Halloween Crafts: Scary Good DIY Boo Jars

Instead of tricks this Halloween, give the ones you love (or even a neighbor or teacher!) a treat with these adorable candy jars. This easy craft is cute and delivers goodies to friends and family in a unique way that is sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Pass these out as favors at a Halloween party, use them to serve snacks in or put a flame-less candle inside and watch them come to life. They are simply a fun DIY project that will add a little bit of character to your October. If your kids are older (than my pre-schooler) then get them involved and let everyone make their own jar. Check out the steps below.

You will need:

• Mason jars – Get the number you intend to make. I found mine without the normal writing on them at a local craft store.
• Chalk paint. You can buy this in a small container at the craft store or make your own with the tutorial here.
• Acrylic paint in the color of your choice or character
• Sponge brushes. I used these because they were cheap.
• Googly eyes
• Sticker-backed vinyl or foam.
• Glue gun
• Stapler
• Black tissue paper.
• Embellishments – the witch’s hat, the sparkly spiders, etc.
• Candy and/or flame-less candles

Steps:

1. Mix your acrylic paint and chalk paint according to the instructions on the chalk paint bottle. Then add a little more acrylic paint. The base of the chalk paint is white and I found that adding more acrylic paint made the color more vibrant and helped the paint to go on more evenly.

2. Paint your jars in the color of your character. I ended up having to paint the witch and my Frankenstein monster about three times. The same with the pumpkin. I was able to use two coats on the spider jar. The ghost took the most coats with four. Let the jars completely dry between coats and that will help. If you apply too soon you will end up taking paint off the jar.

3. Cut out your noses, mouths, eyebrows and anything else from the sticker-backed foam.

4. Once dry, use the hot glue gun to glue eyes on all your jars. Add your foam features. Feel free to also use the glue on those. I found that the foam would start to pull away from the jar and using the glue gun gave it a stronger hold.

Optional Step: If you are going to create the spiderweb jar, use the glue gun to draw the web circle with the glue. Then connect the circles with strands to complete the web. Secure your spider with the glue gun. You can also use those plastic ring spiders for this if you cut off the ring part.

Optional Step: If you are going to create the witch jar, use one sheet of black tissue paper for the hair and fold it length-wise about six times or until it is am appropriate length for your jar. Staple one side to secure the folds. I let the ends flip up as they wanted too because I thought it made for cuter “hair.” Cut the tissue paper in thirds and use the glue gun to secure the hair in sections. Do the sides first so you can fit the “hair” correctly at the top of the jar. Secure the back piece last. Finally, use the glue gun to secure the hat to the top of the lid.

Optional Step: If you’re going to make the Frankenstein Monster, create his hair by cutting a 6×6 square out of black tissue paper. Mason jar lids come in two parts – the lid and the piece that screws on over the lid and the jar. Wrap the tissue paper around the lid part and then pull it through the part that screws everything onto the jar.

That’s it! Obviously the ghost and pumpkin took the least amount of time since all I had to do was paint them and glue on their features, but the witch, Frankenstein and the spider web might be my favorite ones. And none of these were hard.

Good luck, friends! Let me know how it goes. I would love to see what you create.

For more craft and DIY ideas, click here.