Apothecary Add-ons

I finished a few additional items for my apothecary cabinet, yesterday. A few days ago, I shopped at a Dollar General store that I had never been in before.    At the front door, there was a table full of Halloween "goodies" at big discounts. Lo and behold, a package of 4  little black plastic cauldrons for 50 cents !!  I didn't need four, but will be sharing, of course.  I used a little gold rub and buff on it, then added the dyed green webbing, eyeballs and gargoyle.  My black widow venom is rubbing alcohol colored with red alcohol ink.  I had downsized all of my labels, therefore, the labels for the books were also smaller.  The larger one

here measures 2 1/2" tall and 2" wide.  Actually, having the smaller books works for me since my cabinet is not as large as Laura's tutorial shows.  I made the tassel for the bookmark on the Cauldron Favorites with embroidery threads -- both are faux books, one filled with chipboard, the other with scrap card stock.  There are still more things I want to make and add, but, it is time to pack Halloween away for awhile and start on a couple of Christmas projects.  Thankfully, Laura will have her tutorials available for whenever I want to get back to them.

Coffin for a Swap

     This little 5" wood coffin was an impulse buy at Micheal's when I was shopping for items for my apothecary cabinet project.  I opened the lid and out came a ghoulish laugh -- I had to have it !!  I had already decorated the paper mache one, what did I need another one for ??  I am sending it to my daughter along with the bottle I made for her for our swap.  I used the tissue paper and glue technique for texture on the top, then painted it black with the glittery orange paint overcoat.  The skeleton  I had that would fit inside was stark white -- I toned it down with Micheal DeMeng's Uugh mixture of acrylic paints.  A little moss, a few spiders and a tombstone inside, a clay skull and a spider and web from an earring on top -- off to No. Carolina he goes !!

Ether Bottle for Halloween

My daughter and I decided early into our Apothecary Cabinet project, we would do a swap with each other.  Halloween is past, but, I am still having fun with it.  I created this bottle for Tammy for our swap, along with a coffin.  They will be good "go-withs" for her cabinet creation.  This was an aqua colored plastic decorative bottle that I picked up at a garage sale for a dime.  I knew it had possibilities "someday" !!  I textured it with crunched up paper towels and Mod-Podge, then painted it black with an overcoat of orange glitter paint. Most of my original ideas went out the window, as they usually do once I start altering something !!  I didn't leave a space for the label when I was texturing - what was I thinking ??  The X-acto knife worked fine to cut out the textured space.  I added the chain, charms, and leaf ribbon around the neck and used black alcohol ink on some wired crystals to stick into the purchased cork.   I love Ace Hardware for those corks - they have every size imaginable and I can buy just the exact one I need by taking a bottle with me.  I added a few spiders here and there crawling up the side of the bottle.  They started out life as plastic "spider rings" on the aisle of Halloween goodies at the 99 Cent store.  Hope she likes it !!

For the Apothecary

 Here are two additions to my Apothecary Cabinet display - - a cauldron and a tin.   The cauldron is a glass votive candle holder picked up at the 99 cent store. (an idea from my daughter)  I used black alcohol ink and gold Rub and Buff to color it and added gold stickers.  I dyed spider webbing with green alcohol ink as Laura did in her tutorial.  Glued some wobbly eyeballs to it and    a black bird to the rim.  This one started out life as a cardinal.   I should have bought more of the little black crows when I first started this project.  The Deadly Nightshade tin was one out of my "collection" of tins.  Glad I have a couple of cans of spray paints out in the garage.  The tin was blue - I sprayed it with gold, then slightly distressed it with a red ink pad.  I used some of the flowers and leaves on the top that I had painted earlier -- added a dot of orange to the centers and a coat of orange glitter acrylic.  This bird was originally a white dove from the wedding aisle at Micheal's.  I tried NOT to buy more "stuff", but, ended up ordering a few things from Alpha Stamps -- I just did not have anything to duplicate the leafy ribbon or some of the neat papers. I know this is going to be an ongoing project for some time to come !!!!!

Poisons and Potions

These are the remainder of bottles and boxes I created for my Apothecary Cabinet.  Some of them are too tall for the shelves, plus, my cabinet is small and won't hold all of them.  The larger bottles are perfect to add around the outside along with some cute things I picked up at Micheal's and the 99 cent store.  There are still more bottles, books and boxes on Laura's tutorials that I want to make.  I just can't seem to get enough of Halloween creations these days !!  I really like the way the "Black Cat Luck" turned out.  It was a small vial of gold flakes, a memento gift from my friend who just returned from an Alaskan cruise.  What could be luckier than a vial of gold flakes ??  The black bat stickers seemed to be the right thing to add to the back of the vial.  The flying ghosts on the back of  the  "Bottled Ghost" were corner stickers that I painted silver and drew the eyes and mouth on.   I used gesso to coat the inside of the bottle.  I had fun creating "frog slime" with hand sanitizer and green food coloring.  Again, I apologize for the placement of the photos.  One of these days, I will get it figured out.

Apothecary Cabinet Close-ups

 These are a few close-up photos of the top and back of my apothecary cabinet.  All of the jars, candles, etc. are glued down with E-6000.  I had thought about permanently gluing all of the bottles, boxes, bits and bobs to the shelves also -- BUT -- then, we couldn't take them out and look at all of the fun things on the insides and backsides !!!  I am thinking of adding a bit more cheesecloth and webbing.  OH MY, is that spider webbing "stuff" fun to work with !!  Adding to this cabinet and all of the things to go with it will be an ongoing process -- I may be done by Christmas !!! OR NOT !!! OOPS, better start thinking about the next holiday season !