Trunk or Treat 2015

Some of you may remember this costume from a couple of years ago.  I created it from six pieces of clothing while I was a contestant on The Renegade Seamstress' Refashion Runway.  You can read all about the process here.

Well, I have never worn it for Halloween...until this year.  And, since my husband and I like to coordinate, he played the part of a wizard.

The really fun part, though, was decorating the trunk of our van to match our costumes.  Last year, we did a steampunk theme for our trunk and costumes.  You can check it out here if you'd like.

As always, the thrift store is my friend when it comes to decorating.

Everything was either purchased at a thrift store, or the dollar store...except for one can of spray foam insulation from a home improvement store.

 

Black birds were purchased at the dollar store.

Everything was battery operated, including the sound system that played music from Disney's Fantasia.

The book was covered with a free printable I got from the internet.  I added a belt and jewelry piece for added effect.

Dry ice and glow sticks gave the cauldron a nice effect.

The battery operated taper candles were from the dollar store.  I used a hot glue gun to make the candles look like they had dripping wax.  I then sprayed them black.  The pillar candles and owl lantern were picked up at a thrift store.

The potion jars were all purchased at a thrift store.  I downloaded various labels (some can be found here and here) and adhered them to the jars with modge podge.  I used E6000 to attach some random jewelry pieces I had in my stash.  I then filled them with Eye of Newt, Toad Tongues, Skeleton Dust, Fur of Werewolf, etc.!

The camera flash takes away the ambiance, but gives you a better look at everything.  Check out the black cat I found at one store, and the perfect size black hat at another!  I even found a silver leafed apple....of course its not poisoned since I'm a good witch!  The coals were made from spray foam insulation, painted black.  There are tutorials on the internet.  I don't put the lights in the foam like the tutorials show.  I leave a domed space underneath the foam and place battery operated lights, covered with red tissue paper, underneath the foam.  This method allows me to replace the lights if, by chance, they go bad.  

I also smeared small amounts of the spray foam onto the outside of the plastic cauldron, then dabbed it with a scrunched up plastic bag.  When dry, I sprayed it all black, then used a sponge dabber to apply copper, tan, brown, and teal green paint.  This gave my cauldron a nice textured, aged look.

The walls and ceiling are discarded sheets that have been stenciled using spray paint.  The edges of the ceiling sheet were burned to give it an aged and worn look.

My husband's costume began as a black graduation gown.  I knew I wanted some trim on it, but didn't want to pay the price for several yards of expensive ($4-5 yd.) embroidered trim.  So I cut long strips of purple fabric (overlocking the edges), then layered narrower strips of striped metallic fabric down the center.  I edged the center strip with inexpensive silver metallic ribbon purchased from Walmart.  Considering I already had the striped metallic fabric in my stash, it only cost me a few dollars for about 7 yds. of wide trim.

His hat was repurposed from a black skirt.  I added wire to the brim and to the hat so he can shape it any way he likes.  The gnarly, twisted staff was found on our property.

Fixing the stache!

I like to link to these great parties!