Large Hanging Halloween Floral Skull DIY

We loved our Skeleton Coffin so much from last year that we decided to use him as our muse to create another spooky and whimsical skull decoration!

What You’ll Need:

Styrofoam
Wood Burner with a Hot Knife Point
220 Grit Sandpaper
Black & Gray Acrylic Paint
White Sheer Fabric
Decoupage Medium
Spanish Moss
Variety of Faux Flowers & Branches
Glue Gun
LED Battery Operated Candles
Heavy Duty Tape
Black Fabric
Small Piece of Twine
Small Pieces of Felt

How To:

1. Prep styrofoam and draw a large skull

Hot glue small recycled pieces of styrofoam together to create two large pieces. Freehand draw a large skull on one of the large pieces of styrofoam. Tip: Use clipart as a reference or print out large clip art to trace.

2. Cut out skull

Working in a well ventilated area wearing a mask, use a wood burning tool with a hot knife point to cut out the outline of the skull. Cut out the eyes, nose and jaw.

3. Prepare second skull backing

Lay skull on top of the second piece of styrofoam and trace eye holes. Trace around the outside of the skull leaving a three inch border to create dimension. At the bottom of each eye trace an outline of the candle.

4. Cut out skull backing

Use the wood burning tool to cut out the skull backing, eyes and spots for candles.

5. Glue together and sand down rough edges

Hot glue cut skulls together. Use 220 grit sandpaper to clean any rough edges. Tip: It’s Halloween, it’s okay if it’s not perfect, it will only add to the fun!

6. Paint highlights and shadows

Use a bit of watered down acrylic paint and paint sloppily on the inside of the eyes, mouth and around the outline of the skull.

7. Glue fabric on the top of the skull

Soak a large piece of fabric that fits over the entire skull in a bowl of watered down decoupage medium. Squeeze and ring out the fabric. Open the fabric and lay over the entire skull. Smooth out fabric with fingers and/or a paintbrush. Press into the eyes to create sockets. Wrap the fabric around to the back and let dry.

8. Add moss and flowers

Hot glue moss in sporadic areas around the skull. Hot glue faux flowers and branches on top of the mossy areas until happy with the results. Tip: Let the flowers and moss come out of holes of the skull for a creepy look!

9. Tape on candles and fabric backing

Use heavy duty tape to tape the candles into the back of the skull. Hot glue or tape the black fabric behind the eyes like curtains. Tip: Leave the bottom of the fabric unglued to help easily change out batteries when needed.

10. Add twine to hang

Cut a piece of twine and two small squares of felt. On the back of the skull, generously hot glue the ends of twine in place. Cover the ends with the felt squares and press down until dry.