When it comes to Halloween decor, my preferred aesthetic is spooky-but-not-too-spooky. These dripping blood candle holders fit right in with that look! Making them is extremely easy because gravity does most of the work. They’re a great finishing detail for a Halloween mantel, centerpiece, or anywhere else you need a little touch of creepy!

Project estimate:

• Glass candle holders or jars, on hand or $1 and up
• Red glass paint, on hand or about $2 and up*
• Wax paper, on hand or $1 and up
• Red LED candles, $1

Total: $1 and up

* I used DecoArt’s Americana Gloss Enamels in transparent red for a fairly realistic blood look.

To make my candle holders I used these votive holders from Dollar Tree that look like mini fish bowls. But you can do this project will all kinds of different glass candle holders, even small jars out of your recycling bin!

Lay out some newspaper and top with a piece of wax paper – this is gonna get messy!

Flip your containers upside-down on the wax paper and then pour some glass paint over them.  I used a paintbrush to push the paint around and make it drip where I wanted. Then just let them sit still to drip and dry.

When the paint is completely dry, carefully peel away the wax paper. If needed, use a craft knife to remove any excess paint from around the top of the candle holder, giving it a more finished look.

Read the instructions on your glass paint – some paints (especially multi-surface paints) will cure as they air dry, while other paints (especially glass-specific paints) will have directions for curing in the oven.

Then pop in a candle and enjoy! I found some red battery-powered votive candles, also from Dollar Tree, that I thought would be a great compliment to the dripping blood look.

The post Tutorial: Blood Drip Candle Holders appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Have you started thinking about Halloween decor yet?  Only 7 weeks left until the end of October, and if you are a DIYer you know that it’ll sneak up on you way too fast if you don’t get a head start on your projects!  At See Vanessa Craft, Kiki from Kiki and Company shared how she made this spooky eyeball wreath using a free printable that she designed.  Head over there for the complete instructions, and to download the free eyeball printable to use for this project or elsewhere in your Halloween decorating!  [how to make an eyeball Halloween wreath]

Project estimate:

• Wreath form, on hand or $1 and up
• Paper, on hand
• Eyeball printables, free
• Hot glue, on hand

Total: Free and up!

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I have to give my five year old credit for this discovery.  One day, she and her cousin went to town with temporary tattoos, applying them to plastic toys, clothing, shoes, etc.  I was surprised to see how well the tattoos adhered to plastic and fabric, and it made me want to try it for myself.  So I did, and I love the possibilities!

 

The post Tutorial: Halloween Decor using Temporary Tattoos appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Do you ever feel like someone’s watching you?  What if you were to turn around and actually see a face in an unexpected place?  That uneasy feeling is what sparked this idea.  You don’t expect a tree to have eyes, or even a face, for that matter!  Here’s an inexpensive, quick project you can make to give your front yard some life.

Project estimate:

• Door Knocker, $1
• Paint, on hand
• Crackle Paint, on hand or $2 and up
• Clear spray (optional), on hand

Total:  $1 and up

Step one:  Remove the loop from the knocker.  Paint the face (found at Dollar Tree) with a base color.  Let it dry.

Step two:  Apply crackle paint over the entire face.  I used Tim Holtz’s Crackle Paint in Tea Dye, but you can make your own crackle paint.  DSC has a great tutorial here.

Step three (optional):  Use a clear spray to seal the paint.  You could also paint over it with glue or outdoor Mod Podge.

Simply hammer a nail into a tree to hang your creation up.  Part of what’s so funny about this decoration to me is that people don’t always notice it immediately, so when they do finally see it they are startled.  I’m heading back to Dollar Tree to buy several more faces.  I want to make the walk to my front door as eerie as possible for trick or treaters!

The post Tutorial: Face in the Trees for Halloween appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Halloween isn’t the only holiday that has made its way onto store shelves; Christmas merchandise is starting to appear as well!  Have you ever considered using Christmas decorations to create projects for other holidays?  Over at The 36th Avenue, Desiree had a great holiday decor crossover idea; she used the little Christmas village figurines to make a spooky Halloween scene instead.  This project has got me thinking…  What other Christmas items would make good supplies for Halloween crafting?  [how to make a spooky Halloween village]

Project estimate:

• Christmas village buildings, $1 each
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Craft paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  $1 and up

The post Make a Haunted Halloween Village appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Have you started decorating for Halloween yet?  It’s one of my favorite holidays, and I pull out all of the stops – I decorate more for Halloween than I do for Christmas!  I enjoy the creepy, macabre aesthetic of many Halloween decorations, filling my home with a collection of strange curiosities.  This altered book art by Marilyn at Seeing Things That Aren’t Really There would fit right in with the rest of my spooky decor!  Giving new life to a ratty, falling-apart book, she used inexpensive embellishments to turn it into a creepy relic that would look fabulous as part of a mantle display or centerpiece arrangement.  [how to make easy Halloween altered book art]

Project estimate:

• Old book, on hand or $1
• Picture frame, $1 and up
• Skeleton hands, $1 and up
• Cardboard, on hand
• Printable graphics, free
• Paint, on hand
• Hot glue, on hand

Total:  $2 and up

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Are you having a Halloween party this weekend?  You’ll be needing some spooky refreshments!  Crissy from Crissy’s   Crafts has an idea that’s as disturbing as it is delicious: bloody Halloween Jello treats!  They look like bloody drinks, each containing a creepy surprise.  I love how she used plastic skull rings as wine glass charms, instantly transforming the glasses from plain to festive.  The finished treats look fabulous, and they take hardly any time to put together!  [how to make bloody Halloween Jello treats]

Project estimate:

• Red Jello, on hand or about $0.50 and up
• Stemware, on hand or $1 and up
• Plastic roaches, $1
• Skull rings, $1

Total:  $2 and up

The post Make Bloody Halloween Jello Treats appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

On a recent trip to Dollar Tree I found a roll of black shelf liner.  I knew there had to be something I could do with it in my Halloween crafting, so I grabbed it.  It wasn’t until weeks later that I came up with an idea:  bat wall stickers!  The key to this project is using repositionable spray adhesive.  Unlike permanent spray adhesive, the repositionable kind is  more like the glue on a Post-It note.   You can use it on your walls without damaging the paint!

Project estimate:

• Shelf liner, $1
• Bat template, free
• Craft knife or utility knife, on hand
• Repositionable spray adhesive, on hand or about $5 and up

Total:  $1 and up

I found a bat shape to use as a template by doing a Google image search for “bat shape outline,” which I printed to the size I wanted and cut out.

Lay the template on the shelf liner.  Using a sharp craft knife or utility knife, cut around the edges of the template.

Repeat until you have the desired number of bat shapes.  (You can get a whole bunch of them out of a single roll of shelf liner!)

Working on top of some newspaper to protect your work surface, spray the bats with repositionable adhesive.  Wait about a minute, then apply them to the wall.  When the season is over, they should peel right off without any harm!

The post Make Bat Wall Stickers appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

My Halloween aesthetic isn’t for everyone.  I like things that are scary and strange, things that a lot of “normal” folks might not appreciate.  I have a feeling that my adoration for this junk-o-lantern from Small Hands Big Art might fall into that love-it-or-loathe-it category.  It kind of reminds me of the styling of the robots in the movie “Robots.”  This is a great way to use up some of those random odds and ends that you’ve been saving because you knew that someday they would come in handy.  Connoisseurs of the junk drawer, someday has arrived!  [how to make a junk-o-lantern]

Project estimate:

• Pumpkin, on hand or about $3 and up
• Random junk, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  Free and up

Looking for more pumpkin crafts?

The post Make a Junk-O-Lantern appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

As part of a challenge to create Halloween crafts for free, Delia from Delia Creates went on a twig-collecting mission.  After rounding up a few supplies she had tucked away in her stash, she came up with a simple, spooky wreath design.  The bright orange spider ring is a perfect touch!   (I think I also have some purple spider rings left over from last year laying around somewhere.  Hmmm…  That makes me want to go twig hunting myself!)  [how to make a Halloween twig wreath]

Project estimate:

• Cardboard, on hand
• Twigs, on hand
• Hot glue, on hand
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Spider ring, on hand or $1
• Ribbon, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up

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