Double Trouble Toil and Bubble

As you all know, I hate how the awesome Halloween decorations in the stores cost a fortune for mediocre quality. This year we made several of our own decorations in hopes they will last for several years. I wanted to add something different to the kitchen, but didn't know what to do since I already had lots of blood, body parts, and spider webs. After browsing through some Halloween forums, I discovered a witch potion bottle cabinet would be an inexpensive way to add something new. For now, I built a section on the counter....but in years to come I hope to have a full (at least 4 foot high) wooden cabinet.  I was very pleased to discover this project was super cheap in comparison to the appearance achieved!

First I visited Goodwill once every other week or so and searched the glass section for odd shaped bottles.  Most bottles were $0.50- $2.00. I tried to only purchase bottles that were whatever colored tag was 50% off. I cleaned the bottles, and a couple of days before the party I filled them with a variety of different things.

Such as......

- Q tips = spider eggs
- dried cranberries = frog livers
- my own hair
- oatmeal = flaked dried human skin
- bread crumbs = ground human bone


Miata Guy attached a black light under the cabinet for me giving some bottles an eerie glow!

Stuff that glows under a black light includes

- tonic water
- Tide laundry soap
- some shampoos and conditioners
- the felt inside a highlighter

All the items I used were found around the house and by trial and error I discovered what would glow.

I visited JoAnns a couple of days prior to Halloween and lucky for me they already had their Halloween fabric 75% off! I purchased a yard of a black fabric with a faint glitter outline of bats and a yard of a shear blood red.

I covered baking drying racks and some boxes with the fabric. This provide a tier layer appearance, and allowed me to place the "glowing" potions right under the black light.

For the labels, I printed several different potion names (check out some websites like Harry Potter to get some great ideas). I crinkled the paper and set them in used coffee grounds and water. I'm unsure exactly how long they require to soak because I set them in the coffee water before bed and removed them 8 hours later.

After letting the labels dry I taped them onto the bottles.

I used corks and burlap with twine to cover the bottles!

That's it! Easy huh?

Real spider inside!