Blackbirds and Bones Wreath

Because my Four and Twenty Blackbirds Halloween pie idea didn’t pan out, I still had blackbirds on the brain. I had an idea to make a black feathered wreath with bones caught in it, and a parchment set inside displaying a curse.


I wish I could have found synthetic, decorative bird bones or skeletons for this project (THAT would have been perfect). But all I could locate were real bird bones (sold for laboratory and educational use), which were a) crazy expensive, and b) yeah, okay, really gross.


I guess this is where I’ll have to admit that birds creep me out.  Wild birds, cute birds, pet birds, chickens (don’t even get me started on turkeys….). I see them as little, feathered lizards. Ancient, soulless dinosaurs that’ll peck you soon as look at ya. So there you go.


Anyway, I did find well-designed mini skeletons (originally strung on a twine of nooses) which had a nice aged patina appearance, and were cheap at Big Lots ($3.50 for 6).  I plucked them apart to use the individual pieces, which seemed scarier.

I started with a base of an inexpensive grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby ($3). 

There I also found a garland of black feathers (ordinarily $9.99 but 50% off – as most everything you need usually is at Hobby Lobby).

I love everything about Hobby Lobby, except the fact that they close to go to church on the very best crafting day of the week.

I also got a really cool roll of black snakeskin ribbon trimmed with feathers to hang the wreath.

For the parchment I started with an image from The Graphics Fairy (an old opera sheet music border: Original Link is HERE).

My son Marley wrote the curse; “Treaters beware, you’re in for a scare”. 

We hot glued the feather garland along the grapevine.

Then I hot glued the individual bones around, and tucked into, the feathers. I attached the parchment with wire in the corners from the back of the wreath . Then tied the ribbon around the top of the wreath and pinned it, and draped the ribbon over the front door and tacked it on the inside.