Homemade Halloween

Halloween is great fun and we love to celebrate it just as much as you do, but it saddens us to see people stocking up on plastic trimmings just to throw them away a couple of days later. So this year we thought we'd share a few ideas for a home-made halloween. Each of these projects uses materials you will already have in the house and they are a lot of fun to make. We think they look great too! See what you think.

Ghost Mobile

For this project you need some empty plastic milk cartons, scrap paper, a felt tip pen, scissors, thread, and a spooky looking twig.

First cut out the flat areas of the milk cartons. On the scrap paper draw a few ghosts until you get one you really like. Cut it out and you have the template for your mobile. Using your template to guide you, draw 5 or 6 matching ghosts on the plastic and cut them out. Attach your ghosts to your spooky twig with thread and hang your finished mobile where everyone can enjoy it.

Halloween Lanterns

You will need some empty tin cans, a felt tip pen, a hammer and a nail. And, of course, a tea-light.

First fill your tin cans with water and put in the freezer - this helps the cans to keep their shape. When they are frozen solid remove from the freezer with a cloth. Quickly draw your design onto the cans and, using the hammer and nail, punch holes along the lines of your design. This takes a steady hand and the cans will be wet and slippery, so be careful. If the ice starts to melt, you might want to return the can to the freezer. When you have finished your design just leave the can in the sink to thaw. You can attach a wire handle to hang outdoors, or place on a heat-resistant surface indoors. We decided to decorate ours with stars as we want to keep them for our mid-winter celebrations too.

Witch Jars

This has got to be our favourite of the three projects and probably the most creative. The idea is to create jars that might look at home in a witches house.

All you need is some empty jars with lids, some scrap paper and a pen, some time to spend in nature and plenty of imagination.

Take a walk in nature and gather any materials that appeal to your imagination. Do a little bit of research - some natural objects already have magical sounding names. What do the materials you find suggest to you? Can you find a skeleton leaf?

Will you be lucky and find a hag-stone?

If you live near a beach you might even find a mermaid's purse.

Perhaps the seeds you've found suggest pixie wings?

Spread your findings on a piece of old newspaper to dry and to give any creepy crawlies a chance to escape. While they are drying you might like to imagine what magical uses they might have. When they are dry, simply put them into the jars. If you wish you could also label the jars with your findings or write a secret spell onto a piece of paper and pop it inside one of your jars. In no time you will have a collection any witch would be proud to own. Happy Halloween.

(For more ideas for an eco-friendly Halloween, see our last blog 'Ideas for a Green Halloween'.)