Haunting rocks

Hands-on time: 2 hours (depending on how many rocks you want to paint)
Total time: Add 48 hours for the paint to air dry, and add 3 hours of drying time for the varnish.
Skill: Super easy, and kid-friendly.
Cost estimate: Less than a dollar per rock.

Materials & Tools

• Rocks in various shapes and sizes (from your backyard, a nature walk, or available at garden centers)
• Ceramic paints by Pébéo in assorted Halloween colours
• Craft paintbrushes in assorted sizes
• Pencil and Halloween motifs or stencils
• Carbon paper
• Exterior varnish (spray or brush-on)

Line a pathway to your front door with decorative Halloween painted hobgoblin rocks. Your children will have ghoulish fun while anticipating the big day creating such creatures as bats, cats, ghosts, skeletons, jack-o'-lanterns, spiders or witches. Go batty with this painless project because there are no tricks, it's just a real treat to make. All you will need are assorted rocks, acrylic paints and a zany imagination.

Make sure your rocks are clean. Wash them if needed and let dry. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Ceramic craft paint as a base coat, on each rock. Use black, white, or grey depending on the design you are painting on the rock. Make sure they are dry to the touch between each coat.

Once the base coat is dry, draw assorted Halloween designs or text on the rocks with a pencil, or trace designs on the rocks using carbon paper. Paint on the fine details using fine-point paintbrushes and Ceramic craft paints in assorted Halloween colors. Once completed, let the rocks air dry for 48 hours.

Once dry, apply at least 2 topcoats of exterior varnish (let dry between each coat). You are now ready to decorate and irk your Halloween décor in a rocking way.

Tips

• To produce nifty special effects on your rock creations, try using acrylic dimensional paints like Touch paints (also by Pébéo) for a 3D effect. Rubber stamps with Halloween designs can also be used to simplify the project even more for younger kids.

Variations

• Decorative Halloween rocks can also be used to spookily decorate a candy bowl, place around a punch bowl at a party, and along stairs indoors or outdoors. If you're having a dinner party, paint (or write using a gold or silver pen or marker) your guest names on each rock and use as name place settings. To add extra spook, adorn your rock montage with creepy bugs, spider webs, leaves and even slime. Place painted rocks in a black tray around creepy candles for an eerie centerpiece.