I seriously love Halloween. There’s just something about fall and kids dressing up as their favorite things that makes me happy. Combine all of that with being scared witless (in a fun way) and I am in my element! What I don’t love though is how expensive Halloween costumes have gotten. Seriously, finding budget friendly Halloween costumes can be a pain in the – well you get the idea. I remember costumes being just a few dollars when I was a kid, but by the time I had given birth to my Emma, they were outrageous. I want my daughter to have an amazing Halloween, but I’m also cheap, so I felt like I only had one option – DIY Halloween costumes. My kid isn’t like a lot of others. For her Halloween costumes, she prefers things like zombies and the like. That meant that I needed to find a way to make homemade Halloween blood without going broke and without using a product that was full of nasty chemicals and could potentially hurt her. The result is this homemade Halloween blood that is non-toxic, edible, looks like the real thing and worked amazingly well for our DIY Zombie Bride costume!
I first came across this homemade theater blood when I was doing zombie makeup for Emma’s homemade zombie costume a few years ago. She looked amazing – seriously, she looked pretty scary – and this Halloween blood was just the finishing touches that her costume needed. I may or may not have taken pleasure in the fact that I was able to destroy a Justin Beiber t-shirt with the original costume, but that is neither here nor there. Plus, since this homemade Halloween blood is non-toxic, we were able to “coat” her teeth so that she really had that true zombie look! It worked out amazing and she received so many compliments!
Homemade Halloween Blood {Homemade Theater Blood}
When you make this homemade Halloween blood, you’ll just be eyeballing the ingredients. I’m sure that someone somewhere has written the measurements down, but I found it to be quicker and easier to just eyeball things. If you are having trouble figuring out how much you need, take a step back and look at your product. If it is too runny, you need more corn syrup. If it’s too light, try more chocolate syrup. If it isn’t red enough, add more food coloring.
You will need:
Start by adding around 1/2 cup corn syrup to a medium mixing bowl. Be careful not to spill it or to get it on your hands. It will make everything around it and everything you touch a sticky mess that I’m certain you don’t want to clean up. Whenever I make this homemade theater blood, I always use a metal bowl. For some reason it seems to be easier to clean up plus it is less likely to stain from the food coloring.
Next, mix in approximately 1/2 cup chocolate syrup and use a plastic spoon (or another item you don’t mind getting destroyed) until it is fully combined. Once you’ve got it combined, you won’t be able to see any of the clear from the corn syrup.
Once you have the chocolate syrup and corn syrup combined well, slowly start adding the red food coloring. I usually start with 5 drops making sure I mix well after each addition. Make certain that you don’t go crazy and instead, add 2-3 drops at a time until you have the color you are looking for. You’ll know you’ve got it right when the red food coloring combines with he chocolate syrup and you’ve achieved a reddish brown hue that looks like real blood.
Once you’ve got the color you’ve been wanting, your homemade Halloween blood is ready to use! Add it to your Halloween costume or use it as an accent to your homemade Halloween decorations like my serial killer bathroom Halloween decor. Either way, just keep in mind that it is super sticky and super sweet tasting. If your’re using it for your costume, you absolutely will need to climb in the shower after. It’s also a great idea to protect your car seats with a seat protector like THIS one as well if you or your kids will be wearing it in the car. We found that out the hard way the first year we used it.
If you’re doing a DIY Halloween costume and not only decorations, use your homemade Halloween blood to create the illusion that your zombie, serial killer or whatever is bloody. With the homemade zombie costume and DIY zombie bride costume, I dipped an old washrag into the bowl and dabbed where we wanted her to have “blood pools.” Then, I re-dipped the rag and just kind of flung the Halloween blood on her shirt, arms, legs and pants. Yes. We did it outdoors to avoid a mess. Yes. I actually did dip the rag and start swinging it at her. She thought it was the greatest thing ever. My kid is a strange duck sometimes.
I do want to mention one last thing. As I said, this homemade theater blood is very, very sticky. If you get it into your hair, you may find that regular shampoo has a hard time removing it. Over the years, I’ve found that my homemade coconut shampoo recipe (found HERE) removes it extremely easily with no left over residue.
