Easy-to-Make Spooky Halloween Gallery Wall Art

Create this luxe gallery of sparkling scientific specimens using toy bugs and bats, fabric and picture frames. Use them as a custom Halloween decoration or as a touch of dark academia style year-round.

1. Prepare the Frames

Remove glass and backing material from the frames. We used a few dollar store mirrors because we loved the shape of the frames. Set aside the glass and backing for later. Coat the front of the frames with spray paint. A glossy-black finish helps give the frames a high-end look.

2. Select Your Specimens

Inexpensive collections of small plastic insects and other critters can be found in dollar stores or online. Bats, scorpions, hornets and praying mantis are all super creepy and great choices. Paint them with gold spray paint; the metallic paint will give the specimens spooky-glam appeal.

3. Add Some Sparkle

After the spray paint has dried, apply clear acrylic medium to each critter. Sprinkle fine gold glitter over them immediately. Shake off excess glitter and let them dry. For the best results, choose a shade of glitter that is close to the base color.

4. Cut the Backing

Lay down the glass or backing that was removed from each of the frames onto a piece of cardstock or thin cardboard. Trace the outside shape using a pencil. Cut out the shapes using a craft knife.

5. Attach Velvet Covering

Lay the crushed velvet fabric for the backgrounds face down. Lay the cut cardstock onto the back of the fabric. Trace around the outside of the cardstock using a fabric marker or lightly with a felt tip marker. Cut the shapes out of the fabric using a sharp pair of scissors. Spray the cardstock backing lightly with fabric adhesive and apply the fabric face up to the matching backing boards.

6. Assemble the Frame

Place the background fabric facing outward into each corresponding frame. For conventional frames with a lip, replace the original backing behind the decorative background material. Otherwise, as in the case of our mirror frames, use the glue gun to attach the backgrounds into the frames.

7. Mount Sparkling Specimens

Center the glittering creepy crawly on the velvet inside the frame. Lift the critter up and bead some hot glue onto the bottom of it using a glue gun. Put the critter back into place immediately and let the glue cool. Repeat until the creepy crawlies fill each frame. For extra detail, add ball push pins around each critter so that it looks like a scientific specimen mounted with pins.