I am not overly fond of Halloween. I may have even referred to myself as the Scrooge of Halloween. But I am the mother of 4 little boys, so I have to buck up and (partly) embrace it. I do love coming up with creative costumes. Nothing gory of course. I like to go the clever route. And I love seeing my boys get so excited about trick or treating.
I was asked by 3M to create something for Halloween using their Scotch® Color & Pattern Duct Tape . When I looked their color choices and saw that glow-in-the-dark was an option I knew immediately what I was going to make! And I was excited because by kids are suckers for anything that glows in the dark :)
I made this glow-in-the-dark Frankenstein trick or treat bucket in less than 20 minutes. And it is probably something a smaller child could help with and a child that was a little bit older could make themselves.
Here is what it looks like when it is not all aglow.
And here is what you will need to make one:
You can use any kind of container that you would like. I just happened to have extra paint cans left over from when I organized my office closet so I used them. You can buy them at home improvement stores and they are inexpensive.
I wrapped two layers of glow-in-the-dark Scotch® Color & Pattern Duct Tape around the paint can. I figured if it was a little thicker, it would glow better.
Then I cut out the hair. I just cut out triangles of different sizes along the edge of the black tape. I tried to make them irregular.
I cut some thin strips to make Frankenstein's stitches.
I used the razor blade knife (X-acto knife) to cut a wiggly line in the tape for the mouth.
I then cut ovals out of the white tape for eyes. I used the razor blade knife again. I found it a little easier than with scissors. I didn't want to use the glow-in-the-dark tape, even though it kind of looks white, because I didn't want the eyes to glow. If they did, they wouldn't show up against the face. I used the black again for the center of the eyes.
Just like anything that is glow in the dark, it needs to be exposed to a light source in order to then glow in the dark. The glow stayed strong for about 5-10 minutes (depending on how long it was exposed to light and how long it was exposed) and then slowly started to dim. Luckily we always have a flashlight when trick or treating. We can use the flashlight to re-charge the bucket. I actually made this project back in April, so we have had a long time to test it. My boys have had fun playing with it.
I don't have little girls, but I think this would make a cute witch bucket as well.
Now I have the buckets, I need to start thinking of costumes...... :)
Do you like Halloween? What are your kids (or you) going to be for Halloween this year?
*This post is a collaboration with Scotch® Color & Pattern Duct Tape, but words and opinions are my own.
Cute!
Fun idea. I actually always liked Halloween and went overboard with the costumes. I always loved making my own. I bought a pattern early on to make different animals. I made a generic light brown fun fur jumpsuit of sorts and ended up refashioning it into several different costumes over the years. Got a lot of mileage from it, and it was comfortable for him to wear. The box-style costumes are easy to make, and look good, but are very awkward for the kids to wear (eg, a robot costume one year). Mostly I tried to encourage DS to fantasize about what he wanted to dress up as, and it worked. I only vetoed one or two ideas. Mostly I love to see homemade costumes, no matter how slapdash they might look. I value creativity and expressiveness over store bought. Mostly I love seeing the twinkle in the eye of the child who, for a few hours, has become someone or something else. I love the playful, giddy exuberance of the holiday. And I love the kids crafts, like this one, that become part of the holiday fun.
Those are so cute! Your boys are going to love using them! (Are they playing with them already? lol)
Love it!! Such a fun idea!
How cute is that! I had no idea that Scotch had glow in the dark tape! My grandson would love this!
Ahh this is so dang cute! I'm sure your boys love it too! :) I had no idea they had glow in the dark tape... must go get some ASAP!
Such a cute idea for something I would have thrown away!
Big kids also love glow in the dark projects!
I'm sure this looks awesome glowing in the dark! Who knew all that was needed was some duct tape!? Very cool.
This is SUCH a cute idea! How original! I love it. Pinned :)
Pinned to my Spooky Beauties board...this is way too cool~
So clever! My boys would love a glow in the dark treat bag. And anything that makes them more visible is good in my book!
So cute! My kids would love this, very creative!
I totally call myself that! My girls are just getting to the age to understand it though, so I'm going to have to get past my Scrooge tendencies. :)
I never knew there was such a thing. So cute, Stacy! Come on over to the dark Halloween lover side :)
How adorable! I just love Halloween and all of the glow in the dark products that are out there now!
Take care,
Trish
This is super cute! My kids would LOVE a glow in the dark bucket! What a fab idea!
How Cute is that! What a great way to be Safe during Trick or treating!
OMG this is seriously adorable!! Love this and my boys would love it too!
XO
Kristin
This is so adorable! I love this glow in the dark tape!