciate it!

      Delete
  19. love the bottles and such a cool set up!!!! Thanks for sharing with us at Craft Hoarders Anon :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! You are so kind to say so! I'm happy you like the bottles!

      Delete
  20. You my dear are simply amazing! And....sporting goods....hmmmmmmm.... Thanks for playing along with us this week at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And you! You have the most wonderful challenges....let's not do the sporting goods, ok? I'm happy you visited!

      Delete
  21. WoW what a fabulous display! These bottles are gorgeous, I love how you've stamped the spiders onto them. Your post made me laugh 'cos I made most of my Halloween stuff on hot sunny days too. Thank you so much for joining in with our Sparkle and Shine challenge at Country View Crafts. Sue xx

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yeah, what is it with the heat???It's supposed to be cool and crisp while we're crafting for Halloween, right? I'm happy you liked my bottles! I am happy to cross the window dressing off my bucket list.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving your comments...they mean so much to me.