My Vintage Victorian Halloween Mantel

 

 Can you believe that Halloween is in 2 weeks?  I can't either.  Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays.  I'm usually chomping at the bit to decorate.  Now here it is the middle of October and I'm just now decorating for Halloween.  That is how lazy I've been this year. 

I have been working on my Halloween decor for two weeks, but I just was never happy with anything I put together.  I decided this past weekend that I better "get 'er done" as I am having a Halloween party at my house this coming weekend.  So I "got 'er done". 

 I had visions of making my own garland this year.  But then I remembered this one I purchased from TJ Maxx a couple of years ago.  It originally was hung on silver tinsel, but it was too long for my mantel.  So I cut off and pulled off the tinsel and strung the letters on some good old cheap twine. 

I love how this garland has a "vintage" feel to it. 

 I decided to go with a spooky vintage photo theme this year.  Maybe even a bit Victorian.  Here is the right side of my mantel. 

I had a couple of these wooden frames that I picked up from the thrift store at least 10 years ago.  The only problem is that the opening is for a 9" x 12" photo.  My printer will only hold 8 1/2" x 11" paper. 

I found this Victorian looking skeleton photo on Gorey Details.  Cut it out in an oval shape and placed it on top of some Halloween paper.  The little "boo" garland is actually some cupcake toppers that I found at Michael's last year.    

The little pumpkin is actually from my garden.  The crow from Dollar Tree.  The magnifying glass is from either Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Only store.  I bought them at both places.  I decided to make some spooky magnifying glasses like the ones I saw on Family Circle website. 

What really started me on my Vintage/Victorian photo path were these lenticular photos I found at Dollar Tree.  They actually came attached to a butt ugly plastic frame.  I just cut off the ugly frame part and put them in my own frames. 

See the next photo to see how he changes from a good looking young man, to a creepy skeleton. 

This frame is actually a plastic one as well that I found at Dollar Tree a few years ago.  I painted it black and then used chalk to highlight it.  Loved how it turned out.

I made this paper lollie a few years back.  I just change out the middle part for different seasons.

 I found this skeleton necklace at the 99 Cent Only store.  It came in a "two pack". 

The thing I have found about the dollar stores, they will have different stuff at the beginning that they never seem to get back in.  I went in last month (when they first put out their Halloween items) and found stuff that they no longer have.  And they now have stuff that they didn't have when I first went.   

I hung my old book page wreath to my chicken wire frame.  The skeleton face is actually attached to the ribbon.  I purchased some creepy cloth from Tai Pan Trading a few years back and it was tied up with this ribon with the skeleton face.  I still like having the chicken wire frame propped up against my antique mirror. 

I decided this area needed a little garland.  I found these images on The Graphics Fairy website. 

I then used a website called Photofunia to make the images look more vintage.  They have lots of cool effects on this website.  I went to the "Lab" section and used the "Vintage Photo" effect.  

I then added the orange tickets to the garland as I thought it needed some color.  I have no clue where I got the orange tickets.  I somehow ended up with a huge roll of them.  Probably got them from a thrift store or a garage sale.  They are fun to decorate with at Halloween. 

Here is a close up of the wreath with the "scream" face skeleton.  I still love the look of my book page wreath. 

Here is the left side of the mantel. 

Here is another of the lenticular photos from Dollar Tree that I cut out and put in a different frame.  The only problem with using chalk to highlight the raised parts is that it easily rubs off.

Here he is all "spooky".  Since there is glass in this frame, I couldn't seem to get a good picture without getting a lot of reflection.  You have to stand in just the right spot to see the "spooky" image.

I think that this is my favorite of all the photos.  I found this on Pinterest.  It was taken from someone's Tumblr.  It doesn't have an original source.  Here is the link to it on my Pinterest. 

I did the same thing as the skeleton print on the right side of my mantel.  I made a small garland that spells "Eek" using some Tim Holtz mini flash cards.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby. 

The spider web came from Dollar Tree this year.  It is sort of like those spring action window covers for your car.  It came all compact & it springs open to this size.  You can twist and fold it smaller to store it when Halloween is over. 

I found the spider at Target over the weekend. I thought my web needed a spider. So off to Target I went. This smaller one was $5.00. They have a larger one for $10.00. I love how the spiders legs can be rolled up to make him smaller to pack away as well.

The burlap pumpkin came from Hobby Lobby.  It would be pretty easy to knock off.  I'm just too lazy.  I have it on a thrift store urn that I painted.   And another spooky magnifying glass.  I think this eye one is my favorite.
 

And a few final shots

I hope that you liked my spooky vintage Victorian Halloween mantel. 

 

Linking to:

SNS-Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatertots and Jello

Halloween Mantel Party-Home Stories A2Z

Vintage Inspiration-Common Ground

Wow Us Wednesday-Savvy Southern Style

Halloween linky party-Craftberry Bush

Fall Nesting Party: Mantels & Porches-The Inspired Room