"Not So Scary" Halloween: Spooky & Pumpkin Blocks

by Vicki

Volunteering at a thrift store & shopping yard sales provides plenty of opportunity to collect what I call “raw materials,” that is, stuff that I can remake or reimagine into something new. The Spooky Blocks & Pumpkins fall into this category!

Raw Materials:

• Wood alphabet letter blocks & orange & green slim rectangular blocks
• Plastic wire nuts, lamp turn switch, or something for a stem
• Metal remnant from drawer pulls or something round like a button

Purchased or from personal craft stash

• Hot glue gun/sticks
• Crafting wire, spring from ball point pen, small diameter skewer on which to wrap crafting wire
• Old lace remanent
• Oil Rubbed bronze & orange gloss spray paint
• Gold metallic craft paint or gold Rub 'n Buff
• Small stiff paint brush
• Long screws, floral or styrofoam, burnt carmine or brown craft paint

For Spooky Blocks

• Spray all sides of blocks with oil rubbed bronze.
• After blocks are dry, dry brush with gold metallic craft paint onto the letters concentrating on the edges of the letters and the texture of the lines on the block.
• Dip paint brush into gold metallic craft paint making sure to dab almost all of it off. Brush it on lightly & then immediately rub it off.
• Add a little at a time to get the effect you want. If you use Rub 'n Buff, follow the manufacturer’s directions. 

Block Pumpkins with green stems

• Hot glue the orange blocks to the four sides of the green block.
• Keep the blocks bottoms flat to keep everything square.
• Wrap about 10” or so of black crafting wire lightly around the skewer (about 1/8” in diameter), not too tight or you’ll never get it off.
• Find the center of the wire, place this on the back side of the green block & bring the two ends to the front, crossing & twisting them in front. The edges of the orange can be distressed with the same gold metallic paint followed by some dark distressing ink. 

Block Pumpkins

• Spray paint blocks orange.
• After they are dry, hot glue metal remnant or round object of your choosing to the top of the block.
• To paint the wire nut or turn knobs, lightly screw the items onto long screws, dip them directly into the craft paint, and set the screw end on the foam to dry. Once dry, hot glue the nut or knob to the top of the round metal piece.
• Decorate with additional black crafting wire, the old lace, or stretch a ball point pen spring to use a vine tendrils.