How To Make A Stunning DIY Sugar Skull From A Boring Brain Dome

DIY Sugar Skull

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When the movie Coco came out, I thought it looked cute, but I wasn’t in a hurry to see it.

Upon the urging of my youngest son’s girlfriend, I finally gave in, popped some popcorn, and settled in for the show.

I immediately fell in love with the characters, the story, the music, and the holiday.

Día de Muertos—the Day of the Dead—and Halloween bump up next to each other on the calendar, and though they are different holidays, more traditional Day of the Dead decor is showing up in stores in the Halloween section.

I love the traditions and celebrations surrounding the holiday, especially the sugar skull pieces.

The custom of the sugar skull honors the dead and represents the soul of a loved one.

Dia de Muertos is November 1 and November 2 this year, so whether you plan to celebrate the holiday, incorporate it with Halloween, or host a Coco watch party, today’s project might be for you.

So, let’s get started.

Let's Make A 3D DIY Sugar Skull

For this project, we will need:

Skull – I grabbed this one from Amazon
Paint or markers
Paint tools such as brushes, daubers, cotton swabs, etc.
Florals
Hot glue or other adhesive
Embellishments such as craft gems, poms, glitter, etc.

Get Creative With Your Cranium

Before we dive into decorating our brain dome, take a moment to look at sugar skulls online for inspiration.

Florals, flourishes, vibrant colors, and metallics are customary characteristics, but you can personalize your piece however you like.

For my sugar skull, I’m going to design it on the fly and let inspiration strike as I go.

I do know that I want to add a large ring of flowers around the top of the skull, so my design will focus on the face area.

I picked up this two-piece skull from Amazon, and as I really like the soft, warm white color, I’m going to leave my skull bare.

If you want something different, you can add a base layer of paint to your skull.

Ok, let’s dive in.

Color Your Cranium

First, I’m painting the eye cavity of my sugar skull Prussian blue.

I used a blending tool to get a more even and complete coverage.

While those areas dry, I’m painting the interior of the nose in the same color.

With the eye area dry, I apply a lighter pearlized blue, blending it into the darker blue.

The pearl paint will give the eye area a bit of shimmer and add dimension.

Next, I’m applying metallic turquoise paint to the deep recesses of the nose.

I love the metallic turquoise paint, so I’m using it to line the edge of the eyes to make them pop.

Moving to the teeth, I’m using a paint pen to add a dot along each tooth.

The mouth needs more definition, so I’m adding a thin line around the gumline with a periwinkle paint color using a superfine micro paintbrush.

I also used the periwinkle paint to dot around the eyes and the nose.

She’s looking pretty, but to add more interest, I dotted the turquoise metallic paint over the pen dots around the mouth.

I added some dot flowers to the hollows of the cheeks.

These flowers are super simple to make.

Use the end of a paintbrush or cotton swab to make the center dot, then surround it with more dots to form the flower.

Layer your colors as desired then, highlight the center of the flower with a few tiny dots.

The teeth need more definition, so I diluted the pearl blue to create a shadow between each tooth.

I love how these colors work together, and I’m enjoying the process, so I continue adding florals, dots, and flourishes wherever I feel they are needed.