I'm not shy about my general dislike for most mass produced Halloween props. Too much of what is out there is poor quality and overpriced. Part of my Halloween mission is to lure people away from these options and into the world of creating your own which I guarantee will wind up both way cheaper and way cooler. Sometimes I have a clear idea what I want to build when I'm scouring through thrift stores but it's far more likely that I'm going in blind, just looking for cool things that speak to me.
You may remember the metal sconce I picked up at a thrift store for $5 2 years ago seen in my Thrifty Thrills post. Still looking for large open spaces to figure out how to use the $3 boomerang I also found that day. Anyone with boomerang throwing knowledge, please reach out.
I knew at the time I'd work this into some sort of skull candle thing but with the move I didn't have a chance to get to it. Until now. Super easy and total cost is under $20 (not including the candles.) I see metal sconces at thrift stores all the time so that shouldn't be too hard to come by. Home Good or other off-price stores would be another place to look but may not be as inexpensive as a thrift store.
I glued 2 foam skulls from my skull stash (they're always significantly marked down end-of-season) to the spiked candle bases. I cut the bottom off 2 water bottles for "candle holders" which I had done before for the Gothic Window and glued them to the tops of the skulls. They help hold the foam back and create the perfect sized cup for the candle to sit in.
For the Spray Foam I use Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks. It doesn't expand as big as other formulas and if you can find the Natural Color it'll help down the line when painting. Trick to this part is a little goes a long way. You might want to practice on a piece of cardboard to get a feel for how little you have to squeeze and how much comes out. You can build it up so start small. I fill the space around the water bottle base first and work my way around, allowing the foam to drip down the sides & filling in gaps.
After the foam dries I added the classic glue gun glue drips as I think this makes the foam look less like a a whipped convection and more like wax. Anywhere the foam is a little too smooth and perfect I add drips and I extend foam drips with a little glue.
Once dried, it's time to paint it all an off white color like the candles. I use DecoArt Patio Paint and cover all the white and glue. Here's some side by side's of the two skulls, one already painted the other still exposed foam and glue. You can see the water bottle bases as well.
Ack! The jar! Almost forgot about that. I didn't like the gap left at the back of the skulls so I glued a Witch's Jar from my stash to the sconce. I love when hoarding pays off.
When the paint was all dry I thought it looked a little flat so I used some leftover brown wood stain and dabbed it into some holes and cracks as well as dry brushing areas. It added the depth and aging I was hoping for and again, used something I already had laying around and needed to use up. Check it out:
- Sconce = $5
- 2x Skulls = $2
- Spray Foam = $2.88
- Paint = $2.29
