Who says ghosts have to be scary?! Not me! These pretty Watercolor Resist Rainbow Ghosts are a great non-spooky craft for younger kids to make for Halloween. When I saw these fun DIY Rainbow Tissue Paper Ghosts from Hello, Wonderful, I knew that I wanted to make our OWN rainbow ghosts! For ours, we used one of my favorite (and super easy) art techniques- watercolor resist. These ghosts were quick and easy to make, my girls loved them, and they have livened up our living room for Halloween!
Let's make some ghosts!
Let's make some ghosts!
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Materials For Watercolor Resist Rainbow Ghosts
Begin by gathering what you need:
- watercolor paper
- regular crayons (not washable)
- oil pastels
- watercolors (either regular or liquid)
- paintbrushes
- scissors
- string or twine (to make a garland)
Draw And Color The Ghosts
Cut your paper into half sheets. I've found that kids tend to do better with smaller pieces of paper, and your materials will last longer! Also prepare the liquid watercolor if you need to.
Next it's time to draw the ghosts. You can do it yourself, or have your kids do it depending on their age. All you need is a basic semicircle at the top, straight or curvy lines down the side, and a squiggly bottom. Press as hard as you can with a black crayon. Add circle eyes and and an optional mouth.
Next, have your kids fill in the space on the ghost with white oil pastel. They won't be able to see the oil pastel on the paper, so they'll kind of have to guess! It doesn't need to be solid- part of what makes this project neat is that you're leaving plenty of empty space for the watercolor.
Through trial and error, we figured out that using black crayon and white oil pastel was the best combination. Using black oil pastel for the outline make it too easy for the white and black colors to smear together. Using white crayon didn't provide enough resistance with the watercolors.
Paint The Rainbow Ghosts
Time for the best part! Paint over the ghosts in beautiful vibrant watercolors! The areas that were colored with oil pastel will stay white and the blank areas will absorb the paint.
My younger daughter Maggie normally doesn't care for arts and crafts, but even she made lots of ghosts with us! That's how I knew this project was a hit!
As you can see, we made LOTS of ghosts! Let them dry.
Turn Your Rainbow Ghosts Into A Garland
My daughters always love a good holiday themed garland, so we naturally turned these ghosts into one!
Just cut out your ghosts, and use a hole punch to make two holes, one on each side.
String it up and you're all set with a beautiful, cheerful Halloween decoration!
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