Bag of bones Halloween painted rocks beside a labeled burlap bag

Bag of Bones Halloween Painted Rocks

These skeleton themed Halloween painted rocks are so much fun! Throw them in a bag to make your very own Halloween bag of bones. This is such a cool puzzle craft and it’s SO EASY to make!

Bag of bones Halloween painted rocks beside a labeled burlap bag

 

Skeleton Painted Rocks

This “bag of bones” is the perfect rock painting craft for beginners. All you need are some rocks and black and white paint pens. Paint pens make it really easy to draw and paint on rocks!

Kids will love putting the rock pieces together like a puzzle (my 7 and 10 year olds really enjoyed it!). You can also turn your bag of bones into a scavenger hunt. Hide the rocks and give a small prize for finding them all.

Our little skeleton buddy may not be entirely anatomically correct, but it’s still super cool to play with the rocks and arrange the bones. The more rocks you use, the more funny positions you can put the skeleton in!

Check out our Halloween Painted Rocks video tutorial:

*Note: Scroll down for the step-by-step photo tutorial.

Looking for more spooktacular Halloween crafts? Here’s some of our favourites:

Halloween String Art Cards

No-Sew Halloween Plushies

Lolly Pop Ghosts

Jumbled Halloween painted rocks beside their bag of bonesJumbled Halloween painted rocks beside their bag of bones

Here’s what you’ll need:

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The full printable instructions are at the end of this post, but here’s a list of products on Amazon that are similar to the supplies we used:

Supplies for making a bag of bonesSupplies for making a bag of bones

Where can I get rocks?

Smooth, flat rocks are needed for this rock painting project – we got ours from the dollar store. You can gather river rocks yourself, or you can buy them from the dollar store, Amazon, or a craft store like Michaels.

You may also be able to get them from a landscaping company, garden centers, or Home Depot – although you might need to buy a large bag. “Mexican beach pebbles” are the perfect stones for rock painting.

What type of paint pens should I use?

We recommend oil based paint markers, since they’re long lasting and don’t leave streaks. You can also use water based paint pens, if that’s what you have, but the paint will chip off fairly easily unless you use a sealer.

Skeleton rock painting for HalloweenSkeleton rock painting for Halloween

Do I need to outline the white paint?

No, you don’t have to outline the white bones, but it really helps clean up the bone shapes if your paint lines don’t look straight. The black outline really makes the bones “pop” off the rock.

Either way, you will still need the black paint pen to draw the skeleton’s mouth.

How can I paint on the burlap bag?

We used a thin brush and liquid acrylic paint to write “Bag of Bones” on our burlap bag. If you don’t want to draw it freehand you could use letter stencils. You can also write on the burlap with a regular Sharpie marker.

We tried painting on the burlap bag with our paint pens, but it just didn’t work well. The lines were too faint and the paint pens didn’t fill in the gaps in the burlap. Plus the tips were creating a lot of fuzz on the bag.

Closeup of a skeleton rock paintingCloseup of a skeleton rock painting

DIY Halloween Painted Rocks

Halloween painted skeleton rocks make a creepy but cute “bag of bones”!

Materials:

  • 11Flat black rocks
  • White paint pen
  • Fine tipped black paint pen
  • Drawstring burlap bag(5 x 7 inch size)
  • Liquid acrylic paint(to paint burlap bag)

Equipment:

Instructions:

Step 1: Draw the white parts of the skeleton

  • Using a white paint pen, draw the outline of a skull, making two circles for eye sockets and an upside down heart for the nose area.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Fill in the outline, leaving the eyes and nose unpainted.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Now draw a rib cage. Make one thick line down the center of the rock for the spine, and then draw slightly curved lines horizontally across the rock for the ribs.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Now draw a long bone with heart shapes on each end for an arm bone. Repeat for the second arm.Take two longer rocks for leg bones and draw the same bone type twice more.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • For the hands, paint an oval shape in the center of the rock and colour it in. Then draw five lines for finger bones.On a second rock, paint another hand, with the thumb on the opposite side.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Now draw a pelvis to connect the skeleton, leaving two inner oval shapes unpainted.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Finally, on the two remaining rocks paint a foot shape with five toes (be sure to paint the big toes on opposite sides).
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks

Step 2: Outline the bones in black (optional)

  • Now you can outline the skeleton with a fine tip black paint pen.Start by drawing a line around the skull, then an outline around the eyes and nose shape as well.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Use the black paint pen to draw a smile on the skull. Then make short vertical lines on the smile for the teeth.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Now draw around each of the bones in the ribcage.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Continue making a black outline around each of the bones.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks

Step 3: Paint the burlap bag

  • Use a paintbrush and white acrylic paint to write “Bag of Bones” on a burlap bag. Once the paint has dried, use a thinner brush to outline it in black paint.
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks
  • Your bag of bones is complete!
    Halloween Painted RocksHalloween Painted Rocks

Helpful Tip:

If you gather your own river rocks, be sure to wash and dry them completely before starting your bag of bones.Before you start painting your rocks, lay them out in a skeleton shape and decide which rocks you’ll be using for which body part. Smaller rocks are great for hands and feet, and a longer rock is great for the spine. 

Collage of images showing how to make bag of bones Halloween painted rocksCollage of images showing how to make bag of bones Halloween painted rocks

These Halloween painted rocks are bad to the bone! Black rocks look great with the white skeleton, but if you have white or gray rocks you can paint them another fun Halloween colour, like orange or purple.

Pin image for bag of bones Halloween painted rocksPin image for bag of bones Halloween painted rocks

Here’s even more spooktacular Halloween crafts:

Halloween String Art Cards

Pumpkin Halloween string art cardPumpkin Halloween string art card

No-Sew Halloween Plushies

Bat, jack-o'-lantern, and ghost Halloween plushiesBat, jack-o'-lantern, and ghost Halloween plushies

Lolly Pop Ghosts

Lolly pop ghostsLolly pop ghosts

Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!

Low Mess Crafts for Kids BookLow Mess Crafts for Kids Book

Where to buy:

You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:

Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |   Books- A- Million  |   Indiebound  |  Indigo  |  Amazon Canada