Ghoulish votives

Hands-on time: 2 hours.
Total time: Add 48 hours for drying and 70 minutes for baking.
Skill: Easy and kid-friendly with adult supervision.
Cost estimate: Approximately $22.00 for six votives.

Materials & Tools

• 6 glass votives candle-holders (hanging types are available at fine gift stores, regular formats are available at dollar stores)
• Paper towels
• Rubbing alcohol
• An old baking rack
• Newspapers
• Paint glass in assorted Halloween colours: white, yellow, orange, & black (Pébéo Vitrea 160, with or without applicator and Pébéo Porcelaine 150, for white, needed for an opaque effect)
• Applicator bottles or long matchsticks without the ends
• Craft paintbrush (to paint the inside of the candle holders)
• Water jar (for cleaning your paintbrushes)
• Damp lint-free cloth
• 6 votive candles

Brew up ghoulish Halloween luminaries to create magical spooky nights. These haunting Halloween decorations are a real scream when hung from your spookiest tree or archway, or when placed on fences or front porches. You can even use them on steps to illuminate an eerie path.

Start with covering your work area with newspapers. Clean the candle holders with soapy water or rubbing alcohol and paper towels. Wipe dry. Use an old baking rack (preferably the kind with a grid pattern) to use as a stand while painting the holders, letting the paint drip onto the newsprint.

The glass paint will create a translucent effect on the inside of the holders. Paint the inside of three in yellow, and three in orange. Let dry for 24 hours. Place the in a cool oven and bake according to manufactures instructions. Remove the glass items from the oven only after they have completely cooled off.

Place the candle holders on the baking rack. Fill the applicator bottles with the desired paint colours, or use the paint formats that already have applicators. Allow one bottle per colour. Instead of using an applicator, you can substitute a long matchstick or a small paintbrush for an applicator.

Lightly squeeze the applicator bottle for the white paint along the outside rim of the holders, letting the paint drip down the sides. Repeat this step for each of the remaining colours - yellow, orange and finally black for the dramatic touch. Continue until the holders are covered in a striped pattern. Let the colors run into each other, but leave some unpainted areas so that the inside colour shows through.

Carefully wipe the inside drippings with a warm, damp cloth, or with rubbing alcohol and paper towels. Wipe the bottom off if you used a standard candle holder rather than a hanging one. Allow to dry for 24 hours and bake again. (I recommend baking the items in two steps so that the drips from the last step can be wiped off without removing any of the inside paint). Once the holders are cooled off, insert votive candles in each one.

Variations

• To achieve more of a dripping effect from the paint, Diluant from Pébéo can be added to dilute the colours.
• Practice dripping techniques on clear plastic cups. There are no mistakes with this project; anything you don't like can be wiped off with a warm cloth or rubbing alcohol.
• Children can have fun painting the holders to look like Jack-o'-lanterns, or with images of black cats or bats. Use toothpicks to make and mark web-like marks in the dripping paint.
• You can use the techniques from this project to paint a candy bowl, creepy party plates, or old wine glasses garnished with Halloween floating candles. Perfect for a Halloween party theme!