Subject:
Halloween Craft and Decorating
Grade:
K+
Age:
4+
Submitted by: Amanda Formaro, Founder of FamilyCorner.com
Decorating your front porch, yard, or walkway for Halloween can be loads of fun. While there are probably hundreds of ways to spiff up your yard and adorn your door, let's focus on a few simple solutions that your pocket can live with.
Stuff the clothing with newspapers or dry leaves to keep the scarecrow from getting too heavy that you can't carry him. If you have straw available, poke some out from inside the shirt collar and wrist cuffs of the shirt. If not using gloves, you can use straw or sticks for the hands. Secure all the clothing together with safety pins, or by hand sewing 8-10 stitches every 4-6 inches or so.
Another option is to use planks of wood set up easel style, then drape lengths of cloth all over to form ghostly apparel. Using more wood, and a few nails, hammer arms so that they are pointing out to the sides. Using a spooky carved face and leaving the hat off gives an eerie appearance! A Grim Reaper can also be constructed this way by using black sheets or cloth and forming a hood over the pumpkin head.
For some really cool, free pumpkin carving patterns visit http://www.jack-o-lantern.com/patterns/patterns.html and http://www.carvingpatterns.com/pumpkin/pumpkins.htm
Also, see printable, stick-on pumpkin decorations here.
To see how to make Garbage Bag Cats, go here
Spiders and webs are fairly easy to decorate with. You can purchase small plastic spiders and webbing at craft and discount stores. Thread webbing across bushes and windows to create an eerie effect. String it through trees and branches and over doorways.
To make large yard spiders, fill a black plastic garbage full with dry leaves or old newspapers. Tie off the end. Using another black garbage bag, fill again, but only 1/3 of the way. Tie off. The smaller bag is the head. Attach the head to the larger bag (body) with packing tape. Using yet another black garbage bag, cut lengthwise into thin strips, enough for eight legs. Tape or hot glue sides together once you have lined them with a filling such as leaves or newspaper. Hot glue or tape legs to body.
Halloween is such a fun holiday. Be sure to make the most of it and follow our safety precautions here for a fun night of Trick-or-Treating!
Crafts for Halloween
by Kathy Ross, Sharon Lane Holm
Black cats, ghosts, and spiders come to life in a simple, illustrated guide to creating the perfect decorations for Halloween, designed so that even very young children can use readily available materials to master these holiday crafts.