Keeper of the Bones- An Ornament for Halloween

Hello Friends!

I’m back today with a tutorial for a Halloween Ornament. I have a black Halloween tree that I’ve been putting out for a couple of years and I hang black and orange bulbs on it, but they were looking kind of lonely. So I decided that this year I should make some to hang on the tree… and here is my first one! I’m hoping to do a series of them…

It’s a tiny bit creepy but I was itching to use my new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Skeleton from the Inventor 4 Stamp Set (CMS347)…

It’s fun to be creepy at Halloween!

The house is from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. It is the Mini House Shadowbox 2 and measures 2 1/4″x 3 1/4″x 1″ and was the perfect size to be made into an ornament…I just had to punch some holes into the top for a string!

Let’s Begin!

First, I started by laying out my house. I picked a piece of patterned paper from the Tim Holtz Halloween Paper Stash and cut it to fit the inside of the house. The cut pieces were then blended with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then adhered.

Then, I adhered the bottom portion of the house together and left the roof off. I stamped a portion of the Inventor Skeleton inside the house at the back and chose some of the written descriptions to stamp in various areas. Technically, this should have been done prior to me gluing the bottom together…but I didn’t know where my creativity was headed 🙂

Next, I marked dots where I was going to punch holes for my ribbon or jute to go.

then punched the holes…

Next, I created the paper to wrap around the outside of the box as shown here…

I took a piece of Watercolor Paper and stamped a few portions of the creepy tree from the Mr Bones Stamp Set (CMS345) and some portions of the Ornate Background Stamp (CMS348) and stamped them in Archival Black Soot then embossed them with Clear Embossing Powder.

I decided to do a Weathered Wood technique that I have previously shared on my blog…here is the link to that.

I then spritzed my paper and embossed it with the 3D Lumber Texture Fade, then dried it with my heat tool.

I took my Picket Fence Distress Paint with the dabber top and dabbed a bit of paint around on the white areas, and avoided the areas that had been stamped. Then I dried the paint, and sprayed the paper with Evergreen Bough, Walnut Stain and a tab bit of Black Soot Distress Spray Stains and water. Then dried it with my heat tool.

And here is the result…Oh so CREEPY!!

Then, I moved on to create the tiny crackled bottle that you see here…

What an amazing technique…you’ll ooo and ahh after its done!!

Wait till you try it!!

To begin… take an Idea-ology Corked Vial and paint on a layer of Glue N’ Seal Matte Finish. Then let it sit and dry.

When it is dry, paint a layer of Distress Crackle Paint – Clear Rock Candy…

I just used my finger and then set it aside to dry.

After it is done you get this!!!!!! Holy Moses!! Crackle goodness! Then I took my Walnut Stain Distress Crayon and a bit of water and colored the vial and rubbed the grunge into the cracks!! AMAZING!!!!

Now back to the house…

I embossed the edges of the house with a Ranger Embossing Dauber and dipped the edges into some Emerald Creek Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder.

Some of the embossing powder accidentally embossed inside of the house, oops, but it totally worked!  Here is a close up of the edges…the color was perfect for this project!!! Grungy goodness!!

I trimmed the outside paper down to fit the outside of the house and adhered them with Distress Collage Medium. (I forgot to take a photo of it, but I adhered a piece to the bottom of the house as well.)

I then cut 4 of the medium size Planks, from the Sizzix Bigz Planks Die, out of Watercolor Paper, embossed them with the Lumber 3D folder and stained them with Walnut Spray Stain. With my finger I rubbed on a small amount of Crackle Embossing Paste onto them and set them aside to dry. When they were dry, I blended a bit of Gathered Twigs and Black Soot Distress Crayons and a bit of water into the cracks.

I adhered the planks onto the roof of the house. The planks were slightly bent to form a peek and wrapped around the front of the house to cover the front edge of the house.

I punched holes with my needle tool through the roof of the house where the holes had been punched but covered with the planks…then added some jute so that the ornament could be hung.

Then I began arranging the Bone-keepers decor…

Bones… Painted with Picket Fence Distress Paint and rubbed with Ground Expresso Distress Crayon.

Skulls… rubbed with Ground Expresso Distress Crayon.

Cheesecloth… sprayed with Walnut Stain, Black Soot Distress Stain and a bit of water then dried with a heat tool.

A leaf… from a previous playtime with Distress Spray Stains.

 A Key… an Idea-ology Halloween Key and Spider. Painted with Picket Fence and dabbed with Mushroom Alcohol Ink. The spider wound on with a bit of string.

 A Vial… finished off with a vial sticker (that comes in the package with the vials) that I distressed with my Sanding Grip and blended with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink and adhered to the front. I then tied on a bit of string.

All was then adhered with Distress Collage Medium, inside and outside of the house. To throw in some additional creep, I added a bit of dried moss!

And it was finished…

The Bone-keeper’s house is ready to hang on my Halloween Tree!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and that it inspires you to create your own Halloween Ornaments! Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Creatively Yours,

Stacy

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GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES –

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts- Mini House Shadowbox 2

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous- Inventor 4 (CMS347), Mr. Bones (CMS345) Ornate & Lace (CMS348)

Tim Holtz/Ranger- Black Soot Archival Ink, Embossing Dauber, Clear Embossing Powder, Glue and Seal Matte Finish, Crackle Paint-Clear Rock Candy, Mushroom Alcohol Ink, Sanding Grip, Opaque Crackle Texture Paste

Distress Crayons- Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Ground Expresso

Distress Paint- Picket Fence

Distress Ink- Gathered Twigs, Black Soot, Walnut Stain

Distress Spray Stain- Evergreen Bough, Walnut Stain, Black Soot

Distress Tools/Mediums- Distress Sprayer, Media Mat, Heat it Heat tool, Blending Tools, Watercolor Paper

Tim Holtz/Sizzix- Skeleton Leaves Die Set, Lumber 3D Texture Fade, Planks Bigz Die, Vagabond 2

Tim Holtz/Idea-ology-  Halloween Paper Stash, Halloween Word Keys, Corked Vials, Halloween Adornments, Boneyard, Skulls

Emerald Creek- Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder

Other- Cheesecloth, String, Dried Moss, Jute