DIY - Halloween Stacked Skull Candle Holder
Hey there!
Let's be honest. It's the middle of October. Most things that I've been eyeing and coveting are on sale for either 40%, 50% or 60% off. At this point, almost nothing is unattainable!
Ok, slight exaggeration but you know what I mean. At this point of the most frightful season of the year, you can finish off your decor in style. In a few more weeks, it will be time to pick up items for next year. So, when I saw the original stacked skull candle holder in Jo-ann's Fabric and Craft Store for a fraction of the retail price, I almost put down my idea of a DIY stacked skull candle holder. But, I hadn't spent a lot of money on the materials and wouldn't my item be waaaay better than anything that could be purchased in some store? Of course it would!
I found some hollow, plastic skeleton skulls at Walmart for $1.47 a piece. I thought about buying three but the idea of putting a candle on top of 3 skulls that I DIYed sounded scary. So I decided on just 2. I also picked up 2 clay trays from the garden center for $.77 each and 2, 2 oz bottles of paint for $.50. We are already in business!
(Don't laugh at my drop cloth! It was free!)
The steps are super simple. I could have spray painted the skulls and the clay trays but I live in an apartment and the nice apartment people frown upon spray painting inside your house. Yeah, I've done it before anyway, but the poor ventilation has caused me to never do it again. I opted for paint because it's cheap, easy and it dries fast. This project dried overnight with no problems.
The other sit and wait part is gluing the skulls to the clay trays. One skull is glued on top of a clay tray and the other clay tray is glued on top of a skull. I saw that other people were using hot glue guns but this just didn't feel sturdy enough for me. My "hot glue" of choice? E6000. This stuff bonds everything. If it can't hold this thing together, can anything?
A few things that I should have figured out before beginning this project. I should have thought about my clamp system. The first portion of gluing (one skull is glued on top of a clay tray and the other clay tray is glued on top of a skull) was fine. Once I glued the two clay tray/skull portions together, I had to yell for the kid to bring my all of the glass vases in my house. Yeah, I know.
But, I let them sit overnight and whammo blammo, I had a stacked skull candle holder that looked pretty good. I painted the eye sockets red and add red rhinestones and I sat back pleased with my work.
I have to admit that $5.48 is pretty good for this project. It was fun to do and I'll always be able to say, "Look at what I made!". Now, I won't put a heavy candle on top of it -- I don't trust it that much. But I'll probably get a plastic flameless tea light candle from the dollar store and call it a day.
What do you think? Interested in trying this one out? Let me know by tagging my on Instagram and letting me know!
