Wicked Witch Wilda

I was inspired by the Mahone Bay Scarecrow Festival and decided to create a wicked Halloween witch for my office window display.  I always try to do something seasonal to put in the window.  It is a way for me to express some creativity and I love it when the local day care children walk by and stop to look in the window.  Their little faces pressed up against the glass and their high pitched voices commenting on the various items always makes me smile!

Dried Dragon Wings and Bats Blood

So this Halloween, I decided to go all out and make a witches kitchen scene.  Halloween is my favourite holiday and I cannot resist all the wonderful Halloween decorations.  

Rats and Cats Eyes

I am always coming home with more ghouls, skeletons, bats, spiders, and other creepy creatures. 

Skulls and Candles

As a result of that, I have a ridiculous amount of Halloween decorations, so finding items for her kitchen was easy.  I spray painted an old set of shelves, backed them with burlap and then put lint on them to act as dust.  I suspect witches are not all that particular about cleanliness.  

Skulls and Goblets

The boys and I made witches' preserves: clot of bats blood, cats eyes, dried dragon wings, etc.  I found some old bones, spiders, owls,  and rats in my collection of Halloween goodies and added them to the kitchen shelves.  I created the floor for her kitchen out of burlap, fall leaves and a large supply of spiders.

Bubbling Eyeball and Spider Stew

Her cauldron was filled with bubbling stew made from coloured spray foam and spiders.

Witch Frame

Making the witch herself was an interesting exercise.  I used two tomato catches interlaced to make the basic frame for her body.  I then shaped chicken wire to make her arms and shoulders and head.  I have had an old hoop skirt in my attic for over 10 years that I have been keeping for some unknown purpose - now it is a witches' petticoat. I dressed her in a turtleneck, various black shirts and fabrics and started added witchy jewelry.  I particularly like this skulls necklace.

Making the hands was a little more challenging.  I shaped fingers out of chicken wire, attached them to a basic hand armature, taped them and then covered them with washing up gloves.  I then attached the hands to the arms and covered them in some gruesome cloves that I had found years ago at Frenchys.  For the face I used an ugly witch mas, with painted ping pong balls for eyes.  The face is OK, but if I had more time I would have liked to do a paper mache face ... maybe next year.     
 

My efforts were rewarded with a long visit from my Little Peoples Place friends: 
all Oohing and Ahhing.

 Thanks kids for making my day!