Ghosts 101

It's almost October....time to get the Halloween decorations out!

I was checking out Pottery Barn Halloween decor and ran across these fabulous ghosts.  It made me think of the ghosts I used to make years ago.  I was a stay at home mom looking for ways to make a little bit of money.  I decided to make some ghosts and see if I could sell them to a little boutique not far from me.  They were a big hit, I would take a dozen ghosts at a time and she would call me back in a couple of days to see if I would bring in more.  

These little ghosts can sit on a table or shelf and are a much smaller scale than the PB version, but are still cute and fun to make.  

Let's get started....

Materials needed to make basic ghost:

liquid starch

canning jars

water balloons

cheesecloth 

pipe cleaners/chenille stems

Wrap two pipe cleaners together to make them more sturdy.  

Bend into shape shown.  This will be the arms of the ghost.

The dip in the center sits in the canning jar.

Blow up balloon and set in the jar opening with the pipe cleaner arms.

Cut a piece of cheesecloth (approximately 1yd.) and drape as shown, leaving plenty to puddle at base.   

The cheesecloth comes packaged like this, with the edges in the center.

Refold it like this, with the fold on one side and the edges together on the other side.

Pour some of the liquid starch in a small bowl and saturate the cheesecloth.....

....so it looks like this.

Squeeze some of the starch out, but leave it pretty wet and drape over the jar/balloon/pipe cleaner.  

Adjust the draping and base then walk away and let it dry.  After it has set for awhile it will become stiff enough that you can use a hair dryer on the base to speed up the process.

So, while the ghosts are drying, lets make their little banners....

BOO SIGN

First, cut - "Boo"- using the Vagabond and Gothic Boo Alterations die out of chipboard.  

Can I just say I'm so exited to use my new Vagabond Machine, it is so fun and easy to use!! 

Paint with two coats of Pitch Black Dabber Paint and let dry.

Distress and sand.

Love the sanding tool, it makes sanding so much easier.

Ink the sanded areas with Vintage Photo Distress Stain

Tie with jute, ready to attach to ghost.

SPOOKY BANNER

Cut flags from book paper

 

Cut "spooky" using Word Play Sizzix die and glue to flags.  

Trace around letters with a brown pencil to make letters stand out.  

Distress flags with a little Vintage Photo Distress Stain.

Staple flags to heavy string.

With the banners made we can go back and see if the ghosts are dry.  

If dry pop the balloon and remove the jar and pipe cleaner arms from under the ghost.

Attach the banners to ghost. 

Thread the jute or string into a large eye needle and run through "hands" area in cheesecloth and tie with knot or bow.

Add felt eyes....

Love that you can see through them!

 I think I'm going to attempt to make these with the grandkids this weekend....
...wish me luck!

Have a great weekend,

deb

*Tim Holtz Sizzix VAGABOND MACHINE Die Cutting Embossing Alterations 656850	*Tim Holtz Sizzix Die GOTHIC BOO Bigz 657455	*Tim Holtz Sizzix WORD PLAY Bigz XL Die Alphabet 657837	*Ranger Adirondack PAINT DABBER PITCH BLACK Acrylic
*Tim Holtz Distress Ink PAD VINTAGE PHOTO Brown Ranger	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology SANDING GRIP Block Tool Sand TH92482

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