In this post you'll learn how to make a skeleton arm into a mummy hand, and how to upcycle a standard tray/plate into a spooky graveyard effect for your Halloween home decor!
My Dollar Tree Halloween DIY video this year was a collab with my friend Kallie from But First Coffee. She sent me a surprise item that I had to incorporate into one of my Halloween DIYs and vice versa. She sent me this tray and, I have to say this was a creative challenge, but I am THRILLED with how it came out! It's one of the most perfect dollar tree halloween centerpieces I've ever done! It can also be a stand alone item at an entryway to catch your keys OR used as a DIY serving tray for spooky treats!
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Table of Contents
Dollar Tree Halloween DIY Serving Tray: Spooky Mummy Graveyard
Check out all my Dollar Tree Halloween DIY Video for 2020:
Watch the step-by-step tutorial in the video!
Supplies:
- Serving tray
- Hand
- Spider Webs
- Gauze
- Creepy Cloth
- Halloween Florals
- Bag of bones (optional – if you were able to use a real hand then you won't need this, I had a skeleton arm from the dollar tree and the fingers were a little short)
- Hot Glue
- Black spray paint (optional)
Dollar Tree Halloween DIY Serving Tray: Spooky Mummy Graveyard | Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1: Coat your tray (optional)
Cover the bottom of your tray in black spray paint. Doesn't need to be perfect.
Step 2: Create a mummy hand using Dollar Tree supplies
I had a skinny bone hand from the Dollar Tree. So I needed to make it a bit meatier into more of a hand. To make a mummy hand using Dollar Tree supplies start by using the bag of bones to make the fingers longer. You want pretty long fingers as they'll appear shorter when you fill in the hand with padding.
Start by gluing the bones to the fingers to make them longer.
Next fluff up some spider cobwebbing and glue it onto the Dollar Tree skeleton hand for padding. Be gentle with this – we want a thick finish, so don't pull it too tight.
Then wrap the arm in gauze. I had some of the white creepy cloth from Dollar Tree already cut up from another project and I just applied it as if I was making a cast wherever I thought it made sense.
Step 3: Attach your hand to your tray
To create a “graveyard” feel, I attached my hand to the back, as if I was looking down at a cemetery grave.
I glued the bottom part of the arm to the tray, but it was too heavy to stand up on its own, so I added a bone behind the hand to prop it up (see video above). You could also use a chopstick, or popsicle stick if you didn't use bones in the last step.
Step 4: Add your florals
I had a few Halloween florals from the Dollar Tree laying around so I just popped off a few of the buds that I thought would look great on the tray. I laid it out first, then added glue to the tray where I knew the florals would touch directly.
You can either leave your serving tray exactly like this OR you can make it feel more like a spooky graveyard/cemetary site with the next step…
Step 5: Fill it in your graveyard (optional)
I had this mixture of leftover cobwebs, mixed with some of the dollar tree grass and some broken up skeleton pieces (from the Skeleton Garland they sell) from a project I did last year. It happened to be the perfect size for the tray so I just laid it down and moved it into any openings.
I'd LOVE to see how you recreate this Dollar Tree Halloween DIY Serving Tray: Spooky Mummy Hand Graveyard!! Tag me on instagram @theconfusedmillennial if you make it!
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