Death is Just Around the Corner | DIY HALLOWEEN DECOR & TREATS

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

One-legged zombie, sparkling vampire, mother-in-law from hell.
What are you going to be for Halloween?

I myself am a big fan of the slutty doctor. Such a classic.
Actually no. No, it’s not. Not classy.
Not cool.
Stop it.

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

To be honest, Halloween kind of snuck up on me this year. I was just going about my daily routine, on my way to work, turned round a corner into a dark alleyway then BAM! There it was, chainsaw in hand, blood dripping from the corner of its mouth, smiling. Wasn’t expecting it, really made me jump. “Don’t you forget about me,” it said, “I’m coming to get you!”

And sure enough, there it is coming to get me. Halloween is… tomorrow. To say I am unprepared is a bit of an understatement...

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

I never really got into the spirit of Halloween, you know. That is, this year. Technically I’m a massive fan and I will be haunting the streets of Berlin for sure, but I never managed to get all spooked. I don’t think it’s just me, being busy and all that. Germany is just not the place to be for Halloween. Germans just don’t know how to celebrate the dead. And undead. And deformed.

We were never taught. They should do seminars for this kind of thing. A Beginner’s Guide to Apple Bobbing. Trick-or-Treating: How to Maximize Your Profit. It’s Alive! Seeing Your Business Grow.

Now that would be useful! (Seriously though, does this kind of thing already exist somewhere??)

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

So to get a bit of a Halloween vibe going on at my place I decided to make some simple decorations that say “Bats are our friends too”, but don’t scream “I’M GOING TO EAT YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!”

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

(Random interlude. (This is just how my brain works.) I believe I would be pretty good at negotiating with Death, actually… Upon our first encounter I’d probably say something along the lines of “Not today, big guy, settle down!”, and then we’d hit the town, get drunk at a random bar and I’d show him the list of people in my burn book…)

(Just kidding, I don’t have a burn book.)

(Or do I?)

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Now something I did have lying around was this cute little pumpkin that my mom got me. It’s no longer in its best shape so I thought I’d give it a little make-over, really freshen up its complexion you know.
Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Although I love jack-o-lanterns I’m always disappointed that the pumpkin’s life span is seemingly decreased by 99% when cut open. Very odd. So for this project I decided to get out my paint brush and leave the pumpkin in one piece. Clearly, I’m feeling very merciful today.
On a sheet of white paper I played around a bit until I had figured out the size of the triangles I wanted to paint onto the pumpkin, then proceeded to cut out a bunch of them. The base of my triangle is about 1½ inches, the sides measure about 1 inch.

Once cut, I taped the triangles onto the pumpkin to figure out the desired placing, leaving a little space between each triangle so that they weren’t directly touching. I then traced the outlines of the triangles with a pencil and removed the papers. The triangles end up being slightly larger than originally measured so remember this when calculating. If you like, you can be generous when tracing so that the triangles now touch one another.

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

I then re-taped the triangles onto the pumpkin to create a second row. Subsequently, I got out some gold paint and filled in the geometric shapes. Since the paint didn’t produce the desired coverage, I added a second layer once dried.

Once dried, display!
I love the gold, it shimmers beautifully and reminds me of the sun glistening over auburn-colored tree tops in the fall.

My sister however made it pretty clear that she didn't get the orange-gold scheme whatsoever so I decided to go traditionally black with the next project: a simple paper bat-garland.

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

I started by drawing a simple bat shape onto a piece of plain white paper so that it would nicely fit across the sheet horizontally. (It’s easiest to fold the sheet in half length-wise and sketch out only one half of the bat. When folded open, both halves turn out perfectly symmetrical.)
I placed the template onto black cardboard paper (folding the paper in half length-wise again) and traced as many bats onto each sheet as possible one below the other.

After cutting out the bats I strung them together with black sewing thread and taped the ends to the wall to let these little guys fly.

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog



I also ended up making some spider web treats by piping some melted chocolate onto pretzel sticks I had previously arranged as desired. Let dry and serve to your ghoulish friends.

May your Halloween night be a disastrous one!

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

Halloween Decor & Treats | Motte's Blog

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Geometric Pumpkin:
- pumpkin
- white sheet of paper
- pencil
- ruler (optional)
- scissors
- acrylic paint

Bat Garland:
- sheet of paper
- pencil
- scissors
- black cardboard paper
- black sewing thread
- sewing needle
- tape

Spider Web Treats:
- pretzel sticks
- chocolate
- piping bag
(it is recommendable to eat them the same day)


5 comments

  1. Looks very good!
    The "recipe" for the spider webs is really easy and I couldn't stop myself from trying it right away. It was really delicious, a great sweet and salty combination. Though my webs didn't turn out quite as good as yours.
    Keep the good work up, your blog looks very promising!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I tried the spider webs without a piping bag at first - not recommendable! :) You need a steady hand and lots and lots of chocolate to get the webs even. Doing the swirl rather quickly helps too! Sweet and salty is the best! :)

      Delete
  2. i would love to celebrate halloween with you next year!! Das letzte mal ist viel zu lang her... lass das mal anpeilen!!
    :***
    Chrissi

    ReplyDelete
  3. The stencils create such an awesome effect, I love it!

    ReplyDelete