Are you looking for a spine-tingling craft that’s both eerie and elegant? Halloween candles offer the perfect solution to light up your home with spooky charm. Come along as one creative Halloween enthusiast transformed   ordinary and inexpensive candles into haunting skeleton masterpieces. These are projects you’ll definitely want to recreate this season! A whimsical Halloween candle with a skeleton lounging in a shallow bowl of wax, skeleton's head wrapped in a tiny washcloth. The candle glows softly, casting eerie shadows in a dimly lit room, spooky yet playful Halloween decor The Start of a Halloween Candle Obsession This DIY journey began with a passion for Halloween decor and a big imagination. Rather than settling for store-bought decorations, a crafty husband decided to create something unique. “Why settle for the usual when you can add a personal touch?” he asked. That’s when the idea to combine skeletons and candles came to life. Using just a few simple items from local stores, he surprised his wife with something extraordinary. As you’ll soon see, what followed was an easy yet inspiring DIY journey that Halloween fans everywhere can enjoy. Are you curious to know more? Keep reading to discover how you can craft your own spooky candles! Candle #1: Skelly’s Spa Day The first candle creation was both spooky and playful. Think of  a skeleton lounging in a bowl of molten wax as if enjoying an eternal spa day. He started the project with a plastic skeleton from Walmart, which he then transformed into something delightfully eerie. To avoid melting the plastic, he removed the legs and glued the torso to the rim of a shallow bowl. Next, he placed wicks where the knees once were and poured melted wax into the bowl, creating a “bath” for the lounging skeleton. Finally, he wrapped the skeleton’s head in a small washcloth, adding a whimsical yet spooky touch. Once cooled, the Halloween candle became the centerpiece of their spooky decor—creepy but oddly comforting! Candle #2: Skull-Studded Elegance Our intrepid artisan next  created a Halloween candle that amped up the creepiness without leaving the chic. Using two glued bowls, several black candles, and trusty DIY tools, this second project became an eerie yet refined creation. What made this candle stand out were the small plastic skulls lining the base. First, he glued half-skulls around the bottom, giving the candle a striking visual effect. Then, to complete the look, he wrapped the candle in creepy cloth, making it hauntingly beautiful. If this sparked your interest, keep reading to see how the third candle took things to an even spookier level! Candle #3: The Spider Bowl What’s Halloween without a few creepy-crawly spiders? The third candle embraced the spider theme with a candy bowl. First, he painted the bowl with a mixture of black acrylic paint and baking soda, giving it a gritty texture that resembled a tarantula’s hairy legs. After the bowl dried, it became the perfect holder for a candle and enhanced the overall eerie atmosphere. By now, you’re probably itching to start your own spooky candle-making session, right? But wait—there’s even more to come! Candle #4: Skeleton Hands at Play Next, our hero focused on simplicity with a bone-chilling twist. He transformed a black candle into a Halloween statement piece by gluing plastic skeleton hands around its sides. The result? A candle that looked like the undead was holding it—an eerie addition to any spooky setup. For added flair, he used glow-in-the-dark paint on the skeleton hands. This made the Halloween candle stand out even more in a dimly lit room! Candle #5: Behind Bars Finally, the “Behind Bars” candle took the spookiness to new heights. He encased two small skeletons in floating tea light holders, creating the illusion that they were trapped. Using hot glue, he secured the skeletons in place, and wax poured around them sealed the deal on this spine-chilling decoration.   Create Your Own Haunted Halloween Candles! Are you feeling inspired yet? These Halloween candles proves that with a little creativity and some budget-friendly materials, you can craft Halloween decor that can truly stand out. Whether you’re aiming for eerie elegance or playful spookiness, these DIY projects are perfect for transforming your home into a haunted masterpiece this Halloween season. Ready to make your own? For more DIY ideas on crafting spooky Halloween decor, check out Better Homes & Gardens for additional inspiration.

Fake and Faith on the Campaign Trail

McDonalds Freakout Memes

Well, Yeah, But He Didn't *REALLY* Assassinate Him

Was Gunung Padang the work of an unknown advanced civilization... or is it just a volcano?

The extravehicular spacesuit that will be used by the next astronauts on the Moon has been revealed.

Both look ominous, but one is more likely than the other to actually cause harm.

A Colorado school district’s ban on Black Lives Matter and transgender flags only survived a few days before it caved to an intersectional alphabet mob. One lone mom is now going viral for standing up to the cowardly Durango school board in front of a room filled with shrieking rainbow people.  BREAKING: Durango Schools in CO which previously banned Pride and BLM flags just reversed its decision after pressure from LGBTQ activists. Trans activists and students showed up at the board meeting to advocate for the display of the flags. Here one mom surrounded by LGBTQ… https://t.co/hnFF3F9CRr pic.twitter.com/f2cjE1uLdX — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 20, 2024 “We talk about inclusion. It has to be the inclusion of everybody,” she began as rows of people wearing rainbow tape over their mouths rolled their eyes behind her. “Where’s the inclusion for straight kids?” she asked. The mother claimed she has children who come home “uncomfortable” because “they don’t identify as a pronoun.” But the “inclusive” crowd responded with jeers, to which she turned around and fired back. “That’s not okay,” she complained, explaining that classrooms should be “neutral.”  “If you don’t feel safe, I’m sorry you don’t feel safe,” the mother added, referring to the Left’s “safe-space” rhetoric. “But it’s not just LGBTQ and Black Lives Matter people who do not feel safe,” she continued. “School is a place of learning. It is not a place of indoctrination.” That line of common sense seemed to shock the room, as one smug teenager draped in pride flags gaped his mouth like a cod fish.  “Reading, writing, arithmetic, real science and real history” are the subjects this mother added that “students should have to concentrate on.” “Not what political view or stances their teachers take,” she asserted, as the soy boy then placed his head in his hands. But her next line triggered the entire room even further.  The mother dared to suggest schools should “put up the Ten freaking Commandments.”  She finished her speech with a warning to the board: “It’s a hard world and all you guys are doing to these students is making them soft.” The howling room of professional victims seemed to prove that point.  On October 1, the district had initially announced their ban on displaying woke political flags in classrooms. But after mass-outrage which included members of Durango High School’s “Black Student Alliance” planning a class walkout, the board immediately reversed its decision.

On Sunday night, the the 60 Minutes team at CBS News put out a statement of self-defense about their sneaky or sleazy editing of their Kamala Harris interview special. The word salad aired in a Face The Nation promo didn’t match the more coherent answer that aired the next night. CBS claimed "Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.” But CBS News has yet to release an unedited video or full transcript of the interview, which would put these matters to rest. The radioactive fact that they won’t simply release the full reality here signals that it’s not going to make either CBS or Kamala look good. In his “Reliable Sources” newsletter, Brian Stelter's headline was "60 Minutes refutes Trump." Rebut, maybe, but not refute. Stelter wrote: "For a long while CBS declined to comment on the dispute, but last night CBS responded to his hot air with a cool-headed statement. The network did not admit to any screwup. Trump will surely keep talking about this on the trail since it plays into they're-all-out-to-get-us narrative." So CBS isn't out to beat Trump and elect Harris?  Trump suggested the FCC should pull CBS's license. The largest fine in FCC history came in 2020, under Trump. Guess who agreed to pay $48 million? Sinclair Broadcasting.  Then look at CBS ripping Trump for having some fun with Kamala Harris's unproven claim that she worked at McDonald's one summer. Trump manned the drive-through and served up some fries at a franchise in Pennsylvania.   Ed O’Keefe on CBS weirdly claimed Trump had "no evidence" that Harris did NOT work there. Harris has yet to prove she did, but the liberal reporters say "she said she did," and that should be good enough.  O'Keefe said Trump's campaign day “included a visit to a McDonald’s, closed just for him, where he tried scoring political points after claiming without any evidence, that Vice President Harris didn’t once work at the fast food chain while in college.” The New York Times headline was "Trump, Slinging Fries and Smearing Harris, Takes Turn Behind a McDonald’s Counter." Reporter Michael Gold sent this message: "The visit married his two fixations: his well-documented affection for fast food — McDonald’s in particular — and a more recent pattern of accusing Vice President Kamala Harris without evidence of lying about a summer job working at McDonald’s." Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.  

For our first annual Free Speech Awards, the Media Research Center (MRC) is honoring 35 champions of the First Amendment, including five members of the U.S. Senate, 10 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 10 additional public officials and 10 outstanding advocates of free speech in non-governmental organizations. On Monday, MRC announced its Senate honorees. Today, it is recognizing ten members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have stood strong for Americans’ free speech rights, especially on social media. The recipients of the MRC’s 2024 Free Speech Awards are Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Ben Cline (R-VA), Tom Cole (R-OK), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rich McCormick (R-GA) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA). MRC Founder and President Brent Bozell hailed these lawmakers in a statement announcing the awards as part of Free Speech Week.  “We mark the second day of free speech week with the 2024 Top 10 House Members to defend the First Amendment,” Bozell said. “Speaker Mike Johnson, along with Chairmen Jim Jordan and Tom Cole, have led the effort to investigate and halt censorship efforts from the federal government.”  Bozell continued: “It is truly astounding how much the deep state was able to censor during the Biden-Harris years, and how much these defenders of free speech have been able to halt through their Congressional efforts.” Five awarded congressmen have faced online censorship as documented in MRC’s exclusive CensorTrack database. ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)  Speaker Johnson has marshaled Congressional leaders, in an unprecedented way, to fight for the preservation of the First Amendment by defunding censorship initiatives throughout the Biden-Harris administration and for ensuring that the Kids Online Safety Act stayed focused on protecting children, not censoring constitutionally-protected speech.  He defunded the Biden-Harris censorship initiatives across three separate appropriations bills, which defunded the censorship acts of the departments of State, Homeland Security, and Defense, all of which are heavily involved in the Censorship Industrial Complex. As a former member of the House Judiciary Committee, Johnson forcefully called out government-tied censorship, delivering an epic smackdown of embattled Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after MRC Free Speech America unveiled that DHS funded a program that drew parallels between conservatives, Christians and Republicans with hate groups. “The reason the Framers of our Constitution did not create an exception for ‘false information’ from the First Amendment is because they didn’t trust the government to determine what it is,” Johnson said. “And you have whole committees of people in your agency trying to determine what they, they determined, they defined as false or misinformation.” ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Jim Banks  Rep. Banks remained a strong and consistent ally in defending First Amendment free speech rights, advocating for policies that protect Americans’ right to freely express their views. In September, Banks launched an investigation into the Department of State after its press office claimed Banks’s efforts to expose censorship were somehow Russian disinformation.  In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Banks affirmed that such retort was a “sloppy and hypocritical lie” typical of the Biden-Harris State Department’s “repeated attacks on the First Amendment and Americans’ free speech rights.” In August 2020, Banks introduced the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act, seeking to strip “speech codes” curtailing free speech at public universities. The bill would have required learning institutions to disclose policies related to free speech. “Like so much else Americans cherish, the modern radical left wants to destroy Free Speech. This twisted worldview originated in universities, where it entrenched itself and is now moving to silence all dissent," Banks said of the proposed legislation. "Taxpayers shouldn't be forced to fund the subversion of America's most valuable principles. Without free political expression, we can't preserve what's made America great." Proud to receive @theMRC inaugural Free Speech Award! I will always defend our first amendment rights ?? pic.twitter.com/dWHG7vlJKX — Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) September 19, 2024 ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Dan Bishop Rep. Bishop led the initiative to block the federal government from exploiting taxpayer-funded dollars to subsidize the Censorship Industrial Complex. He is running to become North Carolina’s next attorney general, calling this election a “pivotal moment for free speech.” In April, Bishop rebuked Wikipedia after co-founder Larry Sanger alleged the digital encyclopedia colluded with the U.S. intelligence community to fix entries.  “The censorship-laundering enterprise, fed by government money and other resources, is pervasive,” Bishop wrote in response to the scandal. “Sunlight is the best weapon to defend/restore freedom, and exposure of the crazed ideologues in positions of power [sic] the best version of that.” ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) Rep. Cline has led the initiative to defund the Biden-Harris Administration’s censorship initiatives and to expose National Public Radio (NPR) for its censorship activities. He has also been one of the most vocal critics of the federal government's efforts to censor Americans. In September 2023, Cline sought to defund the United Nation’s efforts to launch an AI-fueled fact-checking tool dubbed “iVerify.” This tool would have labeled and censored speech online under the guise of fighting mis-, dis- and mal-information.  “That’s wrong and goes against the very principles enshrined in the First Amendment,” Cline said of the infamous program. “We must prevent taxpayer dollars from playing any part in censorship on a global scale, and my bill will do just that.” ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole Rep. Cole has provided unprecedented leadership as the House Appropriations Committee Chairman to defund the Biden-Harris Administration’s censorship initiatives throughout the executive branch of government.  He led the defunding of several government-tied censorship initiatives at the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State. House Republicans’ message to government censors was loud and clear: No taxpayer dollars will ever be used to censor Americans. ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) Rep. Hageman spearheaded the investigation into the DHS’s censorship regime and fought to strip qualified immunity from government censors who sought to infringe upon free speech. In 2023, Hageman pressed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after MRC Free Speech America exposed the taxpayer-funded Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grant program that tied conservatives to hate groups and terrorist organizations.  In July 2024, Hageman introduced the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act, a bill that would provide a right of action against federal employees and agencies that collude with social media platforms to censor Americans. “Our forefathers ratified the First Amendment recognizing that government actors would always seek to control public discourse in order to protect their power structure,” Hageman said in a statement announcing the bill. “No one has a monopoly on truth, and the Biden administration and federal agencies are not entitled to declare that American’s speech is ‘mis-information,’ ‘dis-information,’ or ‘mal-information’ ... We will continue to fight to protect our First Amendment rights.” ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)  Rep. Issa fought to hold the National Science Foundation accountable for its weaponization of Artificial Intelligence against conservatives and worked to expose the Biden-Harris administration’s broader censorship regime. In October 2024, Issa pressed the Department of State to act against the anti-free speech actions taken against tech mogul Elon Musk and his social media platform X.  “The Brazilian Supreme Court’s actions to ban social media platform X in the world’s seventh most populous nation is a grave breach of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, of which Brazil is a Member State,” Issa wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.  ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH)  Judiciary Chairman Jordan led the first-ever congressional investigation into the Biden-Harris administration’s anti-American censorship regime, investigating the NSF, FBI, DHS and the State Department. He has also led the battle against the deceptively-named censorship outfit, the “Global Alliance for Responsible Media.” Most recently, Jordan successfully pushed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to admit the federal government pressured  Facebook into censoring the Hunter Biden laptop scandal before the 2020 election. The shocking admissions came years after Zuckerberg slow-walked his collaboration with the House Judiciary Committee and after the federal government faced a damning lawsuit over censorship collusion. ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) In both 2024 and 2023, Rep. McCormick led the fight to prevent the U.S. Department of Defense from funding the censorship of conservative ideals through anti-censorship provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act. In 2024, the House of Representatives blocked the Biden-led Department of Defense from weaponizing taxpayer dollars for the second conservative year for contracts with self-described media ratings firms like NewsGuard, Ad Fontes and the Global Disinformation Index. McCormick cited several studies by the Media Research Center that exposed NewsGuard and Ad Fontes’s ratings overwhelmingly favoring leftist media outlets.  “Congress has a real opportunity to do something about that by reining in for-profit censors that have been funded by our own government like NewsGuard and GDI,” McCormick told MRC in 2023.  ♦ 2024 MRC Free Speech Award Winner: Rep. Jay Obernolte Rep. Obernolte was a leading voice in pushing for Section 230 reform to prevent Big Tech platforms from continuing to censor constitutionally-protected speech, ensuring accountability in the digital age. Speaking at a congressional hearing in May about how policies seeking to end potentially harmful content may violate the First Amendment, Obernolte said, “We've got these problematic situations that have originated on social media that I think everyone can agree is not healthy and should not be permitted and needs to be stopped but then we have this idea which that's the intention with that which is that we don't want to chill free speech.” He added, “So we're here talking about repealing Section 230 to create more liability on social media platforms and this is where I start to have a problem because … it seems like the premise of repealing 230 is that the world would be a better place if we just all sued each other more often and I reject that premise. I'm not sure that this solves the problem.” MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider and MRC Free Speech America Staff Writer Tom Olohan contributed to this report.