You can capture the spirit of the holiday with these simple and fun crafts perfect for you and your kids.
How To Make A Trash Bag Spider
How To Make A Halloween Wreath
How To Make A Halloween Puppet
Kids can create a spooky vampire bat stick puppet to put on Halloween plays or simply fly around. Reuse the cardboard tube from your Bounty paper towels and transform it into a Transylvanian terror. Younger kids in preschool and the early elementary years can craft a friendly version of this flying vampire that is more silly than scary. Adult supervision required.
What You Need:
Bounty Paper Towels
Safety Scissors
Black Construction Paper
White Crayon
Tempera Paint
Paintbrushes
Thick Craft Stick
Toothpick
Masking Tape
Clear-Drying School Glue
Instructions:
Cut the leftover cardboard tube from a roll of Bounty paper towels in half. Use one half to make one vampire bat.
Paint the outside of the tube with black tempera paint. Allow at least two hours for the paint to dry.
Make two bat wings. Draw a pointy wing on one side of the black construction paper with a white crayon. Fold the paper in half. Cut out the wing, with the paper still folded, to make two wings.
Fold the side edge of each wing (where it will attach to the side of the bat) down one-half inch to make a flap. Glue each flap to the sides of the painted tube.
Create a vampire face for your bat. Use a thin paintbrush to add two yellow eyes and a red mouth. Paint on tiny fangs using toothpick and white tempera.
Tape the craft stick to the inside of the tube to make a handle for your vampire bat puppet.
How To Make A Trash Bag Spider
Decorate your yard for Halloween with a black trash bag tarantula. This makes a fun fall afternoon project. Fill the spider's body with yard waste, and then you can just throw away the bag or compost the leaves after the season has passed. Adult supervision required.
What You Need:
One 30-Gallon Black Trash Bag
Raked Leaves, Enough to Fill the Bag
Four Foam Swimming Noodles
One Can of Black Spray Paint for Plastic
Neon Orange or Yellow Paint
1” Wide Paintbrush
Brick Or Small Log to Use as a Weight
Two Yards of Nylon Rope
Bounty Paper Towels
Fingernail Polish or Acetone (Optional)
Instructions:
Scoop up armfuls of leaves and put them in the trash bag. When the bag is full, tie the open-end shut, leaving a tail about three inches long.
Spread the swimming noodles out on the ground. Shake the paint can and apply a generous coat of black paint to the noodles. Use a long, side-to-side, continuous motion while painting for an even coat.
Allow the paint to dry completely. If you get paint on your skin, put a few drops of fingernail polish on a Bounty paper towel and rub until the paint comes off.
Flip the noodles over and repeat the spray painting step to cover the underside and ends of the noodles with paint.
Run the rope around the center of one noodle and tie a snug knot. Put the next noodle against the knot. Tie the second noodle snugly to the first one. Pick up the tied noodles and tie the rope, really tightly, to the knot on the trash bag.
Tie the other two noodles snugly on the other side of the knot. This will put the tarantula's body in the center of the legs
Tie the brick or log to the top. Flip the trash bag tarantula over and gently press the bag down to shape the body.
Dip the paintbrush in the neon paint. Paint thick, oval "O" shapes, about three inches high, for the tarantula's eyes.
Spread the tarantula's legs out slightly by bending the noodles and scatter some leaves around, but don’t cover the legs.
How To Make A Halloween Wreath
Greet trick-or-treaters with a simple but elegant Halloween wreath. There are so many possibilities when it comes to hanging a wreath on your front door. Here is an idea for a Halloween wreath that incorporates just one simple technique, which results in a glamorous design. If you are doing this project with children, close parental supervision is necessary, and an adult should handle all steps involving the hot glue gun and spray paint.
What You Need:
Foam Wreath Form
Black Spray Paint
Black Feathers or a Black Feather Boa
Hot Glue Gun With Glue
Festive Ribbon, Wide and Wired
Safety Scissors
Bounty Paper Towels
Instructions:
In a well-ventilated area, cover all sides of the foam wreath with black spray paint and allow to dry. Repeat if necessary. (An adult should handle this step.)
Using the hot glue gun, place a small drop of glue on the stem part of a feather.
Adhere feather to the foam wreath form by sticking the end of the feather with the glue on it to the wreath. (An adult should handle this step.)
Repeat, layering feathers over one another so that the entire front of the wreath form, including the inner and outer edges is covered. This is easy, but it does require some patience. Have children determine the feather placement while an adult adheres feathers to the foam.
If you lack the patience to glue individual feathers to the wreath, you could substitute a black feather boa for the feathers. The end result will be similar, but the process is much faster.
Cut the desired length of ribbon and tie around the top of the wreath with the knot on the bottom part of the wreath. Be sure to leave a long loop to hang the wreath from the door. The ends of the ribbon should be long enough to tie into a pretty bow.
Hang the finished wreath from a hook or wreath hanger on your front door, stand back, and admire your beautiful new Halloween wreath!
Using a damp paper towel, clean up any drips of glue or feather dust left behind.