How to Make Halloween Collage Art

Creating collage art allows you to transform common elements like paper, fibers, and found objects into a work of art. Halloween collage art is especially fun to make because you can easily create a feeling of spookiness or humor with vintage Halloween cards, cut-out words, and altered photographs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• White or clear glue, Modge Podge, or glue stick
• Board, canvas stretcher, plaque or other thick support
• Paint brushes
• Scissors
• Photographs or photo collage sheets
• Old magazines and books
• Vintage or modern Halloween cards
• Halloween-themed card stock
• Found objects (optional)
• Chalk (optional)
• Paint (optional)
• Distressing inks (optional)
• Rubber stamps (optional)

1. Get inspired by browsing eBay, Etsy and similar Internet stores for Halloween collage art. Some popular items you can make are artist trading cards, wall hangings and tags.

2. Purchase a piece of card stock with a Halloween, autum, or spooky theme. Use as the background, or paint a canvas stretcher board black or midnight blue.

3. Find photographs. Many art collage artists use Victorian photographs, but you can use family photos or cutouts from books and magazines. Good sources for photographs are eBay, thrift stores and yard sales. Some graphic artists sell collage sheets that can be downloaded and printed or shipped in the mail. Do a search on eBay or in your internet browser for "collage sheets" to find sheets you like. Images from Halloween greeting cards are also available in this format.

4. Mount the background to a support with clear tacky glue or a glue stick. Any flat, strong surface that won't warp is acceptable. You can use a board, a canvas stretcher, a paper mache or wood plaque, a playing card, or a tag. You can also produce a shadowbox with an empty candy tin or shallow box.

5. Cut out photos. Cut witch hats from black paper, patterned paper, or newsprint. Paste photo to the background and attach the witch hat. Clip words with a Halloween or spooky theme from old books or newspapers. Paste them to the collage.

6. Add embellishments, like cut outs from vintage or modern Halloween cards, old jewelry and buttons, scrabble tiles, bottle caps with letters stamped on them, fibers, and beads. Use chalks, watercolors, distressing inks or rubber stamps to highlight or add features.

7. Punch holes in the piece and attach wire to hang it.

Tips & Warnings

• Artists original works should not be copied directly, especially if you plan to sell your collage art.

Resources

• ARTchix Studio sells collage sheets and other items for collage artists.