Can you believe Halloween is in just two weeks? October is flying by for me, what with coming back from vacation, starting a new job, and getting a new routine figured out. I can’t believe summer’s really truly over and October is already halfway done (whaaat?!). But I’m excited to have my Halloween mantel up on the Home Depot blog today! To be honest, I've never been a big fan of Halloween, aside from the candy. Zombies and blood tend to freak me out, so most years I just decorate for fall in general. But this year, I wanted to try incorporating some typical Halloween elements (like dismembered hands, eyeballs, and spiders) in a more chic way. One of my favorite ideas was this eyeball garland that I made with wood beads. It’s inexpensive, easy to DIY, and Halloween-ish without being too creepy. Hope you like it!

To make this, you will need:
Wood beads
White, green, black, and red paint
A thin paintbrush
String or twine

Start by painting several beads white (I did about twenty). Let them dry.

Once the white base is dry, paint green circles in the middle of each bead. Let dry.

Add small black "irises" in the middle of each green circle. Let dry.

Using the very tip of your thin paintbrush, add squiggly red lines with red paint, making your eyeballs appear bloodshot. Let dry.

Next, simply string the eyeballs onto your twine, alternating them with plain, unpainted wood beads (I did five plain beads in between my eyeball beads).

If you have any extra “eyeballs," you can display them in a lidded mason jar like I did.

Head over to the Home Depot blog to see the rest of my Halloween mantel--and let me know if you end up making your own garland. Eye'd love to see it!

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1. Posted by Debbie on Friday, October 16th, 2015
   
   Subtle. That I like. You have a good eye for balance.
   • Posted by Aileen on Monday, October 19th, 2015
     
     Thank you, Debbie!
2. Posted by Morgan on Friday, October 16th, 2015
   
   The eyeball garland is too cute!! I love how you are able to incorporate halloween without it being too much! I'm not a huge DIY'er but this looks simple enough! Thank you for sharing, I love your mantel!!
   
   Morgan
   http://timelesstasteblog.com
   • Posted by Aileen on Monday, October 19th, 2015
     
     Aww, thank you Morgan! I’m not big on difficult DIYs either :) Basically I like the type of projects (like painting beads) that are so self explanatory, it’s almost unnecessary to take photos of the steps…haha. Those, I can do.