If you’ve been itching to use those Dollar Tree tiles for crafting, then I’ve got just the thing for you…Halloween moth garland that’s made to look like metal!
As I was browsing Halloween decorations, I saw this neat “industrial look” iron moth garland last year on the Anthropology website. I couldn’t wait to use it for inspiration for a Halloween garland DIY project.
Enter the Dollar Tree faux metal tiles.
I’d seen quite a few Dollar Tree tile crafts on Pinterest, but none that use them for Halloween garland just yet.
So, I couldn’t wait to try them out for one of this year’s Halloween DIY projects.
Now let’s get to making this “industrial looking” spooky Halloween moth garland with a few simple supplies hopefully some of which you already have on hand!
Supplies for DIY Halloween Moth Garland
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- Dollar Tree Tiles (2) – Dollar Tree
- Floral Wire – Amazon
- Black Craft Paint – Walmart
- Chippy Paintbrush – Walmart
- Glue Gun – Amazon or Walmart
- Scissors – Amazon
- Expo Dry Erase Marker
- Free Printable (below)
Print Out Free Printable and Cut Out Three Moths
First, print out the three moths. These are in color, but I selected black and white option on my printer to save my colored ink.
I used card stock so that it was a little sturdier for tracing the moths onto the tiles.
Trace the Moths onto the Dollar Tree Tile
Now it’s time to trace the moths onto the tile. For every two tracings, you’ll get one moth since you’ll be butting them up against each other when you glue them.
First, I’m taking you through the process of making one moth, and then I’ll let you know how many I made from each tile. In the end, I used two tiles to make this faux metal Halloween garland.
I started by using the largest moth cut-out shown below. Using a dry erase expo marker trace two moths onto the cloverleaf shape on the tile.
Cut Out and Paint the Dollar Store Tile Moths
Using a good pair of scissors, cut out both the traced moths from the tile. You can then easily rub the dry erase marker off with your finger.
Paint the moths using your black craft paint and cheap chippy paintbrush.
Use a dry brush technique. Dip your paintbrush into the black paint, and then blot most of the paint off onto a paper towel.
Then blot it onto the moths with the end of your brush. You want some of the grey to show through to give it a metallic appearance.
Hot Glue the Moths onto the Floral Wire
Get that glue gun heated up and take out the floral wire and two moth cut-outs.
Place a line of glue along the center of the unpainted side of one moth cut-out.
Just a quick note, that you’ll be attaching some of them to your floral wire differently so that they are going different directions. I’ll explain that later in the post.
Lay the floral wire over the line of hot glue.
Place the other moth cut-out over the hot glue and floral wire sealing them together. Line them up as best you can.
Then, using a line of hot glue, glue the outer edge of the wings on both sides.
Trim around the edge of the moth as needed to remove any white inside parts that are peaking through. The moths won’t line up exactly, so here’s where you can correct that. 🙂
Create the Remaining Moths and Attach to Floral Wire
Now, you’ll create the rest of your moths for the garland.
On the first tile, I ended up making four of the largest moths on the cloverleaf shapes as shown below where the empty shapes are.
Then I made 2 of the medium moths (as seen traced on the outer edges) and one of the small moths (seen in the middle of the tile).
Remember two moth cut-outs equals one whole moth.
On the second tile, I ended up making 1 large moth, 3 medium moths and 3 small moths. You can see them traced on the tile below.
Paint the rest of the moths just like in the first example.
Complete Garland by Attaching Moths to Floral Wire
I wanted to vary the way the moths were “flying” on the garland. Bend a loop in the floral wire and then hot glue it between two moth cut-outs.
This is the smallest moth.
Then, glue the medium moth as shown in the first example (no loop).
Now glue the last and largest moth using a loop. Repeat the pattern…small, medium, large gluing all the moths to the garland.
This is how it’s looking with all the moths glued to the floral wire. As you can see, it follows the pattern loop, no loop, loop…loop, no loop, loop. Until all the moths are glued onto the floral wire.
All that’s left to do is to hang these guys up!
Dollar Tree Tile Craft Halloween Garland DIY
So, what do you think of this garland? Kind of quirky, right?
The faux metal look was a hit for me and gives this moth garland an “industrial look”
You can vary the moth shapes any way that you prefer. You could even make all the same size moths for your garland.
Another idea is to use gorilla putty to place them flying up a wall. And I may just have to try that out!
I feel like the putty would probably take the paint off though so keep that in mind. Or you could just paint one side! Oh, the possibilities! 😉
Leave me a comment with any questions, and, as always, thanks so much for reading!
Oh, and one more thing! Be sure to have a fun and spooky Halloween!
Now it’s time to stop at the Dollar Tree and grab a few tiles to make this unique looking moth garland craft idea!
Pin me on Pinterest to save this idea!
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