DIY Halloween effects- Burning Bones
I was looking to add a burning element to our Halloween decorations this year, and found some neat ideas for a pile of burning bones.
Step 1: Gather your supplies
The key items are the lights, bones, expanding foam, and paint. Everything else is optional or can be improvised. Check your local Dollar store before shopping at the big box stores.
| Item | Cost (2025) |
|---|---|
| Orange or yellow USB string lights that twinkle Bonus if they have timed on/off |
$5-10 |
| “Great Stuff” expanding foam, 2+ cans Get the “big gap” version |
$10 |
| Spray paint or primer, flat black + grey | $3-6 |
| Plastic bones | $5-10 |
| Container or surface for the bones | $5-10 |
| Rocks, sticks, ashes | free |
| Total cost (2025) | $25-40 |
Step 2: Lay out your base
You will need a base for your burning bone pile, cut to the size of your container or display. The bone pile will be one big piece when it dries, so the base should be durable and reusable. I used rigid foam insulation board to keep things light, but scrap plywood would work as well. I cut it to fit into our standing fire pit.
Step 3: Begin layering
First, get your sticks, bones, and string lights ready. You can pre-burn the sticks and spray-paint the bones to give them a charred effect.
With gloves on, pop your first can of foam and spread an even layer on your base. While the foam is sticky, start pushing in your sticks, rocks and string lights into the foam.
Give the foam ~10-15 minutes to dry, then add a thin coat of grey or black spray paint to give it a charred look. Don’t worry if the lights get covered a little by foam or paint, as this will add to the effect.
Continue adding layers of foam, lights, sticks, bones etc. until you run out.
You can decide how much spray paint to use. I left the top layer mostly white with some grey, giving it a white ashen look at night.
Bonus items
Some other elements and alternatives:
- Fireplace sounds played on an old phone or bluetooth speaker
- I’ve seen some people use spray-painted polyfill instead of Great Stuff, with lights glowing through underneath.
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