Friendly Floating Ghosts

Create your own mysteriously floating ghosts to add to your Halloween decor. These spirited fellows will be happy to adorn your lighting fixtures and seemingly “float” around your home . . .

To make your own floating ghost decoration you will need some balloons, paper cups, squares of cheesecloth fabric and fabric starch.

This is a very simple craft that takes about 15 minutes to make. You’ll need some starch from the laundry aisle of your local grocery store, or simply make a batch of homemade starch.

How to Make Your Own Friendly Floating Ghosts

You’ll Need:
Paper Cups & tape
small balloons
8″ square Cheesecloth squares
Fabric Starch*
clear fish line

Cut the cheesecloth into 8″ square pieces and set aside.

Flip 1 cup upside down and place the other cup on top. Alternatively, you can use 1 solo cup, which is 3″ x 3″x 5″ and a balloon. The ghost will be about 8″ tall when finished.

Tape the cups together so they don’t slip off.

Inflate a small balloon slightly and place it into the top cup. Avoid over-inflating the balloon or the ghost will appear warped.

Pour the Heavy Duty Fabric Starch into a small bowl. Dip the cheesecloth square into the fabric starch.

Make sure it is completely saturated in the starch.

Once it’s thoroughly soaked, gently wring it out by squeezing the excess liquid out of the fabric.

Next, open the fabric and center the middle of the square over the top of the balloon. Carefully drape it over the top of the balloon shaping the ghost as desired.

Allow it to dry completely before moving.

Once dry, gently remove the ghost, add eyes (using a black sharpie or dots from black construction paper, or hot glue googly eyes to them).

String a piece of clear fish line through the head and hang them from light fixtures, entryways, etc. As you can see here, I didn’t have any fishline available, so the strings are visible when I hung my ghosts up. I swapped these out a bit later in the season.

*Fabric Starch is found in the Laundry Detergent aisle, near the washing soda and Fels Naptha, or you can use Aleenes Fabric Stiffener and Draping Liquid for long term use.