Halloween WITCH HAT Night Light Home Decor with Skulls Spider & Black Roses

The CRAFT HOLE, a Face Book group, posted an event to decorate a witch's hat.  You could either make one or use an existing hat and add embellishments to meet the challenge.  I looked and looked to find some paper mache hats that I know I have had for years and never decorated ... alas, I finally gave up.  But in searching through the craft hoard, I found an "abandoned" Halloween Tussie Mussie that I had started years ago and never finished.  Gluing it to a piece of black chipboard that I had accidentally hit with overspray splatter ... voila' I had a witch's hat!

The roses were pink (a $1 yard sale find). I sprayed them black with Ranger Dylusions spray.  All ribbons and the real reindeer moss under the inset skull are from my stash.  The raised "dots" around the hat's brim and the inset are little plastic flat back resin rounds that were attached with Glossy Accents.   A wash of black gesso and water were brushed over them.  You can still see a few spots showing through of their original hue - transparent yellow.

Cutting the bottom out under the Tussie Mussie, I used the cutout piece and trimmed it, inserted it farther into the Tussie.  That created the shelf for the inset skull.  Before I glued it in place, I punched a hole big enough for the flame of a battery operated tea light!!  After cutting one of the plastic skulls in half, I added a little paint to give it more shadow and glued it in front of the tea light's flame on a bed of moss.  It created a fun eery night light.

I used hot glue to "draw" the dimensional spiderweb on the side and painted over it with a black gesso wash.  When that dried I dry brushed the web with white gesso.  All splatters are either orange acrylic paint, black gesso wash, or white Dylusions spray.  I just slung it off the brush (and also splattered my pocketbook ... sigh).

Here's what the BEFORE looked like after I attached the Tussie Mussie (it was also made from a scrap piece of chipboard). I used a craft knife to cut out the inset where I would place the moss and tea light.  The switch to the tea light is easily accessible in the bottom of the hat.

The hat is approximately 11" tall.  Great size for a mantel or table decoration.