Halloween

A few years ago I participated in a thing called “Secret Reaper” through HalloweenForum.com. It’s like a secret Santa for Halloween enthusiasts, and it’s really fun! The person who was matched up to me had photos posted of things he would like to receive, and on his wish list was faux PVC candles and creepy haunted candles. Challenge accepted! Here’s how I made mine.

You will need:

Cardboard tube
Cardboard, Foam board, or Cardstock
X-acto Knife
Scissors
Glue Gun & Glue Sticks {lots and LOTS of glue sticks!}
Tape
Paper Clay or Paper Mâché
Spray Paint
Acrylic Paint
Sealant (Mod Podge or a sealant spray)
Paintbrush
LED tealights (I really like these if you want the color changing kind, or these if you want regular tealights)

Start by cutting out a face on the side of the cardboard tube. You can see I’ve crossed out one of my designs…small details to not work well with this project. =)
Measure the opening at the top of the tube and cut out a circular disc out of cardboard, foam board or cardstock. Tape or glue it a couple inches down inside the tube.
Use your paper mâché or paper clay mix to cover the entire tube and form a 3D face. This may take several days and multiple layers…you don’t want to put the mixture on too thick, and you want to give it plenty of time to dry in between layers.
Once the piece is entirely sculpted and dry, start dripping hot glue from the top. It takes awhile to build up the drippy look. I like to let the glue dry and do multiple layers to make it look old, and like it’s spilling over the top. Keep your tip of the glue gun close to the tube to prevent glue strings. (If you get a lot of glue strings you can help minimize some by blowing hot air on the tube with a hair dryer or heat gun.) BE VERY CAREFUL…I cannot tell you how many burns I get from the glue gun. I have finally learned to keep a bowl of water close by just in case.
When the drippy glue is how you want it to look then you can spray paint your new sculpture. I found that I prefer my faux candles to be black. It usually takes a couple coats, and you’ll want to turn the sculpture upside down to make sure you get all the crevices. I like the Krylon Dual Paint & Primer spray paints so you don’t have to prime first.
After your base coat is nice and dry, then you go back with acrylic paints to add some nice details. I like to use white or gray acrylic paints with a dry brush. Just lightly brush over different areas to add some texture and dimension.
When your piece is how you want it to look, then add some kind of sealant as a top coat and let it dry.
Add some LED tealights and you’ve got yourself a pretty awesome new decoration for Halloween (or anytime of the year if Halloween is everyday for you, too!) =)

I used a similar method to make these PVC faux candles, which you can read an overview of how to make that kind on my old blog.

I can appreciate some of the bloody and true Halloween horror decor, but I’m more of a fun, sparkly, colorful, goth glam girl myself. Especially with little kids at home.

Most who know me think I’m a HUGE Halloween freak (and I’m not denying this), but believe it or not, this is the first year I’ve really done much to decorate outside.

Here’s my front porch this year, with my finished Burtonesque Bench for my Jack Skellington.

It’s colorful and fun, and I like it. =) (Please excuse the dead mums. Despite my black thumb, I was convinced I’d have these lovely, colorful flowers this year. And I did, for like a week. I decided dead flowers still work with Halloween decor, right?!)

I was inspired to make the colorful pumpkin totem prop after seeing something similar online, so I thought I’d share how I made mine. I had several things on hand, which made this a relatively inexpensive project.

I used:

* Several plastic pumpkins (found at Walmart for $1 each)
* Plastic Cauldron (found at Home Depot for $6)
* Glue Gun & Hot Glue (Already had)
* E6000 Epoxy Glue (Had this on hand or you can order from Amazon $3)
* Halloween Lights ($1 clearance from last year or you can order from Amazon $9)
* Black Garbage Bag (had these already)
* Empty Boxes (from my recycle bin)
* Box Cutter (had this)
* Witch Hat (had this in the Halloween decor box)

First figure out what order you will stack your pumpkins. Then cut a hole in the BACK of the very bottom pumpkin, and cut holes in the very bottom of the remaining pumpkins. (I cut a hole in the bottom of the bottom pumpkin too, and later realize my mistake…the lights need to come out the back of that one so you can secure the bottom in the cauldron.)

String the lights from the bottom to the top…kind of like a pumpkin centipede! My string of lights has 100 bulbs so I just split them up and put about 20 lights in each pumpkin.

You absolutely need the two different types of glue because hot glue will NOT be strong enough to hold these together on its own, and especially not in cold weather. Not that I’d know from experience or anything. (Or maybe I do, just trust me!)

Once you’ve got your pumpkin centipede with the lights strung through all of them, then you start by applying a ring of the epoxy glue on the bottom of the second to last (in my case it was the orange pumpkin). Then apply a ring of hot glue around the same area, and quickly hold the two pumpkins together. Wait several minutes in between gluing each pumpkin section. The hot glue should dry quickly and secure it enough until the epoxy sets, but you should give it plenty of time to set up as well.

While the pumpkins are drying, find some boxes or other items that will fit inside your cauldron to give it some lightweight fill, and something that you can secure your pumpkins to when ready. I found some boxes and in my recycle bin, put them into the black garbage bag, and stuffed it all into the cauldron. I let my pumpkin totem dry for about 24 hours, then I used the same procedure with hot glue and epoxy glue to secure it to the boxes in the garbage bag. Then I let that dry for another 24 hours, tossed on a witches hat and plugged it in!

Truth be told I was really sad it wasn’t brighter in the dark. =( I wondered if it would’ve been better with just white Christmas lights, or maybe LED tealights, in which case I would have cut holes in the back of the pumpkins so I could easily put in the tealights and take them out. But, I think it’s pretty cute even without the lights (which would’ve saved me some time!)
What do you think?

How to Make a Creepy Haunted Candle

My Glowing Pumpkin Totem Prop for Under $20

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