Skull Knocker

I have to say this is one of my all time favorite Halloween DIY's. It's spooky, yet oddly elegant....not something you usually say about Halloween decor. It was about as easy and cheap to make as you can get which is an added bonus. I just hung mine up on the front door of our San Francisco Edwardian and it looks right at home, as if a pirate might have originally lived here. Coco was of course completely afraid of it when I showed her - now she's warmed up to it and is bringing all the neighborhood kids by for a pre-Halloween sneak-peek. One quick trip to the craft store and about $15 and all this spooky glamor can be yours!

MATERIALS

Foam skull

Wood plaque

Foam wreath form

Dowel or chopstick

Wood caps (optional)

Gold paint (preferable non-spray)

Black or brown paint

Glue (I used Gorilla Glue, but any non-hot glue will work)

STEPS

Cut the back of your skull off so you'll have a flat spot for mounting it. You can use a saw or even a serrated bread knife.

Cut a wedge out of your wreath form so it will fit around the jaw of your skull. Just hold the skull up to it and mark with a pencil. You should be able to cut through it with a utility knife.

Take your dowel and pierce it though the jaw of your your skull, no drill needed, just press.

Hold your wreath up to the skull and pierce a hole through it in a matching place. I actually found the easiest way is to leave the dowel poking out slightly from the skull and just push it all the way through the wreath and then repeat on the other side. So you'll end up with an entry and an exit hole on each side of the wreath.

If you're going to use the little wood caps, figure out the placement of your skull and glue them onto your plaque.

Paint everything gold. Spray paint can get kind of funky on styrofoam, so I used a brush on paint. Once it's all painted, simple glue the skull to the plaque, position the wreath around the jaw and slip in your dowel to hold it all in place. Once together, mix some of your black or brown paint with water (make it mostly water with a little paint) and give the whole thing a good watery painting. Then stand it up right away so most of the paint runs down and off - this gives it that creepy old look. If you want to go extra creepy, once it's dry hold a hair dryer close to it in a few spots - when the paint starts to bubble and warp remove the heat - it adds a really nice dimension! To hang we used Command Strips that are for hanging pictures flat on the wall. At home I used some picture hanging wire stapled to the back and then stapled it to the top of the door.

Stand back and be prepared for the "Where do you get that!!" questions.

Happy Halloween!

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