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2. Vintage Jars
3. Apothecary Necessities

Making fingers is one of my favorites… they look so nasty.

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3. The making of a workspace…

Recently I exchanged some emails with Kate of Whittaker’s Miniatures, who has some really fantastic miniature dollhouses, including a Harry Potter themed house and a haunted house. She has been looking for miniature labels for some 1:12 scale jars. She saw my witch kitchen labels and asked if they could be made super small. I converted 20 of the Thirteen Raven’s potion labels into miniature and sent her some sample labels to see if they will work.

In doing these up, I seem to have caught the miniature bug, and I would love to make up an entire scene for a house… though I have no house to put it in. I took one of the draft print labels similar to what I have sent to Kate in England, and stuck it on a tiny bottle. It measures 32mm high. I’d like to find some bottles that are even smaller.

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I like the “Severed Fledgling Finger” and the
“Blood of the Undead” in particular…

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I had sculpted her face last year before Halloween, and then she sat in the basement… bald, grumpy, and only half a body… collecting dust for MONTHS. Originally I thought I might make 3 of these hags, and this one was going to be leaning on her broom. Then while camping one of my kids found a nice walking stick and we decided to bring it home for the hag to use.

I didn’t take many picture of her as I made her. Her face was pink because of the mache pulp I was using.

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I made these shelves to replace the broken one

I picked up some old metal shelves from a lady who was throwing stuff out. These shelves desperately needed some help… they looked nothing like what I wanted.

I decided I would first cover them in cardboard. I am a cardboard pack-rat, so I had plenty to use. I fitted the shelves with it using masking tape to adhere each piece to the shelves.

Next I added cheap dollar store night-lites to the top of each shelf of each unit. As I had made a cardboard ‘lip’ on each shelf, these were completely covered from view. I am not electrician – and do not know enough about such things to trust tampering with cords, so I bought small dollar store extension cords and wired up all the lights, taping down the cords to the cardboard along the seams to hide them all.

Then I used a roll of black paper and basically wrapped the shelves in it. I used packing tape on one shelf unit, and then ran out. For the second shelf unit I used masking tape. It worked much better, as the paper had a bit of a waxy finish. I made sure to secure ALL seams with tape.

The shelves then got a light coat of flat black spray paint to cover the masking and packing tape – again the masking tape worked better here as it takes the spray paint easier, and shows less after painted.

I now had a set of black shelves….. really plain black shelves. I decided they needed to look like old wood.

How to paint wood grain:

For this process I used a spoonful of white latex paint, and about 2 cups of water, mixed together. Then taking a 2″ paintbrush dipped into the watered down paint, I painted out the shape of my wood planks. Using the technique pictured below:

Brush dipped into paint mixed with water.

In some planks I added knots in the wood by twisting the paint brush in a circle over the still wet paint. Run paint brush along each side of knot lightly.

Next dip brush into the watered down paint, right to the bottom of the container where the paint has settled. Use shop rag to dab off excess water and paint. Starting at outer edges lightly brush inwards to create wood grain. Turn brush sideways to get more defined lines.

Let the paint dry

Using a sharpie or other black marker, outline and add some detail
this makes the board stand out.

Thats it. All done!

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Visit my shop to see if there are any potions ready for purchase, or read on and learn to make your own.

MAKE SOME WITCH KITCHEN JARS

Making witch kitchen jars and ingredients is easy and inexpensive. Any jar or bottle of any size will do. I collect jars from my own kitchen, from friend’s houses, from garage sales, and from one of the thrift shops in town that always carries a vast and bizarre selection for very cheap.

Prepping Bottles
They should be thoroughly washed and dried. I like all my stuff to sort of ‘flow’ in the the same color palette. My labels are all the same paper, processed the same way. I use flat black paint, sometimes painting the jars black too. I use a small amount of silver, and some times dress up the jars using aged looking binder twine.

Almost all my jars get flat black spray-painted lids. I place all the lids on newspaper outside or in the garage, and spray paint them with light even coats, allowing the paint to dry before each application. One of my favorite spray paints for this is Excel because it covers nicely and dries fast.

BBQ Sauce bottle ready to use

Ingredients
Fill the jars using your desired ingredients. Anything goes. Let your imagination go wild. If that doesn’t work – find someone under 10 and ask them for some ideas, you’ll be amazed. Or, look online. Harry Potter websites can give you plenty of inspiration.
Check your cupboards. You can use all sorts of dried foods, baking ingredients and spices as witch ingredients. Use polymer clay and make your own ingredients. Take a trek through a park or wooded area to collect natural ingredients like leaves, moss, seed pods.

I try not to use anything that can break down, rot or mold in the jars. I do not want to have to refill them each year.

Glowing products and toys can also be used in your jars if you are using blacklights. To make a glowing liquid you can use RIT fabric whitener, laundry detergent containing phosphorous (Tide works very well)or regular highlighter felts. Take the felts apart and soak the foam tube from inside them in water to extract all the color.

This bottle is filled Tide Laundry Detergent and it glows nicely under a blacklight

Ingredients – hot glue strands, next add water and color if desired

Labels
Sometimes I fill the jars first and do the labels afterwards because I know what ingredient I want to use but don’t know what to call it. Other times I begin with the label and find something suiting to put in it.

Put some thought into what you’re doing. Don’t just call your rice from the pantry ‘Maggots’ Call it something like “Freeze Dried Sarcophaga Carnaria Larva” or “Dried Flesh Eating Blow Fly Larva” and in smaller text below “hand selected from the finest corpses” or something different like that.

2119
I have a huge antique Pyrex apothecary style jar that I filled with expanding brain toys, and instead of ‘Brains‘ I labelled it “Hob Goblin Brains” and below in fine print “Collected from the Darke Forests of England, after extensive I.Q. testing for Quality Assurance“.

So once I’ve decided on a name, I measure the area I want to make a label for and create it on my Printshop program, using regular white printer paper. The font I use is called Blackadder ITC.

Once the labels are printed I crumple them all up.

Then I brew up some very strong tea or coffee and pour it into a 9 x 13 pan.

I take each page and lay it into the pan to soak for a minute.

When the tea/coffee begins to seep into the paper fibers I carefully remove it and set it out on the counter to dry on wax or parchment paper. If you are in a hurry you can speed the drying process using a blow dryer or fan. Then if the color is not dark enough I re-soak them, or I use a paint brush to add extra color just along the edges or areas I want it to look more aged or water damaged.

Once thoroughly dry, I seal the labels using a matte varnish for acrylic paint. This can be purchased at art supply stores. I never skip this step as it makes the labels look less ‘home made’. Don’t worry if your paper seems very wrinkled, it will smooth out later.

Next I cut out each label. Using a regular white glue stick, I adhere each label to its jar being sure to get glue on the entire surface. Pay special attention to the edges of the label, it must be completely coated. Smooth label onto jar.

Sometimes I add binder twine to the top, using a hot glue gun to adhere to the top and base of the neck. Then I trim off the excess fibers. Using a drop of brown or grey acrylic paint and some water, I paint over the binder twine to age it.

…that’s it. The jar is done!

Display you work!
Make sure your area is adequately lit so people can appreciate you work! I made my own shelves with lights on each level. I also use LED spotlights to highlight certain jars as well. Lighting a shelf from the back or underneath can create some great effects, illuminating your jars and making them appear to glow.

Need a cauldron?
I made mine with paper mache back in 2004. I was inspired to make my own after seeing Bob Andrews cauldron It’s awesome, and the perfect shape! I followed his picture tutorial, and then added paper mache layers. When it was really thick and sturdy, I removed the bucketand finished the inside as well.

Off Season…
When Halloween is over and you are packing everything up take special care and wrap your jars and bottles in packing paper. Store them in sturdy containers or boxes. If you used any organic materials that can break down, best to empty them out before storing them. A jar can get pretty toxic over the year, and some could even burst. Carefully packed, you’ll be able to enjoy these for years.

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