10.09.2009

Dollar Tree Decorated Skull Lights Tutorial

I made these super fun decorated skull lights using supplies from the Dollar Tree, so for about $8.00 I have a set of one of a kind skull lights.skull lights 5

I was excited to find these skull lights at the Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, a dollar!

skull lights 1They are battery powered and have flashing red and yellow LED lights inside them, I should have bought a dozen!!!  They also had purple and orange, I’m sure those would work too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Skull lights from the Dollar Tree

white spray paint

black acrylic craft paint and fine brush

sharpie markers, fine tip and regular

acrylic sealer (optional)

Start by spraying your skulls white, these were kind of transparent and they looked cheap, adding the with paint made them look nicer and allowed the lights to still be seen flashing.

skull lights 2I then re-colored the eye sockets, nasal cavity, and mouth using the black acrylic paint and fine brush.  It took about three coats to get a nice flat black finish.

Next I used the fine tipped sharpie marker to draw designs onto the skulls.  It was a little tricky, these skulls are very angular and there is not a lot of flat surface for elaborate designs, so keep it simple and use geometric shapes.  After I had the outline drawn I went back with the regular tipped sharpie and filled in some of the areas.  The good news is if you mess up or don’t like the design you can always repaint it white!skull lights 3

Once you have finished your designs you can seal the skulls with a light spray of acrylic sealant, I did not, but I don’t expect these to get a lot of wear or to be handled a lot.  As you can see, you can get a variety of different looks, my favorite is the one on the far right.

This project was inspired by this project from the Crafty Chica.  Sadly I have not been able to find them in the last couple of years.  This year target did have some similar ones, but they were to cartoonish and silly for my tastes.

11 comments:

Margot Potter said...

You did a great job with these! Love it!

Cheers,
Madge

Anonymous said...

These are awesome.
xo silvia

Candace Jedrowicz said...

What a great idea! They look fabulous!

Inspired at Home said...

Love it!

Tiffany

Kat, The Fearless Crafter said...

These look great! I actually had one of those skulls in my hand last week, but put it back. I hope they still have some left now!

That Crazy Ajumma said...

I love craft projects from the Dollar Store!
This is great!
Thanks for sharing.

Shannon said...

This is such a good idea! I see little lights like these and never think to personalize them like this. I love how they turned out!

Pattie Wilkinson said...

How fun! They remind me of the WWF wrestler masks...

Melissa J. Lee said...

The personalization makes all the difference - I love them!

Gloria said...

Wow, thanks for the idea and great tutorial -- I could picture the designs even drawn with colored sharpies too! My favorite is the one with the stars and I love the bordering triangles you drew around its eye sockets...very cool!

theneon said...

You are so clever! I found you via Kathy -- now I'll be watching what you do too. I love taking Dollar Tree stuff and creating and you've done a marvelous job with these.