How to Make Spooky-Easy Halloween Candle Holders

Halloween season means scary movies, trick-or-treating and spooky decorations. Beyond a pack of faux spider webs and few carved pumpkins, Halloween decorations to can get expensive, especially since they’re only up for a few weeks out of the year. DIY-ing a few frightening decorations is an easy way to save some money and add a unique touch when turning your home into a bona fide haunted house. These dripping wax candle holders do just that by creating a spooky atmosphere while putting leftover wine bottle to work. If drinking wine isn’t really your thing, check out these recipes that will help empty a bottle or two. Keep reading for the step-by-step instructions on how to make this easy decoration.

Here are even more DIY decorations that you can throw together in 30 minutes or less.

What you’ll need:

Empty clear wine bottle (Order a case here.)
Black, red and gray acrylic paint for glass
Straw
Knife
Taper candle (make sure it isn’t a dripless candle)

Step 1: Prep the bottle

Thoroughly wash the inside and outside of the wine bottle. If the bottle’s label isn’t peeling off, let the bottle first soak in a sink full of warm water, a cup of white vinegar, ¼ cup of baking powder and a tablespoon of dish soap for about 30 minutes or so. The label should then come off cleanly, just rinse and let dry completely.

Step 2: Start Dripping

Alternating colors, squeeze paint down the inside neck of the bottle. To get the paint farther down and create some texture, insert a straw into the bottle and gently blow the paint down, or carefully shake the bottle. When you’ve achieved your desired coverage and texture, allow the paint to dry completely.

Tip: You can use any color of paint you’d like. If you’re throwing a witch themed party, consider using purple, black and green. Or have your bottle resemble candy corn with an orange, yellow and white paint scheme.

Step 3: Prep the candle

Carefully, trim the last inch and a half of the candle so that it will tightly fit in the wine bottle’s opening. Be sure to keep the candle on your work surface as you cut away from your body.

Step 4: Get melting

When the bottle is completely dry, insert the trimmed candle into the opening, light it and allow the wax to drip down the sides. If you’d like to speed the dripping process up, or want a lot of wax on your bottle, hold another lit candle to the side of the bottle, letting the excess wax drip down the candle and bottle.

Use this candle holder and a few of these no-carve pumpkin ideas to decorate your house this Halloween season.

Serve Some of These Frighteningly Good Recipes at Your Next Halloween Party

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Taste of Home

Skull Deviled Eggs

Thrill partygoers with these bone-chilling deviled eggs. The mayonnaise-filled bites are one of my favorite apps, so I had fun creating a Halloween version. —Nick Iverson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

What you’ll need:

Step 1: Prep the bottle

Step 2: Start Dripping

Step 3: Prep the candle

Step 4: Get melting

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