Rock painting: Day of the Dead skulls
A super-easy craft for Halloween or Day of the Dead: painted stone skulls!
Day of the Dead skulls are a popular symbol for Día de Muertos (a Mexican holiday where people gather to remember friends and family who have passed away). The decorative skull symbol (often made of sugar), along with marigolds are used to honour the dead.
Inspired by Red Ted Arts’ (Sharpie) stone skulls, I decided to paint some for the boys. And add some sparkle (of course)!
To make painted rock Day of the Dead skulls, you will need:
- rocks in the (general) shape of skulls
- acrylic paint
- brushes
- old newspaper and overalls (acrylic paint can stain)
- OPTIONAL: glitter, sequins and ModPodge
How to make painted rock Day of the Dead skulls:
- Make sure you have anything precious (table, caarpet, kids) well covered before starting
- Paint a white skull shape on your stone and leave to dry
- Add your skull’s features (traditionally an upside down heart for a nose and lots of marigolds, plus spider webs), but you can choose to make them as pretty (or scary!) as you like.
- OPTIONAL: add a layer of Mod Podge and add glitter and/or sequins for added sparkle!
If you enjoyed this painted rock Day of the Dead skulls craft, you might want to follow my Day of the Dead board on Pinterest for more fun ideas!
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That’s an interesting tradition, and these painted rocks look great!
Thanks Tarana! 🙂
These are so cute, we love painting rocks! We’ve had fun with the Day of the Dead too.
Thanks Jenny! I LOVE your styrofoam skull prints 🙂
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I love these! I’ve always been a rock lover since I was a little girl, and my oldest daughter is showing signs of being the same at 2 years old, so I get a little bit excited when I see crafts like this. I need to get clicking around and read your other rock-painting posts. #pintorials
Thanks Sylvie! You can’t beat a good rock… 😉
I really love this idea I have been doing this myself with slate style rocks broken in to small stones so I can carve the shape then I use a soldering iron for eyes nose cavity and mouth then paint them in. people like you keep the creative minds trying new things keep up the great work
These look fantastic! I do love a good rock painting post 🙂
#pintorials
Thanks Nichole! 🙂
Hey…check out Mom’s Got Ink on FB. She stole your photo from this post and didn’t give any credit or links.
Thank you so much for letting me know – I find it so rude when people steal images and/or content. I am always happy for people to use a photo of mine as long as they link back and credit.
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These are so fun! We like painting stones, and I know my daughter will want to try these designs. Especially with the added sparkle! I have pinned this! #pintorials
Thanks Jennifer – one can never have too much sparkle! 😉
What a fab idea for upcoming Halloween! 🙂 #pintorials
Absolutely Su!
These are fab! I really love the design and style of Day of the Dead skulls.
Thanks for sharing on #CraftyOctober xx
I love rock painting. There is a paint stick that you can buy that makes the project easy and clean. I tried to post picts of my rocks but don’t know if it appeared. Anyway these are super and the kiddos will love them.
I wish I could be there to help—will the kids be having refreshments/treats that I can bring in?