Crafty B Halloween Ghosts

I was reading through the latest Better Homes and Gardens (You down with BHG? Yeah, you know me!) and found some super cute ideas for Halloween decor that don't involve a lot of time or money.

I always decorate my front entry for Halloween. I like old school Halloween decor and often go for the big spider webs, ghosts, and jack-o-lanterns. Flesh eating zombies, not so much. My boys would like that, but they are boys, so I'm not asking them. Decorating is Mom's domain. Step off, tiny men.

BHG had some ideas this month that were right up my alley. Creative stuff like throwing fake cobwebs over dead summer plants (got those!), using electrical tape to turn front windows and doors into spider webs, and making hanging ghosts that will swing in the fall breeze.

Better Homes and Gardens, October 2012

I fell in love with the ghosts. They were simple and super whimsical, but there were a few design flaws in my opinion. They asked for cheap plastic bowls to form the ghost's head. Easy enough. But then, they asked readers to DRILL a hole in the top for the hanging string. I don't drill. I have a husband for that. They also recommended bed sheets or cheesecloth for the ghostly body. Great, except that I live in the coastal South. It rains a lot. It's hot a lot. Rain + Hot = Mold. Yuck. BHG also wanted me to find something called "adhesive backed felt" for the ghost's eyes and mouth. Yeah...did I mention I have boys. I don't even know where to start looking for that.

Cute BHG ghosts. But are they practical enough for me?  

So, I made some modifications. First, instead of a bowl I had to drill a hole in, I found a white plastic colander at Walmart for about $1.97. It had all kinds of holes to thread my hanging string through.

Instead of a white sheet, I purchased 2 white shower curtain liners. They ran me about $2.98 each, but since they are waterproof, I don't have to worry about mold. I kept the liner folded longwise, then I cut the top tabs off and then cut the liners into halves along the horizontal axis (ack! left brain). I left the pieces folded.

As far as the "adhesive backed blah blah whatever," I used black Gorilla tape instead. I tore off square eyes and rectangular mouths for my ghosts. Using the folded edge of each liner half as "top," I put the eyes and mouth on both sides like so, about 8 inches below the fold of each half.

Boo! 

The fold is at the top, above the ghosty's eyes. 

I then cut a small snip into the center of the fold at the top of each shower liner. I threaded fishing line through the colander, then through the hole in the ghost creating a hanging string. I screwed these little hooks into the porch as anchors for the ghosts.  

The ghosts went up at staggered lengths, and yay! Halloween the D the Crafty B way! I already had the big spider and web (a Wally World purchase from a few years ago-probably $10 total), the metal ghost ($14 from Old Time Pottery), and some light up pumpkins from Big Lots ($8 on clearance last year). The dead plants were already there, they just need some fake cobwebs to complete the look ($2 on my next trip Target or Walmart). 

View from the street. 

Ghosts in the breeze. Wooooooo.....

More ghoulish ghosts

Dead plants complete the look...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

More hauntingly D-lightful posts to come. I L-O-V-E Halloween and have a cauldron full of fun, practical ideas for a Halloween party of any size. 

And, yeah, I know I have crappy pictures. My camera died and I am left using my cell phone camera until I get a new point and shoot. Thankyouverymuch. 

-DTCB