As a musician, who's a little goth, I've always loved the piece Danse Macabre composed by Saint-Saëns. I’ve even performed this piece with an orchestra, and you can see a copy of my flute part in the photos. 

I’ve been saving this little violin MDF that I got a while back for the perfect Halloween collection to turn into my own Danse Macabre style art piece—and Prima’s Made of Magic was that perfect collection!

Now the store that made this MDF shape has closed, so this "tutorial" is more of an inspiration for you. (I do have all of the other supplies I used listed blow in case you see something that catches your eye from the Made of Magic collection.)

You can always search Etsy for violin MDF or cut wood shapes. But as a musician, I must ask you to never turn actual instruments into art unless a certified instrument repair technician has deemed the instrument beyond repair and no longer playable. 

It breaks my heart when I see real instruments turned into art knowing it was probably bought at an antique store and could have been refurbished and played. I even don't like it when the cheap "instruments" from Amazon are turned into art as they can be an okay starter instrument for those of lower income. Instruments are meant to be played and silencing them is not okay. 

So with that out of the way, here's how I turned this MDF shape into my Danse Macabre style art. This particular MDF shape is more 3D and had several layers that make it hollow inside like an actual violin. So I had several MDF pieces to prime with clear gesso and then paint with Brick Ember paint from the Made of Magic Color Chronicles matte acrylic paint set. Most of the pieces got the edges painted, but some parts got completely painted. The section of the bow that represents the horse hair strands was painted with the Butter Petal color from Homegrown's Color Chronicles set. 

I traced all of the pieces that I covered with paper onto various patterns from the Made of Magic 6x8 Paper Pad. I cut these out with scissors and a craft knife and self-healing mat then distressed the edges of the papers. I glued the papers on with Sizzix Express Glue, which is low in water content. 

Then I used Sizzix Express Glue to glue the MDF layers together. To add strings on this violin, I pulled apart the strands of the tan colored Yarn from Made of magic. I added a single strand of the yarn for a string, adding 4 strings. I added the pegs then wrapped the end of the string around it, glued and trimmed it.

Now that the violin is together, it's time to really decorate it! I layered paper flowers and ephemera from Prima's Made of Magic collection onto the violin using foam adhesive and hot glue. I also used my Sizzix Sidekick to die cut some autumn leaves from the Tag Pad and 6x8 Paper Pad to add into the mix. I used the Sizzix Shaping Kit to  shape and make the leaves more lifelike. 

Once the embellishment clusters were in place, I added the little MDF bow using hot glue after adding a tiny bit of gold to the end of it. I used this same gold paint pen to add touches of gold to the ephemera, leaves and the violin. 

Finally, I added a touch of sparkle with the gems from the collection and some Finnabair Glitter. I used a clear glue to add the glitter and the gems got a little dot of extra liquid adhesive as well since I live in a really dry environment. And that's it! This violin is ready for Death to come play so his skeletons can dance on All Hallow's Eve! Until next time, happy Spooky Season crafting!

Goth Adrienne 

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Below are products that I used for this project.