"Creepy Cloth"

Ok, so maybe I am jumping the gun a bit here with Halloween decorations, but for me it is never to early to decorate for any holiday. My dear daughter-in-law sent me the Martha Stewart Halloween Guide magazine and that was enough to make me turn all of my Fall decorations into Halloween themed decorations. The magazine is so full of fun things to make that it seemed a shame to let it just sit on the coffee table collecting dust (everything in my house collects dust faster than you can shake a stick). I perused the magazine from cover to cover and wild ideas started flowing in the brain! One thing led to another and I just had to get started. First room to be "Halloweenized" would be the entryway as that is the first room anyone sees when they visit my house. The usual cutesy little signs and ghosties would have to find a new place to dwell, I had a vision! This room is small..very small..area-wise but it is huge in possibilities. My entryway was to become a haunted parlor! Everything had to go! And it did! Now that it is almost a blank canvas, the fun begins! First for the windows. Three sides of this tiny room has windows (and they all needed washing). Aha!..this is to be a haunted parlor..no washing windows. Dust is your friend when creating creepy, old parlors! I had found some stuff called creepy cloth in catalogs but it is so expensive. It is about $6 for 4 yards..I know, I know that is not terribly expensive, but when you consider it is just dyed cheesecloth, it seems outrageous! I could do better! I hit a sale in the paint department where their cheesecloth was only fifty cents a package..ooohh!..there are 4 yards to the pack..big difference! Personally , I did not want my curtains to look like new dyed cloth..I wanted it to look old and faded. Dyes are too even so I "invented" my own. This is the point of this whole post..how to make really old looking cheesecloth curtains! Buy the cheapest cheesecloth you can find..and while you are about it..by a bunch! It is so versatile and I will show how to use it in several ways over this next month. Now to make it appear old. Rip open as many of the packs of cloth as will cover your windows or however you plan to use the "old" cloth. Unfold and sort of fluff it out a bit. Now go make a pot of good strong coffee as you are going to need it! Make it really, really strong! When the coffee is ready, pour yourself a cup and pour the rest in a large heat resistant bowl. To this hot coffee add about 3 tablespoons of black acrylic paint and stir it around to mix it well. Here comes the fun part..plop all of your cloth into this concoction and with a large spoon start poking it around, all the while pretending you are a witch stirring some brew in a cauldron! Hey! You might as well get into the spirit of things! "Double, double toil and trouble! Fire burn, cauldron bubble.." Ok, enough of that..now leave the fabric to soak in the "dye" while you drink your coffee. After about thirty minutes, the coffee/paint should be cool enough for you to squeeze out the excess from your cloth. Once this is done..hang the cloth outside being careful not to smooth out all the wrinkles..leave folds and pleats here and there. This will add variations in color and makes a "natural" faded look. It will only take a short while before it is dry and then you can hang your curtains. Add a few rips by gently tugging at the cloth in different areas if you want to go that route. There is no need to hem or sew these at all. You can either drape them over curtain rods or use tiny nails to secure them.

I added a row of "family portraits" and will add a "diary". The portraits are simply old horror movie pictures that I found on the computer and printed in sepia tones. A bunch of old frames were haphazardly painted with the same paint we used earlier. Up lights will add a creepy ambiance to the room at night. A few more doodads from around the house and my parlor will be ready to receive visitors! Doing full blown decorations like this need not be expensive. You can incorporate things that you already have in your home. Sometimes, you just have to look at things a bit differently to see the possibilities. Granted, I already had some of the "props" for this room..the woodburning stove being stored there until it is reinstalled in the dining room and a few other things that I swiped from other parts of my house. Overall, my cost has been minimal. This entire room has been decorated for under $3! Not bad, not bad at all! A "finished" picture will come soon!