Junkaholics Unanimous: Creepy Antique Toy Clown Halloween Makeover, October 24th

Monday, October 24, 2011

Creepy Antique Toy Clown Halloween Makeover, October 24th

When I saw this very creepy vintage toy clown at an estate sale in May, I immediately grabbed him. Now I am not sure why, because I have always been creeped out by clowns. But I guess since it was an old toy for a $1 I figured I could just sell it on Etsy if nothing else, and I hardly ever pass on old toys. By the time I got home however, an idea had popped in my head. I decided he would also make a great Halloween decoration, even though he was pink and blue. Unfortunately I already started painting him when I realized I had forgotten to get a before shot, but you can tell what he looked liked from the back of his head.

Here you see what kind of cruddy shape he was in.

I started by painting one side black with acrylic paint.

I painted the other side a burnt orange (In the future I might try a different type of paint on a similar project, as acrylic peels easily off the old oil cloth material as you can see the little bits of pink on the leg where the black scraped off)

For dressing him up gathered up some misc. craft supplies I already had. I used some leftover black tinsel ribbon I had bought last year for .25 after Christmas at Hobby Lobby. I purchased a roll of orange glittery ribbon and a little girl's feather hair accessory and a pumpkin charm all for $4 this year at H.L. to use as well.

I used hot glue to attach the glitter ribbon and feather hair accessory. I gave him a bigger clown mouth and touched up his cheeks and nose with red and black sharpies. I touched up the orange and black paint later. I gave him the large pumpkin charm as a Trick-Or-Treat bucket, and after that he was all ready for Halloween!

And now he is proudly on display by the fireplace where Mr. Bones ($2, yard sale) seems to enjoy playing with him and the antique clown noisemaker----CREEPY! I used the vintage postcard tinsel garland on my mantel last year, but this year it is being repurposed as a skeleton's scarf. I am really pleased with how this display turned out!