My daughter has become obsessed with ghosts ever since @sheepBlue sent her the book, The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt. Towards the end of the summer, as stores filled with Halloween decorations, she started saying hello to each and every one, sometimes insisting on giving them hugs. So clearly, this year’s Halloween decorating had to include ghosts.
I looked around online, but didn’t love what I found, The fabrics were flat, and lacked layers that might get caught and float on the breeze. Plus, I wanted them to light up, so I decided to make them myself.
There were already hooks placed between the porch posts, and nails in the posts themselves to attach fishing line to hold the arms out. I love thte texture I got, by layering a few different fabrics.
Here they are, all lit up. You can even change what color they glow! (Though they look best in cool colors.) At the bottom of the post, I’ve included a tutorial in case you want to try making them yourself!
Blue:
Turquoise:
Purple:
I already had a little vignette of a wicker chair and table at one end of the shallow porch, so I just adjusted the fall decor a bit. I swapped out the normal tan & cream throw blanket for an orange faux fur one I found at Homegoods, and the autumn pumpkin pillow was replaced by a bold skull pillow from Joann’s that I got for 50% off. Our street is a loop, with a wide lawn in the middle, and I love that even from all the way across the other side, you can tell exactly what the skull is. I already had the fortune teller sign, (also from Joann’s about 4 or 5 years ago?). The copper jack-o-lantern cauldron/planter was from Homegoods last year.
I bumped into a skull candelabra at Homegoods too, so I added some battery powered candles to it. They came with a remote, so I could actually turn everything on from inside the house, while sitting at my desk! I’m actually not thrilled with the candelabra. It seemed sturdy enough when I picked it up, but it it is already falling apart. I had planned on giving it a bit of antiquing treatment with wax or paint, but after 2 nights outside on the porch, it had huge cracks and the arms were bending out. But it did look nice lit up with the ghosts. I liked how they cast warm candle-glow, while he was a cool-white aparition.
While I was in Homegoods in August, I also saw some cute witchy boot planters, with faux flowers. for $40 But when I went back in September, they were gone. After a bit of hunting around, I actually found one of the planters that someone had ripped the flowers out of, stuffed under a table. Because it was damaged, I got the boots for $20. They were painted flat black, so I decided to add some detailing.
First I used a silver paint pen on the eyelets.
Then used it on the lace around the bottom and top edges.
Then I painted the laced with a metallic purple craft paint. Now it was time to fill the planter!
I shaved down some floral foam to fit the strange shape, and filled it with flowers. Nearly all came from Michael’s for 60% off, except the orange glitter ones which were at Homegoods.
They were out of nearly out of every type of Halloween floral, but I’m still pretty darn happy with it. I love the mix of black and grey and silver, with the pops of purple and orange. I was worried about having it outside, and considered keeping it inside my dining room. But I figured I could always repaint and add new flowers next year if it got a bit weathered. I just put it away for the season, and aside from rebending a few floral stems, it held up beautifully.
Ghost Tutorial:
If you want to make one of your own ghosts, you will need supplies from Walmart & Dollar Tree.
-2 packs of beige loose weave Creepy Cloth (per ghost) from Dollar Tree
-1 lidded skull bucket from Dollar Tree
-1 terrible hanging ghost from Dollar Tree (to cannibilize for parts)
-2 packs of tighter weave white creepy cloth (per ghost) from Walmart
-Puck lights from Walmart.
-Fishing line
-Sharp awl
-Fat woodworking awl
-E6000 or super glue
Unwrap your lousy ghosts, and take them apart, but keep all the pieces. Take the hanging string out, and keep it in once piece. The cloth they are made from is fun because you can pull on it, to create ‘runs’ like you get in tights or nylons. It gives the cloth a more interesting texture, so go ahead and pull it in every direction to get it good and rough.
The ghosts have a piece of wire threaded through their styrofoam heads, and both ends are covered in white foam. Unfold the wire at one end, pull off the foam tube, and pull the wire out of the foam ‘heads’. Cut the wire in half, and curl the ends with a pair of round nosed pliers. (Leave the other ends folded.)
Now take apart your skull buckets. The handles have aiglets at the end, and can be easily removed and rethreaded later. Next you will need to poke holes in the bottom of the skull buckets. I used a fine point sewing awl, then widened them with a woodworking awl.
Take the strings that the ghosts hung from, and thread them through the base of the skulls, with each end hanging out.
You will use these ties to connect the arms you previously made.
Now you will need to poke holes in the skull lids. I again started with the sewing awl, then used the woodworking awl to widen the holes. Place one end of the aigleted lace through a hole, and leave the other end loose. Mine were about 2 " apart.
Now comes the “fun” layering bit. Find the middle of your original ghost fabric. For me that was basically right in the middle of the smile. Lay the fabric down flat, with the black print of the ghost face, facing down towards the table, and keeping an eye on that center. Snip two small holes in the fabric, that you will thread the aigleted lacing through later.
Now take your layers of loose weave beige cloth, and unfold them, and uncurl the edges as best as possible. Lay one perpendicular to the ghost fabric, then lay the second one on top, perpendicular to that. (In the shape of a cross or plus sign.)
Grab your tighter weave white creepy cloth, and unfold, and unroll the edges again. Lay these diagonally across your previous pieces. This will help give you even coverage of your solid fabric, and give you lots of points and edges of the creepy cloth, that will catch nicely on the breeze. Now take the loose end of the aiglet lace, and work it up through the layers of cheese cloth. You might need to cut small snips in the denser woven one. Go back down through the layers into the second hole you poked.
It’s time to attach the puck lights! These lights come apart, with the back coming off so you can change the batteries. This is perfect for our needs.
Using your E600, generously coat the back and edge of the back plate with glue, and glue that backing into the CENTER of the lid of the skull bucket. This way, when your batteries die, you can open the lights, replace the batteries, and pop them back together. (Excuse my picture. I had reassembled the puck light when I took the pic.) But be sure to center the puck light. If you don’t, there won’t be enough space to get the lid back on the skull bucket. (Ask me how I know.) You will want to make sure you find a way for the glue to lay level when drying.
Let your glue dry overnight. Then you can carefully place the skull tops back on the buckets, gently arranging the fabrics to your satisfaction. Cut some eyes and a mouth out of black felt, and glue these on top, trying to get the glue to stick through several layers of the fabric, and all the way down to the bucket if possible. I used hot glue to hold quickly, along with E6000 for a more solid hold. (Sorry, forgot to grab a picture of this step!)
Hang your ghosts outside (or inside, peeking out windows!), and use fishing line to attach their arms outward. Bend the wire to give them more personality. Catch some edges of the cheese cloth in the folded wire at the ends of the arms. If you want, you can catch the edges/bind the layers together with a bit more fishing line.
I realized the day before Halloween, that I have some plastic Halloween heavy chain somewhere. I think I might put that in their hands for next year.
Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!
I bet a lot of folks in the neighborhood enjoyed this a lot!