Upcycled Sugar Skull Halloween Luminary DIY

They say there are two absolutes in life — death and taxes. However, I’m mostly sure they forgot about laundry in this scenario. Whether you have a family or are making your way through life solo, if you wear clothes, you’re stuck doing laundry at some point. (Unless of course you’re like one of my way back exes who simply kept buying more underwear to put off the task.)

Cold weather means even more laundry than usual. Jeans and sweaters obviously take up more space in the washer then t-shirts and shorts. And, of course, there all all those cozy knee high socks so toes stay snug and cozy. Inevitably this also means using more laundry detergent. So I tend to buy my laundry detergent in bulk to cut costs whenever possible. I also buy the pods rather than liquid detergent. They’re so much easier to deal with, and there’s no mess from drips and the like

Unfortunately, most bulk laundry detergent pods come in giant plastic buckets. Our city is often iffy on recycling plastics. There’s also the issue of some plastic never actually being recycled at all, even if they make their way into recycling bins. Therefore I thought I’d do something creative with my plastic laundry detergent tubs and upcycle them into a fun Halloween craft project.

This sugar skull Halloween luminary craft is perfect for your Halloween decor. A quick and easy  Halloween craft, these DIY Halloween luminaries are a great way to add last minute decor to your Halloween porch or party without the mess of carving pumpkins! Plus, by using upcycled laundry pod buckets to create a Halloween luminary for your Halloween decorations, you’re helping to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills.

Keep reading to learn how to make your own sugar skull Halloween luminary craft using just a few simple materials — an upcycled plastic laundry pod bucket, a sugar skull temporary tattoo and battery operated tea lights.

Empty laundry pod bucket

Large sugar skull temporary tattoo

Four battery operated tea lights

To make these DIY Halloween luminaries, you’ll first need to remove all the labels from the laundry pod bucket. Once the labels have been removed, wash the bucket thoroughly and allow to dry.

Now choose the sugar skull temporary tattoo you’d like to use for the front of your Halloween luminary.

Peel the clear plastic protective sheet off of the sugar skull temporary tattoo.

Then place the tattoo you chose for your Halloween luminary face-down on the handle side of the laundry bucket.

Wet a paper towel with water. Use the wet paper towel to apply the temporary tattoo to the laundry pod bucket. To do this, apply the moistened paper towel to the paper side of the tattoo, dampening it all the way through the paper. Be sure to hold the tattoo still during application.

Once you dampen the back of the temporary tattoo, wait 10-25 seconds. Then gently remove the paper from the back of the tattoo.

That’s it! Your sugar skull Halloween luminary if now complete. To display, simply place several tea lights inside your Halloween luminary to decorate your front porch or walkway.

After Halloween, you can use your Halloween luminary buckets to store Halloween lights or garland, along with other seasonal Halloween decor. Simply keep the lids and screw them on once you’ve placed the Halloween decorations you’d like to store inside. Then stack your DIY Halloween luminaries on a shelf to keep things organized and easy to find next year.