How to Create a Spooky Curiosity Cabinet

Today, we’re sharing how to create a spooky curiosity cabinet for Halloween. This is a simple diy you can easily complete in an afternoon and customize to fit your Halloween party decorations or home décor.

A few weeks ago, I made a few festive decorations for my sweet nephews.  They are bananas for all things Halloween and have been basically asking to pick out their costumes since the summer season began. 

I’ve never really decorated for Halloween before but their excitement over the holiday was so contagious, I knew I had to help them create a spooky house. 

So far, we’ve created DIY Halloween Trees,  Easy Halloween Decorations, Medusa, a Halloween Treat Station and a Glow in the Dark Halloween Bucket.

All the projects we’ve created have been very budget friendly and the littles have enjoyed each of the simple yet festive decorations. Most especially, the spooky curiosity cabinet we made them for Halloween.

I was certain they would appreciate the idea because they love to find “treasures” whenever they’re on nature walks.  Like a lot of kids, it’s not uncommon for the littles to pick up random things from a rock to a feather to a snakeskin. 

Creating a spooky curiosity cabinet for Halloween is not very involved at all.  You just need a few items that can be picked up at most craft supply stores, a home computer with a printer and paper. 

Here’s a look at how you can create a spooky curiosity cabinet for Halloween too…

Curiosity Cabinet Supplies:

• Bottles (they should be label free, clean and completely dry prior to starting this project)
• Halloween Apothecary or Potion Labels (we used these labels from The Graphics Fairy)
• Mod Podge
• Foam or Craft Brush
• Scissors
• Tarp
• Curiosities (most of our curiosities came from the Dollar Tree)
• Home Computer
• Printer
• Paper

Curiosity Cabinet Steps:

Gather your supplies and lay a tarp down to protect your work surface. Then print out the Halloween labels on printer paper using your home computer.

We found these potion labels online at the Graphics Fairy.  She has a variety of Halloween options and most of the graphics on her website are free!

Using caution and care as scissors will be sharp, carefully cut out each label.

Once you have the labels cut out, carefully brush Mod Podge glue onto the bottle in the area you’ll be placing the label.  Then layer the Halloween label directly over the Mod Podge.

After you have the label in place, brush another coat of Mod Podge onto the bottle.

Set aside and allow to dry completely.

It’s up to you to decide when you want to fill your bottles with spooky Halloween curiosities.  A note of caution though, you don’t want to get your labels wet so keep that in mind if you plan to fill your bottles with liquid.

Spooky Curiosity Ideas:

• Moon Dust – Crushed up Necco Wafers
• Love Potion – Two Faux Fire Ants + Water + 1-2 Drops of Red Food Coloring
• Witches Brew – Loose Tea Leaves + Pistachios
• Wing of Bat – Dried Black Beans
• Eye of Newt – Plastic Eyeballs + Water + 1 Drop Red Food Coloring
• Charmed Morsels – Dry Linguine + Water + 1-2 Drops Yellow Food Coloring (will look like flat worms over time)
• Web of Spider – Faux Spider Web + Plastic Spiders
• Glow in the Dark Mermaid – The mermaid grows once you add water and glows in the dark as well.  Every morning the littles check to see if she has broken out of the bottle yet ?
• Lost Pirates – Plastic Skeleton Ornaments

Keep in mind, this spooky curiosity cabinet needs to be placed in an area where curious littles or mischievous pets do not have direct access or are unsupervised. 

We picked up most of the items to make our spooky curiosity cabinet at our local craft supply store and the Dollar Tree, but it would also be cool to go on a nature walk and find treasures too. 

Just make sure they’re free from pests before bringing the treasures inside or placing in bottles. 

As with all the Halloween projects we’ve complete so far, our goal is to make ideas like this spooky curiosity cabinet for Halloween be simple to create, budget friendly and the supplies easily accessible.

After all, when it comes to Fall festivities bobbing for apples and doing the Monster Mash ranks right up there with crafting ghoulish fun!

What are you making for Halloween?  Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Many blessings,

CoCo