October Spooktacular: Cheese Cloth Ghosts

I remember doing this when I was little, in maybe 4th grade.  I thought it was very cool then and, I guess I’m still a kid at heart, because I still think it’s pretty cool.  I was going to have Little Monkey help, but he was more interested in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and it ended up being a project where he would’ve played in the glue and then needed a bath.  So… I did it myself, but this is definitely something you could do with your older grade school kids.
            
Here’s the How:

Supplies:
- Cheese cloth (this isn’t expensive and you can find it in the kitchen aisle of Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart and the like or you can buy it online HERE)
-  Mod Podge  (or see the note at the bottom about using liquid laundry starch instead.  The starch worked a lot better)
-  Water
-  Things to make your supports (I used some bottles, small styrofoam balls from Dollar Tree and floral wire to make mine).  Some other ideas include paper cups turned upside down (or water bottles) with pencils stuck in the sides.
-  Googly eyes, candy pumpkins or other embellishments.  This is optional.


1)  Construct your supports to hold up your cheese cloth while they dry.  I used a water bottle, a small bubble bottle and my bottle of mod podge.  I cut a small amount off my styrofoam balls so they would sit flat on the tops of my bottle lids.  I stuck them down with masking tape rolled into a circle.  Then, I used floral wire from a failed project and taped those to the sides of the bottles.



2)  Mix up a concoction of 1 part water and 2 parts mod podge in a bowl.  Stir it well.


3)  Lightly drape your cheese cloth over the supports so you know how much you need.  Cut it to the appropriate length.  You may want to do a double layer to provide more stability.  Lightly roll the cloth into a ball and dip it in the mod podge mixture.  Ring it out so it’s not dripping, but the more mod podge you leave, the better your ghosts will stand up.

4)  Carefully, unfold the cheese cloth and drape it over your supports.  Arrange it so it falls and drapes well.  However, be aware that the more you handle it, the more it will stretch. 




5)  Let your ghosts dry for several hours (or overnight) and then remove them from their supports.  You can use googly eyes, candy pumpkins, a spider ring, a small necklace chain or whatever else your little heart desires to embellish and dress up your ghosts.   


* I ended up spraying my ghosts with liquid laundry starch to help them stand up better.  The first couple ghosts I made, I used a much more watered down Mod Podge mixture and it just wasn’t enough.  If you have the laundry starch on-hand, skip the Mod Podge all together.  I didn’t have any though and it was 10pm on a Thursday night when My Mr Right was out of town, which is not a “run to the store” time around here…  So, splurge the whole 97 cents, save yourself some time and use the starch instead of the Mod Podge and water mixture.



 

Set them out and enjoy a your spooky guests!

Krista

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