Halloween Experts

When decorating your yard for the Halloween Season, you want a durable project that will withstand the changeable fall weather. Decorations that are reusable, year after year, not only justify the cost, but make your annual decoration plan a lot easier. These simple instructions will show you how to make a ring of ghosts, who will dance around a tree, artificial campfire, or grave marker in your yard or “haunted graveyard”. These directions will make 6 ghosts. You may need more to go around a larger tree or area.

Materials:
6 white flat sheets (queen size were used in this project)
3 boards, 1″x2″, 8 feet long (or 6 pieces of PVC pipe 4 feet long can be used)
Plastic grocery sacks, newspapers, black markers, heavy tape
Heavy black thread or non-reflective fishing line

Directions:
Cut the boards or PVC pipe into 4 foot sections. Cut one end of each at an angle, to make it easier to insert it into the ground. Pound these gently into the ground with a hammer. You don’t want to set them in too firmly at first, until you get a feel for how big your circle will need to be. This will depend on the size of your finished ghosts.
Next, make the heads, by stuffing a white plastic grocery bag with crumpled newspaper. Alternatively, you could use large styrofoam balls. Secure a head to each stake with tape (duct tape works well for this).

Drape a sheet over each head, so that you have an equal amount of fabric hanging on each side. At this point you can secure the sheet to the head in any of several ways: You can tie the head at the “neck” with string or fishing line, or, for the “neckless” version we have pictured, try gluing the very top of the sheet to the plastic bag head, or, stitching it there with fishing line and a darning needle.

With the permanent black marker, you may draw faces on your ghosts, or leave them blank, for an eerie effect. Tie the sheets together at the sides, as pictured, for the ghosts’ joined hands. If desired, attach fishing line to each knot and tie them to a tree branch to raise the hands to different heights and keep them off the ground. For the free standing ghosts, you can make your stakes longer, or your placement a little further apart to keep the ghost “hands” from dragging on the ground. If you choose to make the free standing ghost circle, try placing an artificial campfire in the center. Light your “campfire” with the flickering electronic pumpkin lights available at many party stores and Halloween shops.

Finish the project by pounding the stakes securely into the ground with a hammer. The ghosts can be stored and reused year after year. Watch this site for other ghostly yard decoration projects!