Handcraft These Halloween Candle Holders Using Recycled Plastic Bottles

This is a fun project. The entire project can be finished in a couple hours and it does not require a lot of special tools or materials. Most of the items used here can be found around the average household. You can make one of these Halloween candle holders from a couple of recycled plastic bottles for a party or just to have something very different.

Recycling plastic bottles is a great way to help our environment and this Halloween decoration is tops for creative people who like to do their share for the cause. Keep in mind as you read, that the idea is to have lots of fun with the creative process and use your imagination. Make your design from materials you have readily available using these suggestions as a guideline rather than making an exact replica. You will have more fun with this project and it will keep the cost to a minimum.

Design your own unique Halloween decoration. Use scented candles for the finished product and use whatever kind of plastic bottle you have available to you. Recycled plastic bottles for Halloween decorations is a fun project worth sharing with children of all ages. Scented candles made for the Halloween season are an added feature that will enhance the finished decoration and allow you an alternative outlet for self expression. This project plays on sight but adding scent will enhancethe obvious.

• plastic bottles
• duct tape
• a sheet of recycled white tissue paper (found in packaging of clothing, gifts)
  
• pea gravel or small rocks
• scented candle in a small jar
• recycled cloth material (old clothes)
  
• water soluble white glue for paper crafts
  
• 1" - 1.5" diameter metal or wooden pole 2 ft. to 4 ft in length
• acrylic craft paints
• colored tapes
• wire coat hanger or other sturdy wire

• sharp razor blade knife, garden shears
  
• hot soapy water
• a scrub pad
• towel and drop cloth
  
• scissors
• craft paint brushes
• hand saw
  
• drill and small bit
  

The recycled bottles should be at least a 2 liter size up to a gallon or better. It is best to use what you have available. For this project demonstration I used a 2 liter soda bottle, a 1 gal. vinegar bottle and a 1.17 gal. laundry detergent bottle. This is to demonstrate the diversity of the project and how it can be adapted to various kinds of ideas. The shapes and sizes will determine the outcome of each individual candle holder. This leaves plenty of room to use your imagination and design a candle holder to suit your own style.

Note that the laundry detergent bottle has a painted on label and not a paper one. This was left as the labeling is on the sides of the bottle and not on the face side. I will demonstrate how to deal with the label for the detergent bottle as we progress.

Hot water will remove paper labels and the excess glue can be removed with a scrub pad. it is not too much to worry about the excess glue because the bottle will be coated with more material anyway. wash and rinse the recycled bottles and dry them with a towel on the outside.

use a sharp box knife, scissors or garden shears to remove the bottom of the plastic bottle. trim it off straight as this will become the top of the finished candle holder. The inside of the recycled bottle can be dried with the towel after the bottom is removed.

Add a stake to the recycled plastic bottle. this will serve as a stand for the head of the candle holder. It will also be a place to affix a wire armature to give some dimension to the body of the candle holder. The stake should be of a size that will fit in to the recycled bottle's mouth with ease. You do not want it to be too small but it should also not be too big around to slide in to the bottle.

Use an old broom handle or mop handle. A dowel rod or a section of closet pole. Try to find a pole that is something you can recycle. It can be made from wood, plastic or metal as long as it is sturdy. It has to support the upper portion where the candle will go and also support the weight of material used to dress up the finished project.

Secure The Stake To The Recycled Bottle

Duct tape is a wonderful and useful tool for this part of the project. If the pole is too small for the hole in the bottle the pole can be made to fit secure by using duct tape.

I wrapped the pole a few rounds with the duct tape so that the end of the pole would go in to the mouth of the recycled bottle but fit snug. This will have to be a do and see how much tape for what ever bottles you use. Some will take more some will take less. It all depends on the size of the pole and the size of the bottle mouth.

When the pole will fit in to the bottle mouth snug, it can then be attached to the bottle using more duct tape. Just wrap several times around the bottle and pole until it is good and secure. See the adjoining photographs for more detail.

How Long Should The Pole Be?

The length of the pole or stake should depend on what your design plan is. There will be another bottle used as a base for the candle holder and the pole could be as short as 3". This would make a short, plump figure. For a taller figure the pole will be longer but keep in mind for balance. If the pole is too long it will be more difficult to create a base to support the finished project. I would suggest that it is best not to go over 3'.

I made one candle holder using a dowel 24" long. One was made with a piece of closet pole that was 48" long. The other was made with a section of mop handle that was about 25" long. Use what you can find. The smaller diameter poles work best on soda bottles while the larger closet pole fit best on the laundry bottle.

How Far Does The Pole Go In To The Bottle?

This is also a judgment call. The idea is to use the neck of the bottle as somewhat of a support for the pole. The neck on each kind of recycled bottle will vary so the decision is up to you. The thing to keep in mind is that you will be placing a candle inside the head and the bottle is going to serve as the head. The inside will have to be made level to support the candle jar. It is best to make sure the pole does not protrude in to the area of the inside of the jar. You just want it to fit in to the neck of the bottle good enough to give support to the head.

I would suggest that it will go in to the bottle about 2" on average. make sure to set it where it is wanted before taping it down with the duct tape.

The bottle on the pole is going to serve as a head for some sort of figure. You might make a ghost, a witch, a ghoul or whatever you can imagine from the bottle at hand. The projects I finished are just Halloween Creeps. I made a red one a gray one and a yellow one. This is how I made mine.

The yellow bottle was already colored. Using recycled laundry detergent bottles are great because they are already colored. They also come in a wide variety of colors so they can be easily adapted to many different kinds of figures.

The clear and translucent recycled bottles such as milk bottles and soda bottles can be finished very easily. Use white glue, acrylic craft paints and torn bits of tissue paper to add color and texture to these kinds of bottles.

The paint can be thinned to achieve a transparent color that will allow the finished figure to glow in the dark. The range of colors is unlimited so be as creative as you want with your choices. This is where the fun begins and where you can design a one of a kind decoration  for your Halloween theme. This makes this project especially adaptable for parties as well as the yard or the kitchen table. The sky is your limit so do not be afraid to reach for it.

Use 1/4 teaspoon of acrylic craft paint in your choice of color mixed with 1/2 tablespoon of white glue to make a paste. This will be stirred together real good and then slowly thinned with water. Add about 1/5 of a cup of water stirring as you slowly add the water. The idea is to make a wash to glue the tissue paper to the recycled bottle. You want the mixture to be very thin so that you can wallpaper the bottle with the tissue paper pieces. Overlap the pieces as you place them on the bottle to create a nice weathered looking texture. Make sure to coat the paper with the wash as you press it on with the flat 1/2" paint brush. Cover all areas of the bottle.

Work on an old towel so that the drips will be absorbed and keep the mess to a minimum. When the recycled bottle is completely papered set the bottle aside to dry. Put the bottle in front of a fan or use a cool hair dryer to speed the drying process.

Add A Face

The final step is to add facial features to the head. This can be painted on with acrylic paints or you can use tape. for my examples I did both. The gray face was painted on. i used tape that was cut to satisfaction for the red face. On the yellow laundry bottle I used tape because acrylic paint will not adhere to the plastic. Using scissors i cut shapes to make the eyes out of different colors of vinyl tape. That works real good and when the candle is not burning at night it gives color to the creation.

The base can be made from an additional gallon sized bottle that is slightly modified to hold the pole. This can be done by fitting the pole down in to the mouth of a bottle that has a hole cut in to it. The hole is cut so that there is an opening where you can add rocks and or gravel to support the pole. I put the hole toward the upper middle and left the flap on it. This could be taped closed after it is filled with gravel. The bottle could also be filled with cement if you want to make it that way. i opted not to because of the additional time it would take. This would be up to you to decide.

I also cut a small hole out of the center of the base bottle on the bottom. This was done because the pole was resting on an uneven seam in the bottom of the base bottle. I simply removed the area where the seam was in the center by cutting a hole just large enough for the pole to fir through. I then put some duct tape over the hole to seal the bottom.

Center the pole and fill the bottle so that the gravel holds the pole in the middle and as straight as possible. This should stand alone when the base is filled. Now the project is ready to complete.

The time it took to write this hub was much longer than the actual project takes. To finish the candle holder the pole can be decorated to match the face you designed. I added a coat hanger to the pole just below the bottle to give a bit of structure to my Halloween candle holders. This can be added just below the bottle head and then covered with whatever kind of clothing material you have available. I did one with an old shirt. It is not necessary to sew the garments for your creature but if you feel like that is what you prefer to do, by all means go for it. I did some tearing and gathering and more or less tied the garments to the neck. This step is totally up to you.

I have used simple black trash bags to make the finished garments and they are weather resistant so that works real good. I have also used plastic table cloths. You can pick them up at any Dollar Store for a buck and they are available in all colors. They can be cut to fit and taped or stapled together. This is where your creativity comes in. One time I used part of an old Halloween costume to dress my recycled bottles with. I say use what you have on hand. This craft project is all about having fun with recycled items.