Hi All. Welcome back to the second half of my Witch’s Apothecary. I can’t wait to show you how it all turned out!
Normally I use a matte finish on my apothecaries but this time I went with ModPodge Gloss because I knew that the matte would dull the sparkle of the glitter and the crystals. However, the problem with ModPodge Gloss is it takes forever to fully set. It’s touchable dry within 15 minutes or so but if one piece, say a drawer that’s been sealed, touches the wood base that’s also been sealed, they can/will stick together. I always leave all pieces that I’ve sealed with ModPodge, matte and gloss, separate for at least 24 hours. Once things are fully assembled I will slide the drawers in and out daily for a couple of weeks until I feel the gloss has finally set.
Along with sealing everything in clear gloss I also added the drawer pulls. I wanted extremely small pulls for this apothecary since the paper is so much of the show here, I didn’t want anything detracting from the pretty paper. I used 18 gauge black wire, bent in half, and then I bent both ends out half way up. Using my pin hole punch I put a hole in each drawer, pushed the wire nub through until the spread ends were flush against the inside of the drawer.
I covered a section of black cardstock with double sided tape and then cut the paper into squares small enough to cover the inside of the front of the drawers. Making sure each square is securely stuck down and completely covers the wire flanges, my drawer pulls will work well but will hardly be noticeable.
Time to start filling it all in with all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff. The fireplace section is fairly deep so I wanted to bring that blank back wall forward a bit.
Whenever I’m out dog walking I’m always looking for natural items to add to my crafting stash. This gnarly bit is actually a plant root that got exposed to the seasons and has been nicely cleaned and prepped by nature for me. A blob of hot clue holds it in place.
I liked the look of a couple of varieties of silk plants, one each to the back of the cupboards. And let the bones begin.
More bones and faux plant pieces are filling in nicely and I also used another, darker web paper to cover the inside of the cupboard doors. The root and berries got a good dose of glitter, too. The doors will be glittered and get the last few Swarovski crystals.
Even the bones get glitter.
This was just the first pass with the glitter. As more pieces go in I continue to add more and more glitter keeping a nice balance between each item and the glitter accenting it.
I have some great glass creepy eye sets and I liked the idea of a pair on the back wall. A couple of sticks get the glitter treatment and go in the fireplace, too. This is a really large section to fill but I’m saving the coup de gras here for a bit later.
I have bags of little pumpkins and I pull out a nice assortment and then start glittering.
Miniature brooms, a skull and a tiny black cat all get the glitter treatment. Of course, one of my large black widows finds it’s perfect spot, too.
Another skeleton and more pumpkins start to fill in the other side.
If you’ve followed some of my other post you may have seen my faux log fires before. I made my first one to fill in the fireplace of another one of these apothecary cabinets (only that one I made into a Christmas Advent Calendar). The little tea light inside the logs turns on and that dark little hole will become a flickering, spooky witch’s fire. This log fire got extra, extra glitter.
I’m getting really close to wrapping this project up now. I’ve added a small library of potion books, a skull candle and behind those – a cross bones of legs and a “Poison” plaque on the back wall. There’ll be a few more goodies go in that section before I’m done.
The upper shelf is just starting to get a selection of “ingredients” like snake skin, poison cat’s claw and frogs eyes. But there’ll be a nice pantry when it’s all said and done.
These final pieces are all created using items from my “Halloween” stash which is (barely) contained in three large copy paper boxes. Whenever I see small items like the cat (which is actually a cupcake topper) or the little broom (which is meant for doll house decor) I grab them up knowing that sooner or later such items will come in handy on yet another Halloween project from Old Raven. Craft store basics such as the little glass bottles, silk floral pieces, common plastic skeletons, plastic pumpkins, Halloween clip art – all of these things are readily available at the craft store but it’s what your imagination can turn them into that makes these projects so much fun.
So start building your own stash of Halloween possibilities (I have Christmas and Easter stash boxes, too). Just wait until you start digging through all those treasures and great ideas start popping into your head and you can hardly stop until you’ve added this or that to your current creation.
Crafting’s the best and I love it!
And now – the Witch’s Apothecary Cabinet for Halloween 2019
Well, what do you think? It’s not the creepiest Witch’s Apothecary I’ve ever made but I wanted this one to have a little more fantasy, like this witch likes it neat and tidy and in her opinion everything looks better with an extra coating of fairy dust.
If you would like more details on this apothecary it is now listed in my shop oldravenonetsy.com
If you would like to go right to the listing, just click on the link below.
Thank you for coming along on my artistic journey, traveling’s always better when you have friends with you.
Kriss
Old Raven Creates 