DIY Halloween Vampire Blood Slime
Learn how to make this creepy Vampire Blood Slime with Free Printable for a fun Halloween craft and activity for kids!
I love holidays because they are the perfect time for crafting! Even if you don’t have it in your schedule to make lots of things and DIY up the whole world, everybody has time to get their hands dirty with the kids for the holidays. One of my favorite holidays is most definitely Halloween.
There’s something for cutesy and there is something for creepy crafts on Halloween and today we’re going kind of creepy. But not so creepy that little kids are going to cry or anything, just creepy enough!
Now if you’re wondering how hard it is to make Borax-free vampire’s blood slime the truth is it’s freaking difficult. I made a whole mess of batches and some didn’t set up and some turned straight up pink. Now what kind of vampire starts bleeding out Pepto Bismol? None, that’s who.
Eventually, I got a recipe that I think is just perfect. And to celebrate I even purchased some oversized plastic test tubes from the party section at Michael’s, whipped up some warning specimen labels, and got after packaging these up into the cutest little Halloween handout or party gift. Ready to make your own?
For this project you will need:
- Clear glue
- White school glue
- Contact solution WITH boric acid (a must!)
- Baking soda
- Red liquid food coloring
- Plastic test tubes
- Free Vampire’s Blood Specimen Sample Printables (random vampires, Count Dracula only, fill in the blank)
(a must!)
How to Make the Slime
To start you’ll need about a cup of clear glue and 1 tablespoon of white school glue. Much more school glue and your blood will turn pink and not any and it will remain transparent and not very “blood-like”.
Color your glue mixture with liquid food coloring. I love gel food coloring for lots and lots of things, but if you don’t want to spend ages trying to dissolve all of the little balls of gel by stirring for ages, go liquid!
Sprinkle 1.5 tablespoons of baking soda on top of your glue mixture and stir until well incorporated.
Slowly but surely add your contact/saline solution with boric acid to the glue mixture and stir in. Your slime should start to take shape, turning the center of the bowl into a congealed glop with lots of liquid around the edges.
Keep adding solution and stirring until the slime begins to thread and easily pull away from the bowl. If you dip your finger in the solution and it is very sticky and runny, like above, it’s not quite there, yet.
Ah, that’s better. This is right about where you want your bowl of slime to be. Right now it’s really, really sticky and we’re going to have to knead it to get rid of that texture that makes it more of a mess and less fun.
Filling Test Tubes with Slime
Using both hands begin kneading the slime, working it together well. As you work it the texture will become more firm and stretchy and less drippy. It will also begin to easily pull away from your skin when you rub your hands together. If your hands are very dry, as mine always are from OCD over washing, it’s a good idea to moisturize the hands and arms up to the elbows really well to ensure that you can knead the slime well enough to get to this stage where it is no longer sticky.
Once you’ve got the perfect “vampire goo” state of your slime, it’s time to get it into these awesome, oversized plastic test tubes/vials. I purchased these in the party/food section at Michael’s. You might be wondering why use these when there are proper glass test tubes to be found all over since it’s the Halloween season. Well, I hate having glass around kids in a play setting. It just freaks my business out. Secondly, and I’m not sure why, but when I was testing this recipe with glass beakers, like a mad scientist would use, the next morning I came into my office with slime and glass EVERYWHERE because everything exploded. All of ’em. Womp, womp.
It’s Sticky, So Use a Funnel
This slime, while fresh, is still kind of sticky, and getting it into these tubes isn’t the easiest thing around. Since we’ve all got other things to do, I’d highly suggest filling the bottles using a funnel. Put the funnel into the tube, plop some slime in there, and give it about 5 minutes per tube to fill up.
After the kiddos play with the slime for a time it will be less runny and more stretchy, making it easier to refill the tubes. Or you can get all sensory play in this business and let them borrow your funnel, too 🙂
Print the Printable
Print your free warning specimen labels and cut them out. Adhere to your tubes with your favorite glue.
Quick tip!
Cover the printouts with a laminating adhesive or spray with polyurethane to keep the print from running or messing up when the tube comes into contact with the slime.
Also, it will also keep the slime from taking the black print straight off of the label making an odd discoloration in the goop.
I went with a wet bond of rubber cement and those suckers are going nowhere. Be sure to let your adhesive dry fully and you’re set!
Now isn’t that just too much fun? A little gross, as Halloween often is, without being just too, too grody, right?
Right!
A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.