DIY: Spooky Centerpiece

I love Halloween. It might be one of my favorite holidays and, as such, I find it perfectly acceptable to start decorating on October 1st. I pulled together this centerpiece in less than an hour and it will live on the dining room table all month long. I especially love when a breeze hits it and the bats flutter a bit... 

DIY: Spooky Centerpiece

What You Need:
Small Garden Urn
Small Rocks or Gravel
3-4 Branches
Black Spray Paint
Needle and Thread
Black Construction Paper
Scissors or an Exacto Knife
Lamb’s Wool

How You Make It:

Make sure your urn is clean and dry. If it’s not already black, you may want to give it a coat of black spray paint. Plug any drainage holes with tape and fill the urn with rocks, gravel, marbles or even floral foam if you want. Go out to your yard (or someone else’s!) and gather 3 or 4 dead branches and spray paint them black. Once the paint has dried, nestle branches into the rocks.

Trace bat shapes onto the construction paper and cut them out with scissors or an exacto knife. Not feeling artistic? You can find templates at Martha Stewart’s site or download some free clip art. If you only have white paper, try a spooky ghost or a skull. Any Halloween-inspired shape will work. Using a needle and black thread, make bats into ornaments and hang from the branches.

Pull the lamb’s wool into wispy pieces and drape some in the branches. Pile the rest into the base of the urn, covering the rocks completely.

Voila!

NOTE: I actually had everything I needed for this around my house and I bet you do too... no lamb's wool? How about cotton balls? No garden urn? Try an interesting vase or bowl. No thread? Try fishing line or un-bend some paperclips to make hooks... you get the idea.