Witchy Plant Poke - Great Last Minute Gift Idea!

Here's an easy~peasy Fall project
to make and give as gifts.
 In fact, I made a dozen!  True story.

So you start with a wood shim:

 ... or ten ... or twelve ...

Acrylic Paints: Green, Black, White,
Multi-Purpose Sealer
Glittery Spider brad, HALLOWEEN brad,
(these are brads I bought a few years ago~
I just placed a new order from
Oriental Trading Company for lots of
new Halloween brads ... can't wait!!)

The shims are usually pretty rough
and sometimes have splintery edges.
I used a sanding block
to smooth them down, and then
sealed the fronts with
Multi-Purpose Sealer.

Since I was making twelve of these,
I decided to cut a "face" shape
from a soda box.  Straight across the top
(where I'll put the hat brim)
and a "pointy" chin.
I used a 4" paint roller to apply
black paint to the fronts
of the shims.

I used a 1" flat brush to apply green
paint to the faces...

... all twelve of them!!
Once the paint is dry, sand lightly
with a sanding block.
Paint raises the grain in the wood,
so sanding lightly gives you
a smoother surface to paint on.

I trimmed the rounded ends off
of skinny craft sticks
to make hat brims.  Paint with
black paint, sand lightly.

Apply wood stain to the front,

sides,

and back of the shim.
I use an oil based stain, so I
wear protective gloves and allow
the pieces to dry overnight.

I used Tacky Glue to attach 1/2"
button plugs to the witch faces.

This photo shows me attaching 1/4"
button plugs as noses.
I waited until I'd glued on all twelve
plugs and the glue was
completely dry before changing
my mind.  I decided to use the 1/4"
plugs as warts, instead.

So, to recap, 1/2" plugs as noses,
1/4" plugs as warts, and
glue on the skinny sticks as hat brims.

The eyes are dip dots of black.
(I used a stylus, but you could use
a paintbrush handle if you
have one small enough).

I used a liner brush and thinned

black paint to apply a quirky mouth.

I used a liner brush and thinned

white paint to apply a spider web to

the witch's hat.

I added some black dots to the

nose and the wart; and

two crooked teeth to the quirky mouth.

I used my trusty rusty pliers

to snip the brad off the spider brad:

Then I used hot glue to attach the

now-bradless-spider to the hat.

I made the HALLOWEEN brad

bradless, too:

Snip! Snip!!

 Attach the bradless brad with hot glue.

Two years ago I bought each

teacher a potted mum,

and I poked in a Witch, a

Frankenmonster, and a Mummy.

They looked kinda (exactly) like this:

Here's this year's Witchy Plant Poke:

 Maybe Frankenmonster and the

Mummy need an update, too?  Always

nice to change your look

every once in a while.  I'll just

add those to my ever-growing To-Do List.

~ Peace and Happy Halloween Characters ~