Jo and I were recently at a yard sale full of unusual cabinets. We spotted two that would be perfect for curiosity cabinets, and decided she would do one for Christmas (coming soon!) and I would do one for Halloween. My metal curio shelf was already perfectly aged and ready for a creepy curiosity cabinet — I didn't even have to clean it or paint it!

Filling the curiosity cabinet is the fun part, though it can seem like a daunting challenge. I'd like to share some tips for making your own DIY creepy curiosity cabinet. It's not difficult, thanks to some careful shopping and some clever new uses for household items.

First, I shopped at my local big box store and found some random creepy Halloween decor, like bones, bugs, and such. I was careful to stay away from anything cutesy, since I was really going for the creepy factor with this collection.

Then I raided the pantry and pulled out any tiny bottles from extracts and a cool balsamic vinegar bottle. I added some vials and bottles from my craft stash, and printed up some of our Magic Potion Ingredient Labels to transform them into cool things like "Witch's Blood" and "Elixir of Life".

Then I printed up some random mystical-looking images onto gold parchment paper and burned all the edges to make them look old and worn. (NOTE: Be sure to work on a non-flammable surface like concrete, and have damp towels ready to blot out the flames!)

I wanted an eyeball somewhere in my curio, so I decided to make one out of a ping pong ball. I just painted the iris and pupil on, then added some thin red wiggly lines for veins. Gross!

Next, I headed outside, to grab some items from nature. I picked up a couple of sticks, some walnuts from our walnut tree, and a bunch of dried leaves. I crushed the leaves and put them in a little plastic box, making them unidentifiable in a truly creepy way.

I knew I wanted to use some fake blood in my curiosities cabinet, but I didn't want to use the ton of red food coloring it would have taken in order to get a really deep and rich red. Instead, I just mixed a packet of Kool-Aid with a cup of water, and voila — DIY fake blood!

While I was in the kitchen, I boiled some linguine and some campanelle pasta. After it was cooked, I stirred in a drop each of pink and yellow paste food coloring, which instantly gave it a very fleshy look. I added the linguine to a jar and filled it with water, creating what looks like intestines or worms. But the campanelle really freaks me out, because it looks so much like toes or ears or some other random body parts!

With all my DIY Halloween curiosities ready, it was time to load them all into the cabinet. This was fantastic fun to assemble.

I labeled the balsamic with "Elixir of Life", which I think might actually be accurate.

I love the mixture of ingredients and bones, and I think the natural elements really bring it all together.

Once I put the eyeball under a glass dome, it became my favorite part of the whole curio.

See, I told you that campanelle pasta looks like body parts. Eww and wow!

This is going to make a great creepy Halloween decoration for the mantle, and I will continue to add to this as I find more items leading up to Halloween.