Halloween Pool Noodle Candles

Inexpensive Outdoor Halloween Porch Decorations

These Halloween pool noodle candles were one of those DIY Halloween decor idea for the yard, that morphed, developed and changed as I went along. I am really excited about the way these pool noodle Halloween candles turned out, a neighbour walking by said she had to come see what I was making. She said they were fantastic.

For our outdoor Halloween decor I made a pair of these pool noodle candles to sit on each side of our Halloween front porch. You certainly don’t have to make two of them, but you will see both in the how to video.

How to Make DIY Halloween Pool Noodle Candles

You can make DIY Halloween candles with pvc pipe, or paper tubing, but I chose pool noodles because of the price and there both light and waterproof.

Halloween Pool Noodle Candle Supplies

The supply list looks pretty long, but you can make one set of these Halloween candles for less than $15. Plus the little embellishments you put on at the end which cost me $8 more. For each set you of pool noodle candles you will need:

Assorted Dollar Tree embellishments, mice, spiders, snakes, skulls, vultures, I couldn’t find the toad I wanted, that would have been perfect.

Note: You need to use flameless candles for this project, I suggest using the black flameless candles. I also tried the thin tapered candles, but they are fiddly to turn off and on. These little black votives worked perfectly. I used some last Halloween and they are still lighting.

How to Make Halloween Candles with Pool Noodles

Buying the Paint

If you follow the blog you know I am all about frugal decor and crafts to have something, I can’t afford to buy. For these Halloween pool noodle candles you will need black spray paint. If you need to buy black spray paint you can skip buying the dollar tree black paint. If your like me and had had a can of spray paint in your supplies, you can save some money buying the dollar tree paint for the first two coats. I used 3 containers of dollar tree paint

I was able to purchase most of the supplies at the Dollar Tree, with the exception of the E6000. Dollar tree glue sticks worked well, but you need at least 1 package per candle set. I chose neon green pool noodles, as I could not find black.

Step 1 – Cut the Pool Noodles

Leave one pool noodle full length, one pool noodle in half, and the remaining in various lengths.

Carve out a opening to hold your flameless votive candle in one end of your pool noodle. This will become the top of each candle.

Step 2 – Paint the Pool Noodles Black

Begin by giving each pool noodle piece at least two coats of black paint. My pool noodles were very porous and wow did they use the paint. I ended up putting on three coats. Let the pool noodle paint dry between each coat.

Step 3 – Add the Melting Hot Glue

This task was fiddly because my glue guns are worn out, and could not keep up with the need. Because of the amount of glue it takes I used two glue guns, and would use one while the other one heated its glue. Its not hard to do at all, but give yourself enough time for it. (I am asking for a swanky nice glue gun for Christmas.)

Starting at the top squeeze the hot glue onto the top of the pool noodle. Holding your candle at an angle pump the glue out while moving the gun slowly downward. The angle helps the glue to flow. Do it very slowly so the glue has time to bubble and flow downwards forming what look like drips. dDo several drips on each candle. Do one side of the candle set aside to cool, while moving on to the next one, then return and finish the other side. Remember not to put the glued side down before its hardened.

Once the long candle drips running down the sides are done. Add more glue along the entire top edge of the pool noodle. Move slowly to give the glue time to bubble and flow on its own. Fill in any spots you may notice.

Once you have all the hot glue done, paint it black.

Step 4 – Make the Halloween Candle Groupings

Arrange the candles as best as you can and then use long zip ties to hold them together. The largest black zip ties I could find held three candles each. I did one side with one zip tie, and then the other side as close as possible to the first tie, but in the other direction to hold the remaining candles. I numbered the candles to help you differentiate them.

Once you have the bottom ties together add a second set farther up the candles. Once the candles are stable, cut off the zip ties as close to the closure as possible.

Note: While doing this some of your paint may chip off, don’t worry about it, at the end we need to give it a good paint spray and will touch it up then.

Step 5 – Place Halloween Candles on Base

For the base used left over shingles the previous owners had left behind. And old floor mat, or a dollar store rubber mat, will work as well.

We are going to use large nails shoved into the noodles to hold them in place. Begin by punching holes using the nails starting on the wrong side of your mat. Once you have the nails pushed through add some E6000 to the hole.

Add a thick layer of E600 to the end of your pool noodles. Next push the entire bundle of noodles onto the nails. When doing this a couple of my nails bent over. I lifted the mat with the noodles still attached and straightened the nails from the bottom.

If you need better directions I show how to do this in the video tutorial.

Step 6 – Decorating the Halloween Candles

The next step is to cover our Halloween pool noodle candles with rope and glitter. Starting at the back attach the rope to a piece of the zip ties. then wrap the rope around the zip ties until they are covered. Tie in the back snip and tuck in the ends, seal with hot glue.

Repeat this for any zip ties you want to cover. Unfortunately I did not have black cord, so I spray painted mine

Painting the Pool Noodle Candles

Once I had the ropes on covering the zip ties I gave everything a quick coat of black spray paint, including the shingle base.and anywhere the paint had chipped off, Once the final painting is done, let dry and then we will add pretty purple glitter.

Adding Glitter

Adding glitter can be messy, make sure to do this outside or in a garage. Begin by placing a large piece of tin foil on the bottom and then I used a second piece of tin foil to capture as much of the falling glitter as possible.

With a small brush paint on mod podge where your drips are then using a sponge brush scoop out some sparkles and push them into the glue. Hold a piece of tin foil underneath to catch as many of the sparkles as possible.

I actually tried three of four different ways to do the sparkles and the sponge brush worked the best. I put black sparkles on the rope first, and then added the purple glitter tpthe candle drips.

Step 7 – Decorating the Halloween Candle Base

Painting the Vultures

I chose two dollarama vultures that were grey, so I painted them black with one coat of black spray paint and let them dry. I created a small paint area using a box for the back/top/both sides, and then a second larger box to make the bottom. This worked very well I had no splatters at all.

To help the vultures stand well on there own, and stay in place, use a nail and poke two holes on each side of the vulture’s feet. Pull some thing black wire florist wire through the holes and twist. If using creepy cloth, I suggest adding the wires, then the cloth, and then finally the vulture.

Then twist the florist wire tightly to hold the vultures.

I also purchased some pink spider lights from the Dollar Tree, and dark grey creepy cloth. I finished the bottom with dollar store plastic rats I have had for yearssss. I really wanted a toad so I could add a help me sign, but had no luck. Theres always next year I guess.

Step 8 – Adding the Flameless Votives

Carefully shove each candle down inside the opening of your pool noodle. You want the candles to inside the pool noodle far enough to hold it in place and still show. I found two of mine were harder to fit in. I used some pliers to crush the pool noodle a bit and it worked.

This is how the Halloween pool noodle candles look at the entrance of our Halloween front porch. I think the dimensions of them work well.

Halloween Pool Noodle Candles Video

If you want to watch me work through all the steps of this Halloween DIY, I have created a video how to for you. I hope you find it helpful.

Other DIY Halloween Front Porch Decorations

This Halloween wooden sign diy sits in the corner of the porch. You can’t see it in the above photo.

The witch you see on the porch is also a DIY Halloween decoration. I will add the link once the post is completed.