You know how we love the witch’s apothecary idea that has been growing in popularity the last few years! Last year, we spotlighted Love Manor, whose spooky site and who offers fabulous free and deliciously creepy apothecary labels. They are available on Flickr. Martha Stewart has a line, so does Grand Manor, and a number of other designers offer potion bottles, etc. My kitchen for Halloween is decorated as a witch’s apothecary using all of the above labels and more that I have made myself stuck on funky jars and bottles all mismatched among cauldrons, frogs, spiders and various things a witch is desirous to have on hand while whipping up a particularly complicated potion. What do you put in these bottles? All sorts of fun and exotic things!
One idea I love is using water gel pearls as eyeballs! These pearls come in a tiny little packet for about two dollars. They are typically used for floral decorations and are great for watering plants and cut flowers. They are great because you can dry them out on wax paper back to their original tiny size and store them! This time we are going to be using them to be trolls’ eyeballs! Ewwww! They feel very “ewwww” also, which means they are perfect for Halloween! Remember as a kid on Halloween going into a dark room and someone putting your hand in a bowl of peeled grapes and telling you they were eyeballs?!? These pearls feel nearly the same way, only slimier and you don’t have to peel all those grapes!
So take the package out of the box and tell the kids that you were just sent some magically preserved and dessicated trolls’ eyeballs straight from Hogwarts!
Generally, these pearls come in clear tiny balls. If you want clear “eyeballs” just pour the little packet in a bowl of water and wait until they plump up to the size of marbles. If you would like colored eyeballs, add a lot of food coloring.
The color of the water will be one shade darker than what your beads will turn out to be once they are full of water. I did two colors: one in a deep magical purple and the other in a teal.
I am pretty for sure that those are the colors of trolls’ eyes in my neighborhood. Maybe your neighborhood is different though. Ask your kids; they might know.
Red would look really awesome for dragon’s eyes!
It is fun to watch these minuscule beads plump up over time. My daughter loved sticking her fingers in to check on them! 
They definitely are full of magical fun!
Fill a jar full of these lovely “eyeballs” and adhere this nfftrolleyeballsapothecarylabel I made just for you!
