Hi Laura. It is great to have you visiting fundinmental today and I am eager to see what you have to share.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and I love making decorations for this time of year. Most of the time, I look at the materials I have around the house and think about what I can do with what I already have.
I dug up an old wreath that’s been sitting in my garage for more than ten years and has seen better days. It’s faded, and a lot of the foliage is dropping from it. I thought about throwing it out, but decided that it could make a fun Halloween project. For this project, I used:
• An old wreath
• Black spray paint
• Three strings of bat LED lights
• Two packages of sparkly bat clips
• Glue. This isn’t totally necessary – depending on the lights you use, you might not need it, or you could use zip ties or electrical tape to secure the light battery packs.
I had the wreath, the glue, and the spray paint, but found the LED lights and the bat clips at my local dollar store. So I’ve invested about five bucks in this project. I won’t too feel bad if it doesn’t turn out!
First thing I did was spray paint the wreath black. I started on the back side. When it dried, I turned it over and sprayed the front. As is the case with all spray paint projects, I did it outdoors and painted it from several angles to make sure I got everything.
Then I added the lights. I used three strands of purple bat lights. I wound them around the foliage and made sure the battery packs were in the back, where I glued the housing down to the sturdiest part of the wreath. If you’re using LED lights with button batteries, you probably wouldn’t need to do this step, since you could tuck a smaller battery pack in the foliage. Zip ties or electrical tape would also work to get those battery housings out of the way. I made sure to add my batteries first and didn’t add glue to spots that would interfere with the operation of the switch or changing out batteries.
I turned my wreath over and was pretty pleased with how it looked so far.
Next, I added my sparkly purple bats! The ones I got had alligator clips on the back, so I could perch them wherever I wanted. A couple were in precarious spots, so I added a bead of glue to make sure they stayed stuck.
And the wreath is finished! I’m pretty pleased with it…I can’t wait to hang it for Halloween!
Thanks for the great decorating ideas Laura. Now…let’s get to the story of Flesh.
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Flesh by Laura Bickle
MY REVIEW
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Laura Bickle’s Undead in Flesh are not your typical zombies. They are a unique blend.
These youngsters do not bite off more than they can chew in this sometimes funny tale of the Undead and they have an ability to go with the flow to save their town.
Great storytelling with plenty of fear and danger and a pace that makes for some spine tingling, hair raising reading of the horror kind.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Flesh by Laura Bickle.
4 Stars
Genre: YA Horror/Paranormal/Fantasy
Book Description:
The dead are easy to talk to. Live people, not so much.
Charlie Sulliven thinks she knows all the secrets of the dead. Raised in a funeral home, she’s the reluctant “Ghoul Girl,” her reputation tied to a disastrous Halloween party. But navigating her life as a high school sophomore is an anxiety-inducing puzzle to her. She haunts the funeral home with her parents, emo older brother, Garth, their pistol-packing Gramma, and the glass-eyeball-devouring dachshund, Lothar.
Chewed human bodies are appearing in her parents’ morgue…and disappearing in the middle of the night. The bodies seem tied to a local legend, Catfish Bob, who has resurfaced in the muddy Milburn river near Charlie’s small town. When one of Charlie’s classmates, Amanda, awakens in the cooler as a flesh-eating ghoul, Charlie must protect her newfound friend and step up to unravel the mystery…and try to avoid becoming lunch meat for the dead.
Laura Bickle grew up in rural Ohio, reading entirely too many comic books out loud to her favorite Wonder Woman doll. After graduating with an MA in Sociology-Criminology from Ohio State University and an MLIS in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she patrolled the stacks at the public library and worked with data systems in criminal justice. She now dreams up stories about the monsters under the stairs. Her work has been included in the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer Project 2013 reading list and the State Library of Ohio’s Choose to Read Ohio reading list for 2015-2016.
More information about Laura’s work can be found at
MY LAURA BICKLE REVIEWS
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I love the decorating tip that also comes free with this post – many thanks!
I’m not very handy, so if you are like me, any tips are helpful.
Thanks so much for hosting me today!
My pleasure.
Awesome wreath! I grabbed this as I have enjoyed some of her previous works! Thanks
Glad to hear it Kim. I love the how to post and the great wreath.
So creative! I wish I have at least 1% of your creative gene for sure
I know what you mean.
I wish I were crafty!
I can follow directions. LOL
I thought you’d like this one too. I can’t pass up a chance to read any of her books!
Yeah, I remember you talking about her, so when I see a chance to read one of her books, I grab it.