Halloween Crafts: Spooky Wall Art

Are you one of those revelers who dons the witch hat and sprinkles every corner of the house with ghoulish charm to celebrate Halloween? If so, then these spooky silhouettes will be a real treat. Made from spaghetti, the eerie images are the perfect fiendish finishing touch for your walls. This artwork makes for new and unusual halloween decorations.

I found the spooky Halloween motifs on party bags and online and printed them out. Then traced the outline onto white scrap booking paper using the window as my "light box" and colored them in with black marker. Layering paper behind the prints really sets them off the black background. I tried them with just the white and it didn't look nearly as spooky.

As for the backing, I found a pack of three 8" x 10" canvas panels at Michael's for about $3.50. A real bargain. But the canvas wasn't thick enough (it was only 1/8") to withstand the glue and paint and it ended up buckling. To remedy the problem, opt for a wood canvas at least 1/4" thick or a stretched canvas. Utrecht Art Supply has a good selection.

I was worried about the spaghetti, wondering how I would cut it to fit without it breaking up, but the pasta in the box of Barilla I picked up was 10 inches long, give or take and 1/8" or two and it worked perfectly.

I had such fun, setting the prints on the sideboard and illuminating them with candles. But tack or glue a picture hanger on the back and you can hang them in a grouping on the wall.

Here's what you'll need:
-canvas board, 8" x 10" wood and at least 1/4" thick
-spaghetti, one box
-heavy weight paper, in silver (cut to 5" x 7"), black (cut to 4 1/2" x 6 1/2") and white (cut to 4 1/4" x 6 1/4")
-Halloween image
-permanent black marker
-black paint
-paintbrushes
-white glue
-paper glue
-ruler
-pencil
-scissors


1. Paint canvas with black paint. Allow to dry.

2. Apply white glue to entire surface of canvas. Quickly roll spaghetti over canvas, pushing and working the strands so that they are straight, flush to the edges and tightly packed, but singly layered. Let dry.

3. Paint spaghetti black.

4. Trace the image onto the white paper and fill it in with marker.

5. Use paper glue to adhere white paper centered onto black paper. Then adhere the black paper centered to the silver paper in the same way.

6. Use white glue to adhere the matted image onto the spaghetti frame. Allow to dry thoroughly under heavy books to prevent any buckling.