Halloween Candle Holder Craft

Author:
Loraine Brummer
Updated:
Oct 5, 2022

You can transform a book into a spooky 3D holiday scene by following the guide below!

Halloween Craft Using a Hard Cover Book

Imagine this: It was a dark and stormy night . . . That sounds like the opening of a Halloween book. I love to read, but I have to admit that there aren't many books that I care to read over and over. So, when I made this Halloween book decoration, I didn't feel bad about using an old book.

In this article, I'm going to tell you how to make an easy Halloween decoration using an old hardcover book. This is a very easy craft, one that you can make in a couple of hours. But you do have to let the paint or glue dry, which takes time. I'm including pictures of steps that I think you might like a visual of. Some of the steps are so easy that I just explain them. I hope you'll try this craft. I think you'll enjoy it.

Supplies:

Small glass jar. Mine measured 3” x 3” diameter
Paint: black, orange, dark blue, yellow
White glue
Paintbrush
Iridescent glitter
No-flame candle
Hardcover book
Utility knife
3” round flower pot or glass to use for circle guide
Two 9” pieces of 1/8” narrow ribbon, black
White glue
Glue gun
Black silk rose petal
Black sequins
6” skeleton

Preparing the Pumpkin

With a black marker, draw the eyes, nose, and grin on the glass jar.
With black paint, paint the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Let dry.
Reapply black paint.
Let it dry.
Mix orange craft paint and white glue.
Using a round artist's brush, carefully paint around the facial features, then, using a large brush, paint the rest of the jar.
While the paint is still wet, sprinkle with iridescent glitter.
Let it dry.

Preparing the Book

I used an old Reader’s Digest Condensed Book for this project. Cut the first few pages along the cover.

Lay your circle guide on the pages, about 1" x 1" from the front and side of the page.

Using the utility knife, cut around the guide a few times, then remove those cut circles and continue cutting until you have some depth. Paint one of the cut-out circles yellow and let it dry.

This is the well.

Scroll to Continue

i-am-such-a-sucker-for-the-timeless-christmas-classics

review-of-the-qqh-z80a-156-dual-portable-monitor

Fold a cut-out circle into four as shown, then fold it, glue the center, then glue the folded end inside and to the bottom of the well. Continue making these folded circles and gluing them inside.

With the dark blue paint, paint the inside cover and any showing cover of the book. Mix a little water with white glue and paint the edges of the book. Place weight on the pages and let the glue dry.

Halloween is Real!

With the glue gun, attach the ribbon to the top back of the open book cover, then down to the bottom of the open book. The cover should be slightly tilted back so it stays open. Cut three bat shapes out of the black rose petal. I use the rose petal because it is stiff enough to hold a shape. Glue the bats to the yellow painted circle. Glue a black sequin body to the front of the bat wings. Draw in a couple of extra, very small, bat shapes inside the moon. Let it dry. Drape the skeleton over the left-hand corner of the top book cover. Glue the moon to the top right-hand side of the cover, with the top and side of the moon over the edge of the cover. Place the battery-operated candle inside the pumpkin and place the pumpkin into the book well.

Finished!