I swear to all that is holy that I
had more fun this weekend helping the kids make ghosts than they did in the
actual making! From the last post, you
know I found my idea for ghosts on Pinterest.
I really wanted to make the sitting ghoul, but I don’t have a baby doll
(or a child that will sit long enough to let it harden – ha! Ha!) and neither
does my Hannah. I will have to make a
trip to the thrift shop and find one.
Anybooo, (see how I did that?) we
started out with a balloon, fabric stiffener, a couple of tall things to set
the balloons on, and adhesive spray. The
last part wasn’t called for in the instructions, but I figured it would make
the balloon stick to whatever it needed to, better. More on that later.
First the kids blew up the
balloons. We used spray adhesive to
secure one balloon on a tall skinny table.
NOT A GOOD IDEA! That stuff is
sticky! It stuck to my hands and I had
to wash them three times with different soaps until I could help with the
project again. Plus, it did stick to the
table, but there is definitely some still stuck to it. We put the spray away at that point.
Next we poured fabric stiffener in
a large bowl. They used two yards of
cheese cloth in one yard pieces for each ghost.
That way they could drape it differently if they chose. We tried to use gloves, we really did try,
because the directions on the bottle said to – but we really couldn’t unbunch
the cloth with them on! So I tried it
first without, just in case my hands burned and my skin started to fall
off. I was fine. So were the kids. Gaige wasn’t crazy about the goopiness of the
stiffener but he got through it.
The draping was a trip but it was
also the best part. Cheese cloth looks
like it is all straightened out and then you realize that it’s not and there’s
more material to unravel! Good
times!
After both ghosts were set up and
drying the kids turned their attention to more important things – namely YouTube
and funny cat videos.
Speaking of funny cat videos, this one is my favorite:
https://youtu.be/0Bmhjf0rKe8
I hope this inspires you to try the
ghost project. It didn’t take long to
dry and the mess really is minimal. You
don’t need a lot of stiffener, and I added some water to mine to make it easier
to use. I had a lot left over. The kids had a good time and were happy with the finished product.
I wish I had more cheese cloth. I would have an army of these ghouls around
the house. Definitely a good project for
a rainy or cold and windy day. I hope
you try it! Post your pix – I would love
to see them!
