Yard Ghosts

I don't like to store holiday decorations, I do have a couple boxes of Christmas decorations and tablecloths to change with the seasons, but for the most part my house is decorated the same all year round. After I was first married I saw directions for making yard ghosts, it was out of things we already had and there was almost nothing to store for the next year. It was perfect for me, I have made them on and off since and this year my daughter is old enough to help so we went for it again. I think I originally got the idea from Family Fun but when searching again I couldn't find it.

This year I made three ghosts in a row, at my old house I had a perfect spooky tree in the front yard so I made a game of ring around the Rosie.

Yard Ghosts:

Items needed

• garden stakes, 1 for each ghost (yes, two of mine are broken ski poles, they were stuck randomly in the backyard when we moved in, I use them as garden stakes)
• plastic grocery sacks, 1 for each ghost
• large white garbage bags, 2 for each ghost
• newspaper
• garbage bag ties or string
  
  

Put your first garden stake in the ground where you want your first ghost to be. I do one whole ghost at a time so I know how far apart to put each stake.

Crumple up newspapers and put in plastic grocery sack, it doesn't need to be filled all the way, but enough it makes a nice round head. Before tying up the sack I stick it right on the top of the garden stake, top down. Then tie the bag handles around the stake a couple times. Then you should have a ball on the stake like this.

Next you will layer two garbage bags on top of the newspaper ball head. The first one I put on I put the bag seams on the side, the second bag needs the bag seems facing the front and the back.

Pull the bags tight around the head, trying to leave as much bag below for the body as you can. Tie it right under the head with a bag tie or string. You might have pointy bag corners sticking up, but you can just push them in and tape them down if you need.

To make the arms carefully rip up bag seam on the top garbage bag (the one I told you to put in the front), rip it almost to the neck. Do the same with the one in the back.

Repeat the process for your next ghost. This year my ghosts were close enough so to get them to hold hands I tied the edges of the arms together.

Some years I haven't gotten them close enough to tie so I taped a garbage bag tie on the inside of each arm and then tied those to their neighboring ghosts.

You can draw faces on them if you want, this year my daughter drew the faces.

-Emily