DIY Candlelit Skull Hanging Chandelier, Halloween Prop : 8 Steps

In this instructable I will teach you how to build your own creepy Halloween chandeliers at very low cost by utilizing materials lying around your house and dollar store decorations / materials.

Step 1: Gather Materials

Materials needed:

4 $1 Dollar store Halloween skulls

2 plant hangers (hanging pots)

6" black plastic chain

4 led tea lights

1 can black spray paint/primer

1 hot glue gun

epoxy

1 can turpentine

1 can black rubberized undercoating

1 utility knife or exacto

Step 2: Preparing the Dollar Store Skulls

The skulls we start out with are dollar store Halloween decorations. They look fake and cheap, but that's easy to fix!

Step 1:
First take your exacto or utility knife and cut out the black plastic in the mouth. See images 2 and 3

Step 2:
stepNext spray or brush the rubberized undercoating onto the skulls as seen in pictures 4 and 5.

Step 3:
Once this is done put chemical reisitant gloves on. Pour a little turpentine on a towel (not your nice ones) and gently rub the skull. This melts/thins the rubber evenly coating the skull.

Step 4:

Important note, this must be done before the skulls dry. If they've dried simply reapply a small amount of turpentine. More rubber can be applied at this time as well if the turpentine has removed too much while reapplying.

At this point take a clean rag and gently rub the skull. This will remove more rubber from the most elevated surfaces like the cheekbones and eye sockets and less from those which are recessed. Feel free to repeat the process until your happy with the results.

Your skulls should look something along the lines of image 6 at this point.

Step 4:
Next take your exacto or utility knife and carefully cut round hole in the lower jaw large enough to press an led candle through. Be careful not to cut the hole too large.

Step 3: Creating the Body of the Chandelier

Step 1:
To create the main body of the chandelier I repurposed two hanging planters that I found in the back yard.

Look for planters constructed from metal/wire/etc as these will emphasize and or enhance the midevil aesthetics

Step 2:
Mix and match your materials, experiment with placement/arrangement. Your materials will vary so don't worry about copying mine exactly, be creative. I used hot glue to secure the pieces temporary in place. Once i was happy with the alignment I epoxied them together.

Feel free to use any materials you have on hand. I happened to use plant hangers since they were a suitable shape and free. In my opinion they give a midevil look and feel to the chandelier.

Step 3:
Once the glue is dry spray the whole thing black.

Step 4: Attach Skulls to the Chandelier Body

To attach the skulls we made earlier I bent the legs of legs on one hanging planter into u shapes, making 4 equally spaced cradles in the process.

I then placed a skull in each and applied a small amount of epoxy to secure the skulls.

Any number of materials / methods can be used to attach the skulls. Do what works best for you.

Step 5: Add Chain

Step 1:
Take the 6 feet of plastic chain and cut it into three 2 feet segments.

Step 2:
Cut the link on one end of each chain and clip them to the body. Luckily the planters provided me with 3 equally spaced anchor points. If your not as lucky, space them as evenly as possible or the chandelier will not hang level.

Step 6: Miscellaneous Ornamentation

Use any materials at your disposal to add some ornamentation.

I found a hanging wall sconce / candle holder at the local thrift store I thought looked cool and added it to the base of the chandelier. As a matter of convenience I attached it's chains to the main body with black zip ties.