October 3rd, 2023

DIY Bubbling Cauldron

Chances are you already have several items laying around that can be used for a DIY Bubbling Cauldron. Whether it is a plastic Halloween cauldron you have purchased or you have a fun bucket of some sort that can be converted to one. With a few supplies, you can easily convert it to a spooky cauldron filled with a realistic looking witche’s concoction that is sure to be enjoyed by all.

Items Needed for DIY Bubbling Cauldron ~

DIY Bubbling Cauldron » DIY Bubbling Cauldron supplies needed

clear ornaments – different sizes
craft paint – green, orange, yellow, rust/bronze, black (depending on your color scheme)
paint brushes/sponge of various sizes
half or full styrofoam ball (depending on size of “cauldron”)
hot glue gun
hot glue
cauldron or bucket
cut paper sacks if your bucket is larger to help fill space
string lights or fairy lights

Additional Items to Complete the Look ~

spider webbing
spider
witch
Potion book …Check out this post for easy to follow decorations on making your own potion book …Click here for Halloween Spell Book directions!

Before I move on with the easy to follow steps, I want to take a minute to tell you about this great group of crafters I am involved with. Every month, Julie from Sum of Their Stories blog, presents a theme for us to create a substainable craft. This month’s theme is Tradition. For those of you who know me, you are already aware of how much I love traditions.

A long standing tradition that was handed down from my mom is decorating for the holidays. We always have the tried and true decorations that were brought out every year…some purchased and some crafted. However, we would also make new decorations to add to the ongoing collection. Halloween was very big at our house and I have such wonderful memories of everything about the month of October. This fun DIY Bubbling Cauldron is a super fun craft that I will now be adding to my annual display of everything spooky!

How to Create Your Own Bubbling Cauldron ~

We had an antique bucket that has been moved from space to space to space in our garage over the years. I had to laugh because when I brought it in and set it next to my other supplies, my hubby asked, “Well, you aren’t going to ruin that cool bucket are you?” First of all…RUIN? Second of all, I quickly replied, “What plans did you have for this bucket…did you even know we had it?” He laughed and agreed!

Run lots of hot glue over the rim of the bucket, letting it ooze down the sides as it wishes. (If you are using a plastic cauldron, you can paint it first if you wish to give it a “rusty” look.
Once the glue has dried, you can paint it with your desired paint colors to look like the concoction inside is boiling over. I used different brushes and quickly realized I preferred the sponge brush as it gave it more of a “soupy” look.
Once the paint has dried, fill the bottom of your bucket with paper sack strips (if needed) and then place the stryofoam ball or half ball on top of papers.
Place your string of lights all around the stryofoam ball. *I tried several different types and colors of lights. The colored light strand that blinks became our favorite. It seems to have a more realistic hot brewing look to it.
Remove the clear ornaments from their boxes and take the tops off of each one. (side note…I couldn’t throw those away because I am POSITIVE I will find a use for them later! Can you say CRAFT HOARDER! )
Start placing the bulbs around inside the cauldron, putting a bit of hot glue on each one to secure them. Once your have the inside top filled with “bubbles”, start dripping them down the sides. After you have them all glued together you should be able to lift the whole thing up as one unit. This makes it easy if you need to change out your lighting.
Complete the look with spider webbing, a big spider, a witch and of course that Potion book I mentioned earlier.

Find the Items Here ~

If you are a craft hoarder like me, you may already have all of the items needed to make this DIY Bubbling Cauldron. Many of the items can be found at the Dollar Store if needed. I love this because I try to share crafts that aren’t expensive to make. Let’s talk about the vessel for your cauldron first. The plastic bucket can work perfectly, but get creative and look around for something you may already have. Flower pots could be a great idea to be converted!

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Here are some handy links if you need to purchase any of the items online:

*Be sure to measure your cauldron size before choosing the size of ball.