How to Make Ghosts for Halloween

October 6, 2022

Tara Rittler,

Last year, I shared tutorials for making ghost and bat pillows. This year, I wanted to try some new ways to make ghosts, as our Halloween decor is slightly lacking. So after a quick Google search and trip to the Dollar store, I tried two easy ways to make ghosts. Instructions follow.

How to Make Dollar Tree Ghosts

My favorite blog, Epbot, is always sharing amazing dollar store craft tutorials. Mine are not on her level, but it was fun to explore what our closest dollar store had to offer. Here’s my haul, up above.

For these ghosts, you need either white cloth or a white plastic tablecloth, something round to put in the middle, a black sharpie or fabric paint and ribbon.

Step 1:

Cut a circle out of your white material. (Alternately, cut a rectangle and shape it later.) The cloth is nice, but the bolt I got at the dollar store didn’t go very far. I got thin fabric and felt; both would work. The plastic table cloth was larger, but maybe not as nice to work with.

Hand for scale

Step 2:

Lay your round object in the center. I used plastic baseballs, styrofoam balls and, for a smaller version, lollipops. Styrofoam won’t do so well outside. The plastic baseballs had ridges that made them difficult to write on when it came time to adding facial features. So I’d recommend something smooth and waterproof. The lollipops are nice if you’re looking for party favors rather than decor.

Your material doesn’t have to be a specific shape, really. You can make scraps work.

Step 3:

Use the ribbon to tie the fabric around the center ball. Add an extra piece of ribbon or string if you want to hang the ghosts up. Use the fabric paint or sharpie to add a cute face!

felt ghosts, for article on how to make ghosts

You can also add facial features using black felt and glue.

Used a pipe cleaner on this one instead of ribbon. Try using what you have on-hand!

Once they’re finished, hang them in a tree or around your house!

How to Make Cheesecloth Ghosts

For this tutorial, you need liquid starch, cheesecloth, black felt, glue and a balloon. I didn’t find cheesecloth at the dollar store so ordered a cheap roll from Amazon. And I apologize because I was so focused on taking video for this tutorial that I neglected to take step-by-step photos! But you can watch the video tutorial from TulsaKids’ Instagram account here: instagram.com/p/CjdGSg5j0BW/

Step 1:

Blow up the balloon so that it’s as large as you want your ghost’s head to be. Set it on top of something so that you can later drape your cheesecloth over the structure, and it will be the desired height of your ghost.

Step 2:

Pour some liquid starch in a bowl. Soak cheesecloth in the starch, and squeeze out excess. Drape the cheesecloth over the balloon and stand, arranging so that it looks like a ghost. Let it dry overnight.

Step 4:

Gently pop and remove the balloon. Cut out three circles of black felt, and glue to the cheesecloth ghost. It should be stiff enough that it stands up, so you can move it around as needed!