These Spooky Yarn Ghosts were a fun messy craft for Halloween! When glue-soaked yarn dries, it stays in the form it was in while wet. By using this technique, we were able to make these ghosts and they look oh-so-spooky hanging in our house!
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I especially loved this craft because it helped Lena to get over some of her messy hand phobia! It took quite a bit of encouragement, but eventually she even made up a little song about it. It went something like, "My hands are messy, but I won't fuss. I'll just keep on working!" I was so proud of her! Here's how to make them.
You need a balloon, tape, a small stack of cups, a paper plate, waxed paper, scissors, white and black yarn, and school glue.
The first step is to make the form on which you'll build your ghost. Blow up a balloon, but keep it small. Tape it to a small stack of cups. We used some plastic sippy cups, but you could also use disposable cups. Set this on top of a paper plate (or other firm surface, so that you can move it if necessary) that is covered in waxed paper.
Make your glue mixture. We used about 3/4 of a bottle of white school glue, mixed with an equal amount of water. Stir it up!
Cut lengths of white yarn, approximately twice the height of your balloon form. When draped over the top, you'll want them to come close to the waxed paper, but not touch it too much. Cut lots and lots! Once your hands are messy, you won't want to deal with your scissors, so it will be easiest to cut enough before you start.
Dip them in your glue mixture and get them good and saturated. Start draping them over the balloon. Keep adding more yarn until your balloon is good and covered.
Make sure to add some yarn going around the balloon, horizontally. I found that these stuck best after I had many going vertically-- they'll stick better to the other sticky yarn than the balloon itself.
Set it aside to dry. Before you clean up your gluey mess, make some eyes and a mouth out of black yarn. Cut 3 lengths of yarn, dip them in the glue, then arrange them in circle and oval shapes on a clean sheet of waxed paper.
Set your ghost aside to dry. After it has dried for a couple of hours, go in and snip off any yarn that may be touching the waxed paper. Some of the glue may have dripped down by this point, but you don't want the ghost to dry attached to the paper.
We let our ghosts dry for 2 full days. Peel your eyes and mouth off the waxed paper and glue them to the ghosts. When that is nice and dry, reach in and pop the balloon. Some of the yarn may cling to the balloon as it deflates, but it should still keep its form fairly well. Gently pull the deflated balloon away from the yarn and pull apart any strands that may have gotten stuck together.
Thread a length of invisible thread (if you have it) through some of holes in the top of your ghost.
There you have it! Hang them somewhere spooky!
See tons more great Halloween ideas by following Cutting Tiny Bites on Pinterest, or check out the Halloween theme board below!
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From Other Great Bloggers
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Paper Plate Ghost Craft from Crafty Morning
Cotton Ball Ghosties from Happy Hooligans
