Haunt your House – Make these Awesome Cheesecloth Ghosts

Using cheesecloth to make ghosts is a fun and spooky decoration that your party guests or trick-or-treaters will love. One cool thing about making cheesecloth ghosts is that you can make them very small and hang them high, maybe up on the stair case or in a upstairs window – or you can make them bigger.  It’s up to you.  Most cheesecloth come in packages of 2 yards. There are many ways to make these, some instructions call for using liquid starch. We made ours with Mod Podge, about a 3″ or 4″ Styrofoam ball and some empty liter and two liter bottles.

Supplies:

• Cheesecloth
• Mod Podge
• Water
• Items to make supports for the cheesecloth – bottles, vases, plant stands, Styrofoam heads, balls or balloons, floral wire or a broken up wire hanger – anything you can find that can make the skeleton of the shape you want – pencils, rulers, paper cups, twigs…
• Decorations – Black fabric or paper to put eyes on, googly eyes, spiders, cobwebs, other embellishments (optional)
• Tea Lights (optional)

Directions:

1. Create the form that you’ll put the cheesecloth over. Make sure it’s secure. Tape down things to make sure they don’t shift or fall apart while forming the ghost. If using Styrofoam balls you can cut off a bit on the bottom so it will lay flatter on your bottle.
2. Combine in a bowl a mixture of 1 part water to 2 parts Mod Podge. Stir well.
3. Carefully drape your cheesecloth over your supports so you can see how much fabric you will need. Cut off what you don’t need. Remember to make sure there is enough for trailing off and making the ghost look like it’s flying.
4. A double layer will make the ghost more stable. If you have enough cheesecloth you may want to double layer, especially if you want to light them up.
5. Once you have the piece of cheesecloth the size you want, fold it up and lightly dip and roll it in to the Mod Podge mixture.
6. Squeeze it to get rid of excess, but don’t get rid of too much – the more glue mixture in it the better your ghosts will hold their shape
7. Carefully unfold the cheesecloth and drape it over your supports Arrange it so it falls like you want. Try not to reposition it too much as it will stretch the more you handle it.
8. Let the ghosts dry for several hours or overnight
9. Decorate however you want. String and hang with fishing line.
10. Optional: Use battery operated tea light to illuminate the ghost from within. Wrap the tealight with wire and hang from the fishing line underneath the
    “head” of the ghost.
11. Turn down the lights and have a boo-tiful night!