Halloween Stones: Tic-Tac-Toe + Free Printable

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You may remember the Story Stones I made over the summer? Well, I thought I would use the same technique I used back then, to make Halloween stones! 

But then I thought what could I actually do with them? Then the idea popped into my head to paint more stones with the same characters and use them to play a Halloween version of Tic-Tac-toe; which I have called Pumpkins & Ghosts!

Halloween Stones

I didn’t use paint to paint these Halloween Stones – I used pens instead. Specifically POSCA paint pens which are amazing! They making painting on stones so much easier (I’m rubbish at using a paint brush) and they come in a huge range of colours and pen tip sizes too.

I got the stones from a local DIY store – a huge bag (like 20kg or something) for just a few quid. They are all different shapes and sizes, which is just perfect for this particular craft, as I didn’t want the stones to be all uniform in nature. You can of course by flat stones which are ready for crafting with. You could even have a dig around in your garden, you might find some out there!

Pumpkins & Ghosts

To make the pumpkins and ghosts for this Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe game, you will need 10 stones in all – 5 for the pumpkins, and 5 for the ghosts.

For the pumpkins use round (ish) stones. Paint in orange first and allow to try. Then draw on the features in bright yellow, and add the green stalk. Finally, outline in black so that everything stands out. For the ghosts, try to use longer stones. Cover in white first (you may need a few layers) and allow to dry. Draw on eyes and mouth in different expressions, and outline in black.

You don’t have to be an amazing artist to make these stones, and kids will have lots of fun coming up with different faces and expressions for the Halloween characters!

Everyone knows how to play Tic-Tac-Toe right? (Get the free printable further down the page) The game is for two players, and each player takes it in turns to lay a stone on the grid until one person makes a line across – either horizontal, vertical, or diagonally. The person who makes the line first is the winner.

I’ve created boards not just for Pumpkins & Ghosts, but also for Skulls & Bones, and Witches & Werewolves. You can make any combination of stones that you like – just draw the grid on a piece of paper and away you go!

Skulls & Bones

For the skulls and bones, I found some triangular (ish!) shaped stones that were perfect – they would also be great for aliens! To draw the skull, use a cream or white coloured POSCA pen to draw the skull outline, and allow to dry. Draw on two eye sockets, nose holes and a row of teeth as shown. Outline the skull in black (I’m aware I forgot to do two of them!). For the bones I used longer stones, and drew a long thick line across the stone with two circles at either end to create a bone design. Again, allow to dry and outline in black.

I didn’t actually end up completing all of these stones in time for photographing, but I’ve included what I did do to give you an idea of how to paint the stones.

Witches & Werewolves (& Frankie!)

For the witch, I found a stone that tapered to a point at one end. I first drew her face in green and allowed to dry, before painting her hat on (I left a gap for the yellow band). I then drew in her hair and facial features, and course outlined in black.

For the werewolf I used a brown POSCA pen to draw a circle onto a large flat stone. I then added jagged triangles around for fur, and two big triangles for ears. I added in facial features, and outlined.

The final one – Frankenstein’s Monster was paited on a stone that I thought looked like a big head! I covered it in green first, then drew on a furrowed brow, hair, and facial features. I then used a silver POSCA to draw on the bolts, and then used the same silver pen to highlight the eyes and teeth. Again, an outline of black to finish off. I did draw a devil too, but it just looked rubbish so I’ve not included it!!

I hope you have fun making these Halloween Stones – I know I did! As always, if you make them, please share on Instagram or Twitter and use the hashtag #ThePurplePumpkinBlog or #TPPB so I can find you! You can always tag me too.

POSCA TIPS

• You have to shake the pens to get the ink flowing when you first use them. I found you have to shake REALLY well! Do this before the kids use the pens so that they’re ready to go.
• Colours can be layered on top of each other, but you must wait for the layer to dry otherwise they become smudged – unless that’s the style you’re going for!
• If you do mix colours, make sure you remove the different colour from the pen nib by scribbling on a scrap piece of paper.
• Push the pen nib down a few tips to allow the ink to flow out more – handy for covering larger areas (although takes a bit longer to dry)
• If you make a mistake, wait for it to dry and draw over it it!
• Use light and dark of the same colour to add outlines or create depth.
• Use pictures from books, magazines, comics, and online for drawing inspiration.
• Story stones can be as simple or as intricate as your skills allow!
• If you’ve bought stones from a DIY shop, they will probably be a bit grubby or covered in sand. Wash them off and allow to dry before painting.
• To remove the ink/paint from skin, use warm soapy water. I also found that hand gel works too.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you clicked the link then made a purchase, a small percentage of the sale price would be paid to this me. It doesn’t cost you anything more but it helps keep the lights on over here!

As with pretty much all my printables, they come in two paper sizes – A4 for the UK, and 8.5 x 11″ for the USA (and other countries that use these paper sizes as standard). Each page has one tic-tac-toe game board on it – one each for Pumpkins & Ghosts, Skulls & Bones, and Witches & Werewolves.

Free Printable Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe Boards

• Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe Boards – A4

• Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe Boards – 8.5″ x 11″

Please feel free to share these Halloween Stones + Free Printable Tic-Tac-Toe Boards by using the social buttons on the side or bottom of this post! Don’t forget that you can join The Pumpkin Patch for member exclusive freebies, offers, and more; and follow The Purple Pumpkin Blog posts on Feedly or on Bloglovin’ so that you don’t miss out!

Crafty October on The Purple Pumpkin Blog is a month long celebration of everything Halloween and Autumn. Filled with free printables, crafts, recipes, and more – now in its 6th year! You can check out Crafty October from 2016, 2015, 2014,  2013 and 2012 for tons more Halloween ideas and inspiration!

And if you are a blogger and would like to share your ideas, check out the Crafty October 2017 Blogger Linky which is running until 31st October 2017.

The documents are a PDF and can be opened with Adobe Reader which is free to use.
Printables created by The Purple Pumpkin Blog are for personal use only and not for resale. If you wish to link to, pin or share my printables, you are welcome to do so as long as a link back to the blog post is shown and the watermarks are kept intact. Colours may vary slightly on printing due to different screen and printer settings. If you use any of my printables it would be awesome to know about it! Just leave me a comment, here on my blog, on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest! I hope you find them useful!

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