by Jennifer Claerr

Created on: June 27, 2009

It's simple to make a Halloween candy bucket for your kids with commonly available materials. For this Halloween craft project, you will need a large coffee can, a wire hanger, a tool to punch holes in metal, brushes and some craft paint. This homemade Halloween candy bucket will save you some money and will last for many years.

First clean and dry the can thoroughly. Apply some clear lacquer to the interior of the can. Be sure that the material you use to finish the inside of the can is kid-safe when dry. Then create some designs to decorate the can. I asked my boys what they would like. My youngest said he wanted a cat, and my oldest said he wanted Frankenstein.

You may wish to design these on paper before putting them down on the can. It will make your life easier when you go to make the finished product. This project will have the look and feel of folk art when it's finished.

You can also use the drawing to create a stencil to transfer the design to the can. To make a stencil, trace your drawing until you're happy with it. Then cut out the interior segments of the drawing, being careful to leave "bridges" to hold the stencil together.

First, map out your design on the can. A permanent marker works best, as it's much easier to use than a paintbrush and yet will adhere well to the can. Once you've got your design clearly mapped out, mix your paints.

Get a good selection of craft paints in many different colors. It's good to have some pre-mixed colors such as green, orange, pink, and purple. But you'll also want to mix your own colors from time to time. The basic rule of thumb for mixing secondary colors is to make sure your primary colors are pure before you start. What most people don't know is that most blues contain some red, most yellows contain white or red, and most reds contain blue. Attempting to mix them to make secondary colors results in muddy colors. So start with magenta, cyan, and canary when mixing your colors. Don't worry if it doesn't come out right. Just make a note of what you did and what the result was, and in the future only use the paints that really mix well.

First I applied the navy blue background, being careful to avoid my drawn-on designs. To start painting the cat on the fence, I mixed some metallic silver with just a touch of red and yellow to create the luminous moon, and mixed red, yellow and burnt sienna to make the red-orange brown of the fence. I painted the silvery moon first, the wood of the fence next, then painted

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