Sticks!

Yea, I know, sticks usually are not so exciting, but these are! Cheap and easy, too.

I always try and do something interesting with the two pots flanking the porch for Halloween, usually involving my crow decoys.  Side Note: I LOVE my crow decoys! I stole the idea from the lovely owner of 5 Green Boxes here in Denver, one of my favorite places to shop and explore (actually there are 2 5GB stores, one for home and unique handmade furniture and one for clothing, etc., the Big Store is my favorite, it is a hot-bed of great ideas). I went to a big yard sale (imagine that, me going to a yard sale ;-)) one Fall years ago and saw she had used crow decoys in purple pots on her fence posts. I was immediately smitten, and ordered a bunch online that very day. I’ve been using them every Halloween since. They look great and are virtually indestructible. This year I got the idea to add some sparkle, hence the glittered black sticks.

This project was easy as pie (I’ve always wondered where that expression came from, pie actually isn’t all that easy…). I bought a bunch of clean birch sticks (of course you could collect your own as well), spray painted them with gloss black spray paint, then sprayed them with Rustolium Glitter Spray Paint in silver from Home Depot.

First I laid the sticks out on my trusty painting tarp.

Then sprayed them black, just one coat on each side. You don’t need to be crazy about this, no one is going to notice if you missed a spot or dripped a little paint, unless you drip it on your shoes like I did…

It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but this stuff shimmers like the dickens. I got a little carried away and sprayed a few small pumpkins, too. A note on the glitter paint: You want to try and use it all at once, as the sprayer tends to clog, and you’ll want to shake the can every 10 seconds or so. It works great! I’m sure I’ll be finding many more projects to glitter-ize.

When it was all dry I just stuck them in the pots, and voila’, glamorous crows. There are a ton of things you could do with these sparkly black sticks: centerpieces, pots, stick them in existing plants inside or out, add them to your spooky mantle, tie them to the chandelier…the possibilities are endless, and these sticks will last for years to come.

Stay Tuned! There are many more Halloween Posts to come! Next time, the “Eyes” have it, and then I’ll show you my whole Halloween house, inside and out! I’ll be doing a couple fun tours of some amazing local houses as well. FOLLOW this blog and you won’t miss a thing!