Good evening my beloved. Tonight I will show you how to make floating ghosts for your yard haunt. These are very simple to make and have a very cool floating/flying effect when the wind blows. Here’s how to make them:
Supplies:
- Styrofoam Ball
- Wire coat hanger or medium-gauge wire
- Medium (13 gal) trash bag
- String
- Fishing Line
- Fishing swivels
In addition you will need the following tools:
- Wire Cutters
- Needle Nose Pliers
- Scissors
First, shape the neck and arms of your ghost. The neck should be long enough to go completely through your Styrofoam ball.
Next, poke a hole through the center your ball. Depending on how rigid your wire is, you may need to use a pencil or a screwdriver to accomplish this. I didn’t really need to, but forcing the screwdriver through the intended “head” of my victim, er, project was too much fun to pass up. Either way, make sure you can pass your wire through the center of the ball, leaving a length of wire at the top, as shown.
Fold your garbage bag in half lengthwise to find the center. Then poke a small hole at the center of the closed end.
Place the assembly into the bag and run the length of wire at the top of the head through the hole in the bag. Wrap your fingers around the neck of your ghost to tighten the bag over the head and arms. You will move some plastic around to get the perfect fit. Sometimes you can get the bag twisted and the finished product looks less like a ghost and more like a trash bag spinning in the breeze. You don’t want that. Play with it a little bit before moving to the next step to ensure it looks right.
When it looks right, use a bit of string to tie the neck off. I use fishing line for the most part, but you couldn’t see it in the picture so I used twine to show how its done.
To finish, run the wire length at the top of the head through a fishing swivel. Then use pliers to bend the wire over and hold the swivel to the head as shown.
Run a length of fishing line across your yard, tying off only one end. At random intervals, tie loops into the line and hang your ghosts by their swivels. When all the ghosts are attached, tie off the other end.
These ghosts spin and dart around in the slightest of breezes. They are very light and when the wind kicks up, they really put on a show. Of course, when I went out tonight to film this show, the air was still and my ghosts all hung still too. I’ll post a video as an edit as soon as I can catch them at their mischief.
Until then,
Good evening.
