How to make bleeding candles for Halloween. Spruce up your spooky Halloween decorations with these DIY bloody candles made two ways!
Halloween time is my favorite! I love pulling out the pumpkins, black and white Halloween décor, and fake spiderwebs. Usually, we keep our decorations simple without adding anything too scary or gory. Now that the kids are getting a little older, we’ve been having fun adding a skeleton in or two. This year we put our toes in the spooky Halloween décor waters by adding some bleeding candles and a skull head centerpiece to our Halloween table décor.
DIY Bleeding Candles
I’ve come across bleeding candles at the store and thought it would be a fun Halloween craft to make. There are a few ways to make them. Technically the real way would be to make a red taper candle then dip it in white candle wax multiple times to cover the red. Then when you light the candle the red bleeds through the white candle wax. Fun, but way more involved than the quick tutorial I’m going to share today.
To make bleeding candles you will need a red candle and a black or white candle. You can use a taper, pillar, or votive candle to make this project. This Halloween craft is super simple. You simply melt the red wax over the white taper candles or black pillar candles to create a bleeding effect dripping down the sides. The red adds a creepy effect to a Halloween tablescape, but you can use black on white taper candles as I did for the skull centerpiece.
I’ve added Amazon affiliate links to the products needed for this project below.
Bleeding candles materials
- 3 White taper candles
- Black pillar candles
- 1 Red taper candle
- Lighter
- Wax paper
How to make bloody candles (VIDEO TUTORIAL)
DIY Bleeding Candles
Ingredients
- 3 white taper candles or black pillar candles
- 1 red taper candle
- 1 lighter
- 1 sheet wax paper
Instructions
- Start by covering your work surface with wax paper, newspaper, or a disposable bag. This will help protect your table or counter and make cleanup up easy.
- Place a white pillar candle on a candle holder. Note: this may also get covered with drops of red wax. I’d suggest using a candle holder from the dollar store or one of the small wooden holders from the craft store.
- Light the red candle on fire and wait for the wax to start melting. Gently tip the red candle over the top of the white candle. Guide the red taper so that it drips on top of the white candle and then down the sides. Allow the candle wax to set for a few minutes before handling it.
- Repeat the process with the black decorative candles. I switched between only adding red wax around the edge of the pillar candle and completely covering the top. Try the method you prefer best.
I was able to find the black pillar candles on clearance at the craft store, but any pillar candle will work. Check the dollar store, craft store, or Target for different candle shapes and sizes.
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