Halloween Magic – Altered Jack-o’-Lantern by Priss BlaFu

Hello, creative souls! I’m Priss BlaFu (@artful.layers), and today I’m sharing a dark and whimsical Halloween transformation filled with texture, vibrant color, and spooky little details.

This project began with a bright orange ceramic jack-o’-lantern. I had never really liked its color, but I loved its shape and the possibility of placing a light inside. So, I decided to give it a completely new personality.

I started with Black Gesso to create a dark, unified base. Then I built a dimensional composition using Finnabair resin leaves and flowers, combined with playful Halloween elements such as spiders, tiny ghosts, a skeleton, and a key. 

French Lavender Matte Wax created the first muted layer over the black surface. I then used White Gesso and diluted Liquid Acrylics in Emerald and Violet to gradually bring out the textures and build contrast. Where the two colors met, they created a beautiful turquoise tone that added even more character to some of the smaller elements.

For the finishing touches, I highlighted the composition with Mermaid, Dark Ice, Old Silver, and White Pearl Waxes. A few wire tendrils, deeper shadows, and scattered splatters completed the slightly chaotic Halloween look.

What I love most about this piece is the contrast between its dark exterior and the light hidden inside. Once illuminated, the carved face begins to glow and all the ghosts, spiders, metallic accents, and colorful layers come to life.

You can watch the full transformation in the video tutorial on Finnabair’s YouTube channel.

I hope this project inspires you to give an old decoration a second chance and transform it into something that feels completely your own.

Until our next creative adventure, keep creating and let your imagination glow in the dark.

Priss 🎃

Finnabair products used - all the images linked to the Mixed Media Place online store:

Spooky Tree House by Lori Woods

As we get closer to spooky season, I thought it would be fun to create a spooky tree house with Finnabair’s new moulds. I cut out a basic tree shape from card the added texture paste to the base to create texture. I then took the house mould pieces and layered these up to create a little village in the branches!

I covered everything in black gesso the used the new Whispers wax set to add colour and highlight the details.

Finnabair products used - all the images linked to the Mixed Media Place online store:

Snowflake Christmas Tree

Now, be honest - didn't these snowflakes tempt you to turn them into a Christmas tree? I mean, these snowflake castings are just perfect for it! And look at that crackle in the background made with Clear Crackle - isn't it just gorgeous? What I love most about this medium is that it delivers amazing cracks every single time, without much effort at all. 

How do you like my Christmas tree? 

Finnabair products used - all the images linked to the Mixed Media Place online store:

Keeper of Forgotten Secrets by Rita Rut

As the base for my project, I used a glass bottle. I attached all the moulded elements using Heavy Body Gel, allowing them to dry and making sure that each mould was securely positioned and stacked in place. Once everything was attached, I removed any excess gel with a dry brush.

The next step was to cover the entire project with Heavy Gesso Black. I used a palette knife to add extra texture to the reverse side of some of the moulded elements that were visible from the back. At this stage, I also decided to add a few additional stars to the back of the project and embellish the bottle with a cork.

I allowed the black gesso to dry thoroughly before moving on to the colouring. For the first layer, I used two Metallic Paints — Rustic Brown and Hazelnut. I applied the paints lightly, intentionally allowing some of the black gesso underneath to remain visible and create depth and contrast.

I then continued with Metallic Paint Plum Preserves, adding it selectively to certain areas and allowing it to dry before introducing Metallic Paint Jade Stone. The combination of these colours gradually brought more dimension and richness to the project.

Once everything was completely dry, I used Metallic Wax Vintage Gold to add highlights and emphasize the raised details and textures throughout the project.

Finally, I completed the project by adding a piece of ephemera from the Steam and Frost Set.

Finnabair products used - all the images linked to the Mixed Media Place online store: