Here’s another idea for a Halloween lantern – skulls with illuminated eyes!

The finished effect is quite dramatic – sadly, our photographs don’t do it justice!

To begin, we downloaded an image of a skull from the internet to use as a template. To create a darker effect, each skull was cut from a double layer of Lutradur 70gsm Black, fixed together using Bondaweb. The skulls were then secured to a piece of Lutradur 130gsm, wide enough to wrap around a clear plastic bottle.

We used a hot iron to colour a piece of Zeelon Medium with Lime Green transfer paint. After securing all the skulls and a couple of strips of black ribbon top and bottom, we covered the Lutradur 130gsm with the Zeelon to create a veil of colour.

The plastic bottle was then cut down to the same size as our lantern. To mark the position of the eyes, pins were pushed through the centre of each eye socket. From inside the bottle, it was then easy to see the position of each eye and mark it with a felt tip pen. Using these marks as a guide, we carefully melted small holes with a soldering iron.

Using a string of battery operated lights, we pushed a small bulb through each hole and then recovered the bottle with our skulls, being careful to line up the lights with the eye sockets of the skulls.

Please note: Only battery operated lights should be used and never a naked flame.

Happy Halloween Everyone!