Decorating your home for Halloween can be quite a nuisance if you’re on a low budget, but if you’re keen on DIY projects, you’ll find that a little inspiration and a trip to the local craft or hardware store can get you a long way. Plus, isn’t always better to receive compliments on something you did by hand than simply giving an expected answer to the ubiquitous question: “hey, where did you get these?”

You can really set the mood up for Halloween by hand-painting your glassware with traditional Halloween motifs or scary images. Think about it, you’ll only need a few materials and some ordinary clear glasses to turn your home’s décor into a spectacular one! I know what you might be thinking right now, and the answer is no, you don’t need to have any painting skills, that’s why stencils exist!

Pick a glass style you like, but make sure the cup is wide enough to help you really put emphasis on your design. You can hand-paint pumpkins, spiders, bats, ghosts or creepy tree branches, or, if you can’t find any stencils you like and you’re terrible at drawing, you can simply dress the whole glass in orange color and simply paint a scary/grumpy pumpkin face to amuse your guests on Halloween. Oh, and if you make a mistake, wipe away the paint using a Q-tip soaked in alcohol.
Wash your glassware with dish soap and make sure they’re all dried up before painting enamel surface conditioner in a thin layer over the outside of your glasses. You can find this at hardware stores, and you can apply it on the surface of your glassware using a spongy brush. Let it dry, and then paint the image you want on the exterior of your glasses using glass paint and a fine brush. You can get these from craft stores. The trick is to let your hand-painted glasses dry for two days, so make sure you start your DIY project a couple of days before Halloween.

Once they’re fully dry, put the painted glassware into a cool oven, then set the temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the glasses in there at 325 degrees, for no less than 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the oven and your glasses to cool down, then take them out and let them breathe a little on the table until they’re fully cooled. Wash the glasses like you normally would, but never put them in the dishwasher. Aaaand you’re done!