HALLOWEEN DECOR+DIY HALLOWEEN BATS

Happy Halloween! I wanted to document how we decorated for Halloween this year and a blog post made perfect sense! I usually do not decorate for Halloween, but rather I do Fall-centric decor so that I don't have to change up everything before Thanksgiving! My daughter had been requesting that we do some Halloween decor, so I gave in! Ours is an open concept home, so it's trickier when it comes to planning decor. I decided to decorate our front entry-way and our dining sense in a Halloween theme, and the rest of the floor in a more Fall theme. 

For the Halloween part of the decorations, I wanted to use traditional Fall colors with the rusts and oranges and of course black. For the Fall part of the decoration, stay tuned for an upcoming blog post. I can tell you that the color scheme is slightly different. I did have a few Halloween pieces, some of which were DIYs by my daughter. The star of the show being a ceramic pumpkin she had made last year at school. 

So I thought of adding in a DIY element. I had seen DIY Bat decor at a blogger's friend's post - Midwestern Mama's DIY Halloween Bats. I decided to give it a try! I loved how it became a family project for us.  If you are interested to make these bats yourself, head below and I have outlined the steps. 

Tying in the whole bat theme, another item caught my eye - a Bat Wreath, which had been shared by another local blogger friend - Being Bethie. I found it at a clearance in my local Kirklands, which was a steal! 

The idea was to keep the decor which appealed a kid, and when she said she loved it, that was the best compliment. 

DIY HALLOWEEN BATS: 

Things you need: 

Black Cardstock

White paper/white card stock 

Pencil 

Scissors 

Wall-safe tape

Ruler

How to make the Bats: 

I used this template from https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com . I scaled down the template to 75% and 50% to make bats of various sizes. Once I had printed the bats, I cut them out. 

Then I used those 3 different sizes as templates to trace out on the design. Then starts the cutting spree!

Once you cut out the bats, fold them in two different directions, to create a 3D effect. Then use wall safe tape, which I double looped to create a flight of bats! 

Loved how the project turned out, and how it became a fun family memory! Also, it's a very inexpensive decor idea for Halloween. Next year, maybe I will put these up on my mantel.  

Since I had been harping on how DIY was the theme, of our Halloween decor this year, I thought of sharing some pictures of the pumpkin carving and gourd painting, as well! Happy Halloween! 

1

REPAINTING OLD FURNITURE WITH RED CHALK PAINT : VALENTINE'S DAY DIY

You can go the florist and order a dozen red roses for your Valentine. They cost a bomb at this time of the year. While the charm of red roses are timeless and fool proof, but they do wither away,after some time. I was planning on a gift which would stay a bit longer. How about a Red Accent Table for the living room.

Our living room decor is mostly in monochromes. Blacks, whites and dark browns. We had been on the look out for a center table in red. We needed a pop of color . And it would also pair with the plaid throws I had recently purchased for the couch. We went to every possible furniture store in Kansas City and there was no such accent table as we wanted. As we were on the quest for the red table,  I attended a Blogger Workshop . Our lovely speaker Mandy of Sugar Bee Crafts  had a presentation for us. While the workshop was awesome, I could not forget how she had DIYed a single Dresser thrice. That's where a childhood memory also came to mind. My Grandmom was a DIY queen. She had a business empire almost fuelled by her creativity. She and my Dad had always mentioned the importance of re purposing old items lying around. The idea had fallen into place. How about refinishing our existing old and battered center table, which we were ready to trash.

It was an old brown wooden center table, with some metal inlays along the sides. The polish had come off at most places. Our daughter's favorite scribbling ground. I started doing some research. I needed a paint which had minimal prep work. All fingers pointed towards Chalk Paint. But to follow general trends is something but to do it yourself is something else.  I sought advice from my Blogger friend and Speaker from my Blogger Workshop: Mandy Williams Beyeler again. She mentioned that  Chalk Paint and Clear Wax would be my best bet . The Research matched the Expert's opinion.

There are numerous brands which make Chalk Paint. Annie Sloan seemed to be the crowd favorite. But its only available at select representatives. So I settled for Waverly Chalk Paint and Waverly Clear Wax . Just picked up a generic brush set of three brushes. As it was my first DIY project in many years, I didn't want to invest much. I had paid around 30 dollars for the table in the first place. The table was a good size and I liked the shape of the wood along the sides. 

I laid out four large trash bags on my small patio. Outdoor space is a crunch with us apartment dwellers. Checked the weather update for chances of snow. There was no snow for the next couple of days, if the weather apps were to be believed. 

The beauty of Chalk Paint is that you can paint over anything. The paint glides on like silk. And it is super forgiving . Even over polished surfaces or glossy table tops. You name it and chalk paint will work. You don't need to strip old paint, or sand down the furniture to start painting . Its almost like a Painter's dream come true. I don't mind stripping and sanding furniture, but I didn't have much time on my hands for this project, if i wanted it to be ready before Valentine's Day.

I cleaned out the table with window cleaner as the paint bottle instructed. I had picked out two bottles of chalk paint and a single bottle of clear wax. Three different sizes of brushes. 

I stirred the paint with the back of a wooden spoon and poured out some paint in an old glass dinner plate. Then I started painting the table with the large brush. I made sure I did the corners first. The first coat of paint looked like a dark pinkish red. I had to let the paint dry for two hours in between coats. After the first coat, I was a bit disappointed, as I felt it was not the right color I was looking for. I let it dry and came indoors. I placed the used paint brushes in a zip lock and stuck them in the refrigerator so that they did not dry out. I had read about this tip when I was researching how to repaint old wooden furniture.

After two hours, I completed my second coat. By this time, it was already getting dark. I decided to work on the project again the next day. The next morning when I went to wax the table, it was just the perfect shade of crimson I had been hoping . I Cant tell you how happy I was. I used clear wax as I wanted to preserve the color of the chalk paint. The wax needs to dry for 24 hours,after which you are ready to use your table.

Its just the perfect pop of color for our largely monochromatic living room. The old table which we would have probably donated gives this room such a character, after just a touch of paint. I am surely a huge fan of Chalk Paint and would recommend it to everyone who wants to bring in some cosmetic changes or pops of color to their living space. I had picked up two bottles of Chalk Paint in Crimson, but only used 3/4th of the first bottle. Go ahead and paint it Red ! 

Happy Valentine's Day to you all !

2