Halloween Decorations
Halloween decorations you can
make or buy for
the spookiest night.
Halloween Recipes
Our
cookbook filled with Halloween recipes, tasty tricks and treats.
Halloween Games Spooky Halloween games adaptable for both kid's and adults.
Halloween
Party
Halloween Party planning and
ideas
for your festivities.
Halloween
Safety
Safety
information, tips and suggestions for a safe Halloween.
101 Halloween Tips
That's right, 101 great
Halloween tips, ideas and suggestions!
Halloween Props
Spooky Special Effects and Props for
your Halloween haunt.
Pumpkin Carving
Pumpkin carving tips
for carving your Halloween Jack O' Lanterns.
Movies & Music
Suggestions for the best Halloween music and Halloween movies.
Halloween Crafts
Halloween craft ideas and instructions for lots of
Halloween fun.
High-Tech Halloween
Ghostly gadgets for your computer, cell-phone, Palm Pilot and
more!
HALLOWEEN PHOTO FRAMES
Making Halloween photo frames is easy and takes no
time at all. We picked up a couple of multi-photo frames at a discount store that were
very inexpensive and just what we needed for our project.
Black frames are best as they act as your base color. If you want to reverse
the crackle colors, buy a plain wood frame and paint it orange first. We chose two
different styles, a crackle frame and a solid black frame with orange matte.
SIMPLE
PHOTO FRAME
For the Simple Photo Frame we used
a High Gloss black spray paint to paint the frame. One
even coat was all we needed to use but it will depend on the originating
color of the frame.
You
could also go with orange on this one or alternate colors using orange on the
top and bottom and
black on the sides. Be sure to use masking tape to cover the sides not to be
painted to keep them from being accidentally sprayed with paint.
We decided to use
traditional, Halloween orange, the predominant color during this season, as the color to
be sprayed on our matte. Even coats of glossy orange enamel spray paint look great and
didn't warp the paper. A couple coats were needed to cover thoroughly.
Another idea would be to add some art work to the
matte itself. Try your hand at painting a vine and leaves connecting pumpkins together for
a pumpkin patch effect. Or go with pre-made stamps and add ghosts, bats, spider webs, etc.
CRACKLE
PHOTO FRAME
For our Crackle frame we
chose a black frame to save us a step, but you can do this with a natural wood frame as
well. Just paint it black first.
We
painted on the crackle paint (available at most art supply or craft stores) as directed on
the bottle. The time varies for the crackle to become semi-dry and tacky depending on
humidity levels. Ours took about 5 minutes before it was tacky dry. We then added the
contrasting orange acrylic paint. We did one side of the frame at a time
so that the crackle substance wouldn't dry too fast.
Set the frame to the side to dry
and move on to the next step, painting the matte that goes over the
photos.
Spray paint the matte board with a flat black spray paint.
Glossy will work equally as well but we liked the flat look. Two good coats were needed.
Make each coat light so the matte won't curl up.
The
orange paint will dry dull due to the crackle substance so you'll want to seal it when it's dry.
Use a glossy polyurethane spray to seal the frame. Three coats will give
it a good shine and some durability. Once everything has thoroughly dried, put the pieces
back together and add your favorite photographs. While all of this is drying, you can pick your favorite Halloween photos to
put in your frame.
CRACKLE
FRAME KEEPSAKE BOX
We found this great keepsake
box that had a photo frame on the top and decided to try it as well.
We gave
it three coats of flat black acrylic paint using a paint sponge. After it
was completely dry, we did one side at a time with the crackle substance, waiting about 5
minutes before we added our contrasting coat of orange. When it was completely dry
on the
outside, it was time for the inside.
Tacky Glue orange felt on the sides and black on the bottom, also putting felt on the outside
bottom of the box so it won't scratch surfaces. Now it's ready for the keepsakes from Halloweens'
past!
Set the frame to the side to dry
and move on to the next step, painting the matte that goes over the
photos. 
The
orange paint will dry dull due to the crackle substance so you'll want to seal it when it's dry.
Use a glossy polyurethane spray to seal the frame. Three coats will give
it a good shine and some durability. Once everything has thoroughly dried, put the pieces
back together and add your favorite photographs. While all of this is drying, you can pick your favorite Halloween photos to
put in your frame. 