My original idea for these was to follow the Lowe’s tutorial that I gave in my earlier post here, but after starting the tutorial, I found that they left out a LOT of details that would have helped me so much if I knew what they were beforehand. So – here is the Halloween Lighted House Ghosts Tutorial – RedThread style!
Materials Needed to make 1 Ghost:
- Wire Tomato Cage (My dad had a TON of rusty ones that he needed to get rid of. Instead of throwing them away, this is such a great use for them!)
- 75-100 Clear or White Christmas lights (I found mine at Home Depot for around $2.50)
- A 6×9 foot drop cloth (to cover the cages with)
- Black Permanent Marker, felt, or leftover fabric (to make your ghost’s face!)
- Hot Glue Gun
- Scissors
Step 1: To make your ghosts not have “pointy” heads when you put the drop cloth on, bend in the tomato stakes as shown below:
Step 2: For each ghost, wrap a wire tomato cage with your string of clear or white lights. Lowe’s suggests clear rope lights, but I think those are more expensive.
Step 3: Cut a 6‐ x 9‐foot drop cloth to approximately 41/2 x 7 feet to cover the tomato cage.
Step 4: When I draped my drop cloth over the tomato cage, it looked HORRIBLE! It didn’t drape well. It really looked like a piece of garbage, and not like a ghost at all. So! What to do? Bring out your glue gun. “Shape” your ghost the best you can – I shaped him with creases and hot glued the inside of the cloth so it would stay. I made him look perfect in the front, and glued together all excess drop cloth to the back (which won’t be seen, so don’t worry about it!)
Step 5: I used leftover black cotton fabric to cut out a face and hot glued them to my ghost. I liked doing it this way because I could see what it would look like before actually adhering the fabric. Don’t have scraps? Use a black permanent marker to draw eyes and a mouth.
Step 6: Plug the lights into a secure grounded outlet. I made three ghosts and connected them all together, so I only had to connect the three to one grounded outlet.
Step 7: Enjoy your lawn’s masterpiece! Who needs $50 light-up ghosts when you can do it for under $5?
Click here to view my entire picture set on flickr.
Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Make some of your own? Let me know!
Looking for more tutorials for Halloween decorating? Check out my ‘Halloween’ category on the right hand side of this post!
