Tag Archives: miniatures

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Michaels

I. Love. Michaels.  Every year, I look forward to their Halloween merchandise, and I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed this time.

Unfortunately for me, my town doesn’t have a Michaels, so I have to settle on going to the one near my parents.  Fortunately for you, I was due for a visit this past weekend, so I was able to go look at all of their wonderful, creepy goodies.

add-hethe-fright-owlsading4

First of all, let’s talk about Spooky Town.  I love miniatures, so of course I’m going to love a little town of mini creepy houses and creatures.

image

They had some really cute new miniatures, including my two favorites:

imageimage

Ain’t they adorable?

As always, Michaels has a great mixture of creepy props, fun decorations, and craft supplies.  They’re definitely my favorite of the craft stores when it comes to Halloween.

image

image

image

image

image

This guy right here will be mine at the end of the season.  I should have used a banana for scale, but I didn’t think about it at the time, but he’s pretty big.  He’d look great next to a witch’s cauldron.

image

This animated prop was pretty awesome, too.  A tad overpriced in my opinion at $69.99, but still cool.  Again, I screwed up, this time by not getting a video of the guy in action, but he basically just moves back and forth with his hands while shouting profanity and racial slurs.

Just kidding.   I wanted to make sure you were paying attention.  He moves around and groans. No offensive language for Michaels.

image

And I don’t know what it is about these ceramic heads, but I freaking adore them.  They have skulls, Frankenstein’s monster, jack o’lanterns, mini skulls, and skeleton hands.  You can paint these to fit your decor, or just leave them as is and pair with anything you want.

image

I would totally recommend going to Michaels if you’re lucky enough to have one in your area.  The items aren’t overpriced, and if you’re a cheapo like me, you can always use a coupon or just catch them on sale.

DIY Dollhouse of Horrors: Part 3

Another DIY Wednesday calls for yet another installment of…

The Dollhouse of Horrors!

If you haven’t read parts 1 or 2, click on the links.

Outfitting a haunted dollhouse with creepy items is no small task (Yes, that was a pun. Deal with it).   There just aren’t that many creepy minis for sale out there.  Well, at least not any that don’t cost a buttload.  A ‘buttload’ in this case means ‘more than I’m willing to pay for something I can make myself.’

Anyway, I enjoy playing with clay and getting my hands dirty, so I decided to craft some myself.  I started with some easy headstones, pumpkins, body parts, and a land/sea monster:

image

image

And then I decided to look to the movies and other scary things for inspiration.  I thought it would be cool to just have little nods to the classics out there and some of my favorites.

image

image

I made Jack Skellington’s head, a clay hook that reminded me of Candyman, some red ball candy to honor One Missed Call, the Necronomicon, an ear of corn for the fridge from Children of the Corn, and other little things.  I also spruced up a few items I already had.  An axe got a little bloodier, a pie got a little blood-action, too (Sweeney Todd, anyone?), and an errant Polly Pocket got painted to look like Chucky.

And just for the record, here’s a picture of my dirty hands:

image

So much fun.

Next DIY Wednesday’s post will feature the inner decor of the house.  Check back to see the progress!

DIY Dollhouse of Horrors: Part 1

I have a confession: I love miniatures.  I always have.  My nana had a cool dollhouse at her place when I was a little kid, and that’s where my love of little things started.  Sadly, when she moved from her house to an apartment, the dollhouse was moved, suffered water damage, and had to go.

Cue the Sarah McLachlan music and sad puppy eyes.

image

But I rallied.  I coped.  I turned to Polly Pockets for comfort and never looked back.  Except I did.  I was lying in bed one night – as a full-grown adult, I might add – and for some reason, thoughts of my old dollhouse popped in my head. I thought to myself, “I really miss all the mini things. It sucks that my dollhouse was ruined.”  Then, I asked myself, “Who says I can’t have one now?”

Not a damn soul.

I really didn’t care that I was 25 and wanted a dollhouse. You don’t have to be a kid to have toys.  Growing up is for suckers, anyway.

Since you’re reading this blog, you probably know my dollhouse didn’t turn out all cutesy with gingham curtains, floral-patterned wallpaper, and antique furniture.  A haunted dollhouse was what I wanted – one with ghosts, blood, pumpkins, madNESS, MAYHEM, HUMAN SACRIFICE, DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER! MASS HYSTERIA!

What can I say?  I was excited.

My haunted dollhouse journey began with a plan.  I found the kit I wanted from Hobby Lobby (where else?).

imageimage

Ain’t it pretty?  I liked that this one had three stories and an extra attic because what’s scarier than an attic?

Yeah, a basement.  I know.  Don’t be a smartass.

Anyway, I was bored one Sunday and wanted to create a plan of action, so I converted the pictures to coloring book format and had a little forgotten fun with my markers and crayons.  These pics aren’t in color, but I didn’t have access to a color scanner at the time, so just use your imagination.

imageimage
I planned on putting the whole thing on plywood because a cemetery seemed like a necessity.  The inside was a little harder to plan out on paper because I knew it was going to be more of a make-it-up-as-I-go thing.  The planning stage was a lot of fun but not as much as actually building the house.  But we’ll go into that next time.

Tune in on the next DIY Wednesday for the next installment of “The Tale of the Haunted Dollhouse.”  You’ll be glad you did.