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Great decoration for Day of the Dead or Halloween!
I started with a plain, brown paper mache skull from Michael's, and turned it into an awesome little decoration!

Posted by LizzyLovesSatan from Portland, Oregon, United States • Published See LizzyLovesSatan's 9 projects »
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  • How to make a votive / candle holder. Day Of The Dead Calavera Skull Decoration - Step 1
    Step 1

    I started with a plain, brown paper mache skull and forgot to take pictures of the first steps.

    ~ Paint your skull (I used a pearly white paint, but you can use whatever color you prefer)

    ~With a pencil, gently draw your designs (I looked at a lot of pictures for reference to decide on what I wanted)

    ~With puffy fabric paint in a color that matches your skull, paint over your designs to make them raised

  • How to make a votive / candle holder. Day Of The Dead Calavera Skull Decoration - Step 2
    Step 2

    Don't forget the back of your skull!

  • How to make a votive / candle holder. Day Of The Dead Calavera Skull Decoration - Step 3
    Step 3

    Using glitter glue, or glitter mixed with mod podge (make sure you use a lot of glitter, as you want it to be very dense with sparkle and not leave any of your original fabric paint showing through), paint over your designs.

  • How to make a votive / candle holder. Day Of The Dead Calavera Skull Decoration - Step 4
    Step 4

    I used a glow in the dark glitter, black, and purple.

    This was more time consuming than it was difficult, since I needed to really get the glitter on thick, and of course avoid smudging other areas as I was working!

  • How to make a votive / candle holder. Day Of The Dead Calavera Skull Decoration - Step 5
    Step 5

    And done! What a beautiful skull!!

    I also decided to cut a small hole in the bottom of this skull so that I had room for an LED tea light candle. To disperse the light inside it, I stuffed a bit of black tulle inside the skull so that the candle didn't shine harshly through the eyes and nose!
    It looks lovely with that little LED candle going!

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