For Halloween, the kids and I love to decorate the house with our own decorations. It is much more fun (and tends to be cheaper!)

We print out coloring sheets to color and hang on the walls (or get Halloween coloring books from the dollar store to color the pictures and then hang on the wall!)

We make construction paper bats out of our hands and then tape them to the wall or get really creative and hang them from the ceiling!

We cut out construction paper pumpkins to color and hang on the walls and doors.

This year, we made

PAPER PLATE GHOSTS

Here is what you need:

Black card stock = $0.69 each – I purchased two just in case, but only used one. Fitted properly, you can get at least 3 pairs of eyes and 3 mouths out of one 8.5 x 11 inch card stock.

White felt = $0.29 each – I purchased three; one for each paper plate ghost.

Paper plates = $0.99 for a pack and I only needed 3 (I purchased these at the 99 Cent Store).

Glue and Stapler/Staples = $0 – I already had on hand at home.

I adapted this craft from
and while I used her directions, I think next time I would use crepe paper instead of felt.

Additionally, you could draw in the eyes and mouth using a black marker or using black construction paper instead of card stock.

Instructions:

First thing I did was get out all of my materials.

I cut the felt into very uneven, un-measured strips. I ended up with 8 strips in one piece of felt.

Next, I used one of Buddy’s water bottles to draw the eyes and the mouth. I used the top (the part he drinks out of) for the eyes and then the bottom of the water bottle for the mouth (you could use any variety of cups or bottles or even small bowls for these).

Cut out the circles you traced for the eyes and mouth (or have one of the kids practice their cutting skills and have them cut them out!)

Then glue them onto the paper plate – the two smaller circles for the eyes and the larger circle for the mouth.

Staple the felt pieces to the bottom of the plate and viola! A paper plate ghost for you to hang in our home for Halloween!

Next time, when I use crepe paper, I will glue the pieces on. (A) I am unnerved by the unevenness of my felt pieces. (B) You can see the staples. (C) It took me way to long to get them to staple and not only are the staples uneven, many of them had to be pulled out and re-stapled because they were not going through the felt and the plate.

All in all, this was a simple, fun, inexpensive craft for the kids and I to do together and decorate for Halloween season!