So I finally finished my project to go with my Halloween costume! My poor fingers may never be clean again, but it was so much fun! This is my witchy staff. I had so much fun making “Harry Potter” wands that I wanted to take it up a notch and see if I could accomplish the same kind of effect@on a bigger scale. It worked! Material List: 1. I used a closet rod dowel, but any sized dowel would work. 2. Wood stain and a clear coat. (I just rubbed the stain on with a paper towel. I sprayed the clear coat from a can.) 3. Citrine crystal (You can get these in a set of two on Amazon for about $10.00). 4. Heavy duty, high heat glue gun and large glue sticks. (I think I used 4 on this. Heat your gun and glue your crystal to the top of the pole. Once it is set good, you can just start gluing in whatever pattern or way you want. Don’t worry about imperfections. You want them. That is what will make the bumps and ridges of your twisted vines.) 5. Black and brown acrylic paint. I also used shimmery acrylic paint in gold, green, and a burnt sienna. (Paint all your hot glue areas black. With a drier brush add in brown by lightly dry brushing across the ridges of the glue. Then add your shimmer colors in the same manner to highlight it wherever you wish.) 6. Modge Podge glue with glitter. (Once your paint is dry, cover all the painted hot glue areas with the Modge Podge glue. This will seal your paint and keep it nice and the extra glitter helps to give it a mystical shimmer. The glue will go on white, but dry clear, so don’t worry.) Tips: Lightly sanding the wood will help it take the stain better. To give the dowel a more aged look, rotate it through a fire to create darker spots. You can also taper the bottom of the pole in to a point with a sander and heavy duty paper. The project took me two days to complete, simply due to the wood stain and clear coat needing to dry overnight. Would I do this project again? YES! It is easy and very forgiving to work with, and it looks super cool. Everything feels strong and firm. The crystal doesn’t budge. #GiveItATry #sometimesimcrafty #crafts #project #halloween #staff #wizardstaff #witchstaff #funstuff #costume