Quick and Easy Halloween Specimen Jars {Craft Lightning: Halloween Edition}

    Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

    Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,

    Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—

    For a charm of powerful trouble,

    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

    Double, double toil and trouble;

    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

From Macbeth, William Shakespeare

I just love Halloween: getting to take on a different persona and turn something scary into something fun and whimsical. That’s why when I joined in on this session of Craft Lightning: Halloween edition, I knew right away that I wanted to created some specimen and potion jars for my Halloween mantel. Craft Lightning are crafts that you can complete in 15 minutes or less (minus drying time). Quick and easy and anyone can make them – those are the kinds of crafts I love to make!

Supplies needed:

A jar, silver puff paint, acrylic craft paints in black, dark brown, gray, silver; a couple of small sponges, paper towels or cloth rags. You might also want to use some Rub ‘n’ Buff but it’s not necessary.

Tutorial:

Step One – Write on the words you want on your jar (like eye of newt as shown above) onto the jar with puff paint. You can add other things like symbols (such as the eye I added), spiders, spider-webs, and so on. Let this dry thoroughly.

Step Two – Using the sponges, apply black, dark brown, and gray paint to the jar. I dip the sponge into the paint and then dab it on my palette to take most of the paint back off. This way you’re only adding light layers of paint at a time which makes the paint dry faster and offers you more control in getting the look you want. Alternate between the different colours until you get the aged look you desire. You can use paper towels or rags to pull some of the paint back off and blend it together. When you first paint across the words and symbols you put on with the puff paint, you can use a paper towel or rag to dab away some of the paint and reveal the silver puff paint below. Don’t worry if it doesn’t show up as much as you’d like. We’ll enhance it in Step Three. Let dry.

Step Three – Using a sponge and the same technique as in Step Two, apply some silver paint over the jar. You want it to be subtle on most of the jar, adding to the aged look and brightening it up a bit. This is where you can enhance the puff paint as needed. Dab silver paint over the letters and symbols until they really stand out from the rest of the jar. You can use a sponge or rag for this but I use my fingers for even more control. (This is also where you could use the Rub ‘n’ Buff instead of the paint. Simply rub it over the letters and symbols.) Let dry and you’re finished!

Set up an assembly line and make a bunch of these Halloween Specimen Jars to decorate your home for the holiday. Or fill some with candy and give them to friends.

Be sure to head on over to and check out the rest of the crafts from some of my favourite creative bloggers for Craft Lightning Halloween Edition by clicking on the image below.