DIY: BOO! Halloween Doorbell Cover

My husband had the charming idea to create a cover for the doorbell, since it gets most of its use on Halloween!  All it took was cardboard, glue, and fabric, and I added a little embroidery for fun.

Get the how-to after the jump...

1. Gather your supplies.  A fat quarter would work well.  I love chevron patters more then anything, a whole bundle from this amazing Paula Prass Summer Soiree line is available here.

2. I embroidered the word "boo".  I haven't embroidered anything for at least twenty years but I think it looks pretty cute, if not technically perfect, so I say just go for it:

3. Cut a square of cardboard about 1/2" bigger then you want your doorbell cover to be (I used more of the Mozza pizza box from the DIY cake stand).  You may want to just measure your doorbell's distance from the wall first, then cut a square out of each corner to create flaps that will be the sides of your cover.  Score the sides (cut the inside of the flap with a knife but don't cut all the way through, and bend them in:

4. Cut a hole for your doorbell.  Check that it fits around the doorbell.  Make it a tiny bit bigger to leave room for your fabric as you'll see in later steps:

5. Use a hot glue gun to glue the corner together, and put a little bit in the creases as well just to hold it all in place:

6. Hot glue your fabric, starting with one side, then the opposite side, making sure to pull it flat:

Cut the corners to reduce bulk:

Then do the same to the opposite sides:

7. Now poke a hole in the fabric in the center of your doorbell hole, and use scissors to make tiny scores in it:

Put a ring of hot glue around the inside of the circle on the back of your cover and push the fabric through.  Use a pencil or something so you don't burn your fingers.  Add some extra glue to hold these fabric bits in place:

8. You're done!  Now just go hang it around your doorknob with a nail or some putty.

Also, instead of a cardboard frame, you could use an embroidery hoop to hang it, maybe painted black or silver; in that case you could actually embroider your doorbell hole.

BOO!