Halloween Crafts: Handkerchief Ghosts

Handkerchief ghosts make great indoor or outdoor decorations for your Halloween display. Here is how to make them...

Each hanky ghost will start with a twelve inch square of cloth. You can use any white cloth. Cheese cloth can be found in the craft section of your local discount store or sometimes in the canning area. (Some people really do use it to make cheese.) You can also use any white cloth including cut up bed sheets or pillow cases. If you are planning to put your hanky ghosts outside, you could also use squares of white plastic cut from empty grocery sacks.

For each handkerchief ghost, put a large cotton ball in the center of your twelve inch square, and then drape your cloth or plastic around it, gathering it together where the ghost's neck will be. Use a piece of white thread or white yarn to tie just under the cotton ball to hold your gathers in place. Clip off any excess thread or yarn after you make a good secure knot.

Using a permanent marker or craft paint or craft pens, give your ghosts faces. You can make scary faces, or friendly faces, or some of each. If your hanky ghosts are going to be put up where people can see them after dark, consider using glow in the dark craft paints to make your ghost's faces.

You can hang your ghosts by attaching a piece of thread to the head of each ghost. Use a sewing needle to pull the thread through the top of your ghosts head, and tie it in a knot. Then run the other end of the thread to whatever object you are going to hang your hanky ghost from.

If you have made your ghosts out of plastic you will be able to hang them outside. You can fill a tree with hanky ghosts by tying their threads to tree branches, or you can tie them along the eaves of your house. You could also tie them to objects around your yard; lawn ornaments, mailboxes and so on.

Be sure to use sewing thread for any hanky ghosts that you hang in the house. The thread is thin enough that it won't be noticed, especially in dim light, and it will give the appearance that the ghosts are floating in the air unassisted.

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