Why a Giant Pair of Googly Eyes Almost Went to Waste

If you’re a lover of Pinterest (Hi, my name is Sara and I’m a Pinterest addict) like I am, you’ve undoubtedly run across posts to transform your door for Halloween, like this idea from Spoonful. I pinned and pinned, adding so many cute door ideas to my Halloween Pinterest Board. This year was it. This year, was the year, I would dress up my door.

Yep. Until I saw two things. Most of the ideas called for:

Duct tape. Nope. Never going to fly with my hubby. And well, I could see the problems, myself, after having duct tape adhered to your door for about a month that’s been warmed by the sun. Can you picture it, too? Trying to peel that stuff off would be worse than forgetting to spray your caramel apple wrappers with nonstick spray. I remember seeing some comments from readers wondering if the duct tape would ruin their doors. One of the bloggers posted a link on how to remove the adhesive from your door after removing the decoration. Nope. Still won’t fly.
Crepe paper. You’re supposed to use crepe paper for the hair? What if it rains? What if it snows (like here in Wisconsin on most Halloween nights)? What if I’m watering my mum plant by the front door and the hose gets away from me? Alright, maybe a bit extreme, but let’s face it, crepe paper is not going to stand up to the elements, folks. Let’s just be honest.

Alright, there has to be a better way. I told myself I would improvise. Yes, I would. You bet I would, because I found two giant googly eyes in the Target dollar bin that I couldn’t do without – and now, they were sitting on my kitchen island – literally staring at me each and every day. And you know what? I did.

The answers to the dilemma above you ask? Magnetic sheets and plastic table coverings.

Now, if you don’t have a metal door, the magnets aren’t going to work. Sorry. But the plastic table covering is still an option so your Halloween character’s hair looks good all month. Here’s how I created our family’s Frankenstein:

Materials:

Magnetic sheets (I got mine from the craft section at Walmart)
Giant googly eyes like I found at Target or paper plates with the pupils drawn on with marker or pasted on with construction paper (not as cool, but would still work)
Plastic table cover (your choice of color) – I just went with black, but was considering lime green – maybe next year
Scissors

Instructions:

First I cut out two large circles from the magnetic sheets to adhere to the back of the giant googly eyes I scored from Target.

I measured the width of the door and cut my table covering to fit. I just cut slits all the way across for my Frankenstein’s hair. I used magnetic sheets even on the inside of the front door to help hold on the hair.

I decided on what type of face I wanted to create and cut the pieces out from my magnetic sheets too. I wanted the facial details to be white so they would stand out on my dark door (My door is actually a dark plum although it looks black in the photo). To achieve the white color, I just flipped the magnet around so the paper that covers the adhesive on the magnet sheet was showing.

And that was it! For next year, I’m in search of some heavier duty magnetic sheets because once and awhile I find a tooth or part of a scar laying in front of my door due to the warmth of the sun, but I’ll take it. I’ll happily pick up magnetic body parts rather than trying to explain to my hubby why we need to re-paint the front door.

So, would my giant pair of googly eyes really have gone to waste? Probably not. I would have for sure found another use for them. And you know what? I still can because I’ve made them into magnets rather than using the adhesive backing they came with!

Do you have other creative ideas on how to transform your front door for Halloween without taking the risk of destroying it with tape? I’d love to hear your ideas! Follow my Halloween board on Pinterest for more Halloween fun!

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