This weekend is the big Halloween Spooktacular at my kid’s elementary school. In Barbados we don’t have typical trick-or-treating. A few neighborhoods may have door-to-door events, but it is rare and usually takes place the weekend before Halloween. Well for the past 13 years their school has been throwing a huge bash that sells out to over 1200 people. It’s amazing!

Just to give you a quick picture, class rooms are these very cute little cottage houses. So there are 6 cottages, plus another 8 areas that are transformed into amazing trick-or-treating stations. 14 in total!

Some are Halloween focused and some are just popular with the kids. This year I’m in charge of Star Wars, but I’m also decorating the half-way mini bar (yes, the event is that big that a bar is needed in the middle for refueling). And that leads me to our blog today. My DIY Halloween project.

Tired of reading, and want the Facebook cliff notes version? Click here.

I’ve done so much for the Star Wars station, but for now, I’ll just share these amazing Candle Wax Bottles that I'll be using at the mini bar. Follow us on Instagram this weekend and I’ll post stories and pics of all the fun and you can see how everything transforms.

DIY Candle Wax Bottles

Super easy and very cool for decorating your bar, patio, or dining room table. Here are the steps:

1. Most important - drink the contents of the bottles you’re using. 
2. Spray paint the bottles. I used black on mine, but another option would be to use metallic colors.
3. After they’ve dried, prepare the candle sticks. Shave the bottoms so they fit securely inside the bottle.
4. Light the candle and wait. Do not stare at the candle. It’s not spontaneous. Just in case you’re like me who was too excited for the first one.
5. Once you’ve achieved your desired length, blow out the candle. I allowed mine to burn all the way to the bottom. The last little bits just fell inside the bottle.
6. Because I’m transporting these bottles to an event, I wanted to make the wax a little more stable. Dripping wax is very crumbly. So for your final step, spray the bottles with a protective spray paint. Like this one. 
7. If you have kept length, you could light yours for your event. Or better yet, cut one of those non-drip candles in half (see my story down below), shave the ends for a very secure fit and use this candle for your event. You won’t mess the bottle or get wax anywhere.
8. I’m going to drop glow sticks into each of my bottles for our event, since there are too many kids and fire is not permitted, which will make a very cool effect. Just note that if you spray painted the bottles, you may need to scratch a bit of the paint off so the glow sticks can shine through.

A Note About Candles: 

Not all candles drip the same. Who knew?! Ask me who has never cared or done a craft with candles before. You want a candle that drips a lot of wax. Here is one recommendation. Can I tell you a story real quick?... 

Side-Bar Candle Story: We don’t have an influx of candle sticks here in Barbados; our options are somewhat limited. So I purchased these 8 hour long-lasting candles. Clearly not the best idea, but they were bright white and would look cool with my black bottles. Anyway, I set-up my candle in the bottle, lit it, and waited. Several hours later the candle when the candle was only about an inch long, there was not a drop of wax. Nowhere. I looked inside the bottle, up at the ceiling, where the heck did it go? Well, it turns out wax evaporates! These are better know as drip-less candles. That would have been helpful information on the candle packaging! 

Moving on...you're finished. Super cute DIY candle wax bottles for Halloween or as candle holders, or whatever your fancy.

I did two other cute DIY projects, so check out the Facebook video at the 3:47 mark to hear about those. 

Happy Halloween! 🎃 Are you celebrating this weekend?

xx Bre