Too early for Halloween stuff? No way, right?! It’s kinda funny that I complain about stores putting out their Christmas stuff too early and yet, would have no problem if the same stores put out Halloween supplies out in the middle of Summer. Hell, put them out in May and I might just be able to complete 10% of all the Halloween crafts on my Pinterest list!
So, I was walking through Dollar Tree a few weeks ago and I came upon an entire army of miniature complete skeletons. Of course, I had to buy a couple of them…ok, five of them. I wasn’t too sure what I was going to do with them but at a dollar a piece, I could afford to be a little spontaneous. It wasn’t until I was browsing Pinterest and saw a great tutorial for another Halloween wreath on Ready, Set, Craft! that I knew my little skeletons were destined to be hung on my door. So here it is, my Skeleton Wreath made from small dollar store skeletons:
Skeleton Wreath
Materials:
- 5 miniature skeletons
- 4 ft of pipe insulation (or a craft store wreath if you’re fancy)
- duct tape
- glue/glue gun
- metallic spray paint (silver/black)
Instructions:
1. Wrap pipe insulation into a wreath shape and connect with ample amount of duct tape.
2. Disassemble skeleton parts and sort into categories. (Note to toddler parents: allowing your toddler to do this step will give you at least 3.5 minutes of free time…go use the bathroom or maybe grab a bite to eat. You can thank me later.)
3. Loosely plan out where the skeleton parts will go. You’re looking to have them evenly spread out and covering as much of the insulation tubing as possible.
4. Start gluing parts onto wreath…carefully! I burned the crap out of one of my fingertips while talking to my sister on the phone. Bad thing: I no longer have a fingerprint on my middle finger on my left hand. Good thing: Won’t have to worry about leaving fingerprints at my next crime scene from my middle finger on my left hand.
5. Working through one category of bones at a time, gradually glue all the skeleton pieces into place. You might have to hold some of the bones in place while the glue hardens.
6. Watch your ridiculously cute toddler feed asparagus to Lamb Chops while all the glue sets completely. Intervene just in time to prevent your “ridiculously cute” toddler from sticking asparagus up his nose.
7. You can, of course, leave your skeleton wreath just like this if you so desire. My high quality, dollar store skeletons’ paint job left much to be desired so I decided to make it metallic. Started with an even coat of Champagne Silver.
8. After the silver paint had dried completely, I lightly sprayed the black in quick spurts over the silver. The black metallic paint really adds a nice subtle difference, I think.
9. Thread some wire through the bones and around the insulation pipe at the top of your wreath. Affix to your front door and start counting down the days until Halloween! (39)
triedandtrueblog
Awesomely spooky! Love it, and the ridiculously cute toddler too!
Hah, thanks!
I love this idea. Thanks for your great photos each step of the way!!
I LOVE this! I made a ‘dead fairy’ Halloween wreath a few years ago by gluing black feathers to dollar store skeletons then affixing those to a grape vine wreath I bought for cheap at Micheal’s. I’m thinking I’m gonna be making one of these this year! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Those dead fairies sound wonderfully creepy! :D
I love this idea. Where did you find your skeletons. They are awesome. Oh and I’m with ya about Halloween decorations. It’s never too early for me either.
Glad you liked it! I found my skeletons at a Dollar Tree. They weren’t as realistic as some of the other skeletons you can find but they were the right price!
This is one of the coolest Halloween wreaths ever. EVER!
I am linking today!
I love this one even tho i do NOT like skeleton stuff!
Hi I love how this came out. I found you through Pam’s blog Gingerbread Snowflakes and you couldn’t believe my surprise when I found a link to my skeleton wreath that appeared on both my blog(s) and as a guest post on Ready, Set, Craft.
I love the mini skeletons and the silver finish!
Hah, don’t you love it when that happens? Like when you’re just browsing Pinterest and then all of a sudden one of your tutorials is on the page. Thanks for the great inspiration! :)
Ok, this is brilliant…. I love the cost of it and it looks amazing. I have double front doors so if I put wreaths on both they tend to look like glasses from the sidewalk. I’m trying to figure out how I can use your idea to make two swags. Once again…brilliant!
I love your wreath! I just bought some skeletons to be creative with. Also I love your baby’s lamb chop! Do you know where it is from?
I’m glad you liked it! Lamb chop was a gift from my sister but I’ve seen some similar puppets online.
great idea Love it!!!
This. Is. Genius.
I am smacking myself for not thinking of it first. It’s so weird and beautiful. My fav combo!
Thanks! Definitely not for everyone but fun and easy if this is your kind of thing.
Yup. I copied you. It’s like your wreath’s golden sister! http://www.auntpeaches.com/2012/10/dollar-store-skeleton-wreath.html
I will treasure it for years to come :) Thanks for sharing!
You really do have a ridiculously cute toddler!!
Thanks, although he’s a little bit older and a whole lot stinkier! :D
This looks great! So fun!
I stopped at Dollar tree the day I saw this – I had someone ask me to make some Halloween wreaths and this was perfect! Thanks!