↑

Crafts by Amanda

crafts for adults and kid's crafts

Craft Tutorials | Holiday Crafts | Halloween Crafts | Jack O’Lantern TV

Jack O’Lantern TV

Author by on Updated on

5 from 2 votes
Jump to Project
How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!

 

I’ve been pulling this Jack O’Lantern TV out of my attic every year for the past five years. It’s a really unique Halloween decoration, one that gets all sorts of comments from parents and kids alike during trick or treating. Turning an old TV into a Jack O’Lantern wasn’t my original idea, but I tried to find the person that did it.

Jack O’Lantern TV

See in 2010 I posted on Facebook saying that I was spray painting a TV for my next project. That aroused some curiosity! One day in the fall of 2009 I was watching CNN and they had this really cool Jack O’Lantern TV sitting on the counter right behind the anchor desk. I would love to give credit to the mastermind behind this Jack O’Lantern TV, but I was unable to find anything except for the transcript of that show that I was watching. There’s a snippet at the very bottom of the transcript that says someone named Karen came up with the idea and that she even sells them. I’m sorry Karen, I couldn’t find anything on CNN’s blog about it or anywhere else, but thank you for the inspiration!

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!

Here’s a video demonstrating what it looks like:

 

(As you can see, I have done my best to credit the creator and my inspiration for this project. It’s always important to give credit to a source and link back whenever possible when you make something you find somewhere else.)

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!

Other than painting the TV, I don’t know how Karen made her face. I chose to use vinyl.

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!
Things you will need:

There are several options for the face:

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!

I covered the screen with plain paper using that blue painter’s tape. Don’t want any paint on the screen, but you could easily remove it with vinegar or window cleaner if need be.

Then I used a white primer to spray the entire television. I let that dry for about 20 minutes.

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!

Then came the orange spray paint. So funny, after I finished painting it my daughter happened to walk outside and said “What the? What are you doing to that TV Ma?” Ha ha!

While the orange paint was drying, I found a fun face stencil and put it in Adobe Illustrator (I just have the trial version) to change the shape a bit. Then I used a cutting machine to cut the stencil from black vinyl.

I sprayed a coat of matte sealer over the orange also.

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!

Then simply stick the vinyl face to the TV screen and turn it on! Turn the volume down all the way and do not connect the TV to cable or satellite, you just want a snowy screen.

Here’s a video I shared on Instagram a couple years ago with my cute kitten :) Some friends that saw the photos thought I had painted the snowy screen, so I made the videos in this post to show what it looks like.

Hope you enjoyed this project! If you like things that glow in the dark for Halloween you will probably like my Halloween luminaries, my monster yard lights, and these creepy hand luminaries! Oh and don’t forget my Pumpkin Painting Party! Happy Halloween!

Print Project
5 from 2 votes

Jack O'Lantern TV

Author: Amanda Formaro

Supplies

  • An old TV that you don’t care about but it has to be able to turn on. You need the “snow” that appears on the screen to get the full effect.
  • Painter’s tape
  • paper or newspaper
  • White spray primer
  • Orange spray paint
  • Matte sealer spray
  • Face see below

Face

  • Paint it with acrylic craft paint
  • Use a Sharpie permanent marker
  • Use decoupage Mod Podge and black paper
  • Electrical tape or black duct tape

Instructions

  • I covered the screen with plain paper using that blue painter’s tape. Don’t want any paint on the screen, but you could easily remove it with vinegar or window cleaner if need be.
  • Then I used a white primer to spray the entire television. I let that dry for about 20 minutes.
  • Then came the orange spray paint. So funny, after I finished painting it my daughter happened to walk outside and said “What the? What are you doing to that TV Ma?” Ha ha!
  • While the orange paint was drying, I found a fun face stencil and put it in Adobe Illustrator (I just have the trial version) to change the shape a bit. Then I used a cutting machine to cut the stencil from black vinyl.
  • I sprayed a coat of matte sealer over the orange also.
  • Then simply stick the vinyl face to the TV screen and turn it on! Turn the volume down all the way and do not connect the TV to cable or satellite, you just want a snowy screen.

 

How to make a spooky Jack O'Lantern TV! A great conversation piece too, parents and kids alike will be commenting on how cool it is!
Latest posts by Amanda Davis (see all)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emma says

    I would like to paint a tv for a different purpose and was happy to see that someone else has done this. Out of curiosity, did the paint ruin the buttons of the tv?

    Reply

  6. Lesley says

    Hi again, Amanda! Thanks for offering to send a .pdf of the face template. My e-mail is lesley.withers @gmail.com (no space). It'd be great to have for next time!! :)

    Reply

  8. Ginger B says

    Hi! I just found this last week and I found a cheap tv this morning at a yard sale to make it :O)
    but I thought I saw a link to a face template and I guess I didnt. any chance you can send me a pdf of it? Im going to paint my tv in a few minutes.. so I can put it out tomorrow night for the trick or treaters :)

    Thank you so much!
    Ginger
    email is ginrob @mail.com (no space)

    Reply

  9. Amanda says

    I'm sorry I answered this so late Lesley! Obviously it's way late for getting you the stencil, I'm so sorry! If you still want something, I could do up a PDF and you could print it out and use that, let me know!

    Reply

  10. Lesley says

    I'm a new fan, & I love this one! I especially like the face stencil. For those of us without a Silhouette cutting machine or the template for this face pattern, might you be willing to make/sell your design? I'd certainly be happy to buy a couple!

    Reply

  16. greenbean says

    omg!…i freaking love this!…and guess what i was able to snag off my neighbors trash pile tonite!…i'll be picking up the spray paint tomorrow!…i'm going to love having this on the porch the nite of trick or treating!…

    Reply

  20. LissaMe says

    oh wow I love this and no rotting pumpkin to deal with after halloween. This would be perfect for my kids halloween party… You've got my wheels turning now.. Thanks for the inspiration

    Reply

  22. Envy My Cooking says

    Found your blog through links…If you ever need new recipes come swing by our blog. we also have a great give away going on now.. A free purse of your choice

    Reply

  33. shirley says

    I love this idea! Sad to say we have 2 older TVs in the basement that we have yet to get rid of because they cannot be programmed to cable and can't be fixed (grr) Now if I can just get my husband to haul them upstairs, I will be putting them on my front porch come Halloween night. Very spooky with the static!!

    Reply

  37. Katie says

    OH my… LOVE this! I think I need to go to goodwill and find a very inexpensive TV… I think my husband will probably really think I'm whacko… but I need this in my Halloween decoration collection!

    Reply

  39. Michelle@Somedaycrafts says

    This is hilarious! I wish I had a spare TV around!!!!! I just see this on my front porch! I highlighted this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. You have amazing ideas!

    Reply

  40. Amanda says

    Thank you for all of your kind comments!

    Yes shabnam, the screen is on and working, that's the "snow" you see when you have the TV turned to an inoperable channel. There's a video right above the comments so you can see how it looks.

    Reply

  42. jane says

    This is so cute. We have a couple of old T.V.s and my hubby loves to spray paint, so this is a craft project we can enjoy together. Thank you for the inspiration! Our little ones will love it I am sure. Thank you for your wonderful recipes also. I am going to make more of them this week.

    Reply

  46. Jami says

    I'm going out tomorrow to find an old tv!!! That is AWESOME!
    Thanks so much for sharing (and for the gentle reminder to credit the inspirations!)
    smiles~

    Reply
5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate This Project




All Time Favorites

Meet the Family

Amanda

Founder and Designer

Kristen

Editorial Manager

Lindsay

Social Media Manager

As seen on: