Late February has a definite lull about it, don’t you think? We’ve passed the halfway point between winter and spring, flipped and stuffed pancakes, loved (or not) Valentine’s, and Chinese New Year has been and gone. Yet it STILL isn’t spring! So what now for the bird who styles her home according to seasonal celebrations?
Why Halloween, of course!
At least that’s how it might seem to the uninitiated.
It’s true that work on The Witch at OneandSeventy’s Halloween Open House starts early (it doesn’t just create itself, you know!) but around these parts, Halloween is a 365 thing. So, when we’re in between seasons as we are now, it’s the perfect time to knock out a few props.
That may or may not end up on display all year round.
Take this skeleton raven in a birdcage, for example. I picked it up from TOFS (The Original Factory Shop) in a Halloween sale for silly pennies, like 50p or something. It made its debut last Halloween when I styled it with a vintage carpet bag for a Fantastic Beasts kinda vibe and somehow, it never quite made it back to storage.
You’re surprised. I can tell.
It’s a great little piece, but I always felt it could be improved. So during this February lull, I went all macabre birdcage on its skeletal arse!
After removing the bird, which was attached to the cage with simple zip ties, I aged the cage with paint and a secret ingredient to make it look rusty. Can you guess what it is?
Cinnamon!
Yep. I raided the kitchen cupboard after watching this brilliant tutorial from one of my favourite YouTubers – Eduardo Talbert, of Monster Tutorials. How cool is that lantern? You can bet your life I’ll be hacking one of mine!
Eduardo has a whole library of cool projects and you’ll be seeing a few more of his brilliant tips and tricks appearing in these pages over the coming months, including how I went about making this Fantastic Beast a little more… well, “juicy”!
For the final touch, I added dried moss and re-hung the cage in the dining room, where this witch’s familiar oversees the witchy shelf and scares away all but the most hardy of whisky drinkers.
What do you think? Good improvement?
As always, I’d love to know what you think of my creation. Drop a comment below, or come on over to Facebook and Instagram for a chat.
A hui hou,
Oh, I am all over this genius ideas for aging the plastic Target skeletons of animals that I bought the last couple of years, thank you!
My house is spooky or macabre 365 days a year too. My family doesn’t get it yet they don’t live here, so who cares? My wardrobe fluctuates a bit from light and airy to my umbrella replete with skulls too.
It’s just what we do and you do it better than I. That’s okay! Keep up the good work, it’s so inspiring and I really appreciate your tips for the DIY versions. Not only do I not enjoy just buying it already done, my budget has no room for it. Thank you again.
So glad you liked it, Gwen and thank you for your kind comments. If you haven’t yet, check out Monster Tutorials on YouTube. You are going to LOVE Eduardo’s stuff! Sx
This is fantastic! I’ve been collecting skeletons for months now and I’m impressed buy your cage!
Yours is a very enjoyable site and I appreciate it!
From Colorado, thank you!
Hey Mike, thank you so much for your kind comments, I’m delighted you liked this project. It means a lot, especially from a fellow skeleton fan! Sx
This is really awesome. I liked this idea. Thanks for sharing this post.
Thank you!
Oh my gosh that is so beautiful!!!! I love this kind of stuff!
Thanks so much Ellen! He’s not to everyone’s taste, but I knew there must be others out there who would appreciate him 😉 Sx