Badge: Halloween Crafts

Get in touch with your inner creativity. Your ideas of Halloween may be dark or playful. You may choose to do a mixture of both. Now, it’s time to start crafting for Halloween.

Steps

A Few Themes

1. Ghosts.

A ghost theme can include everything from graveyards to haunted houses. Any craft you can imagine can be used to make a ghost . . . cheesecloth stiffened over a balloon, plastic canvas fridgies, paper plates with streamers, color sheets, etc. With ghosts in mind, brainstorm what crafts you can make. Here’s a small list to start:

Tie a tissue over a lollipop with white yarn
Put white paint in a clean 2-liter bottle with no label; roll around to paint inside; decorate outside with markers or paint
Paint bottom of foot with white paint; step on black paper; use heel as head and decorate
Form chicken wire ghosts and paint with glow-in-the-dark paint

2. Monsters.

In the monster world, vampires and zombies tend to rule. Explore various ways the undead are portrayed. Examine your exploration and decide if you can craft items with this theme in mind. If you’re interested in other monstrous creatures, don’t limit yourself to what’s popular. Here’s a few ideas to get started:

Cut out gingerbread men; paint with watered down white glue and wrap with tissue paper; add google eyes for a mummy
Grab shaped fun foam, pipe cleaners and wiggle eyes; build fun, colorful monsters
Practice make-up techniques to make you look “undead”
Adjust photos to make faces look “undead” in software like Adobe Photoshop or try it manually

3. Pumpkins.

Of course, carving pumpkins is the most obvious of all crafts. Watch videos to see how others carve pumpkins. Take away a few tips and try to carve your pumpkin a new way.

Alternatively, you can craft with your pumpkins. Look through the list of possible way to craft pumpkins and try one of these or one of your own.

Purchase a small pumpkin or gourd and decorate with paint instead of carving it
Stuff a lunch bag 3/4 with shredded paper; tie top with green pipe cleaner; paint bag orange and add a face
Cut a small pumpkin in half, cover with paint and stamp on a treat bag
Decoupage baby food jar with orange tissue paper, insert a tea light candle

4. Creepy crawlies.

Spiders are a great addition to any Halloween activity. What other bugs make you squirm? Let’s start with a few fun crafts to get it going!

Cut a black pipe cleaner into 4 same-size parts; push through one black pony bead; adjust legs
Cut two pipe cleaners in half and twist the center; place a black pom pom and wiggle eyes in center; adjust legs
Make your own web out of string, hot glue or fishing line

5. Tombstones.

Crafting your own tombstones can be fun. You can put names of your family and friends, corny names, fun sayings or even follow a theme.

In addition, you need to make sure your tombstones can stand up to damp weather. Make them out of wood, sealed cardboard, foam, etc. Explore the ways you can make a tombstone. Before you start, check out tips to help avoid disasters. Which way do you think would work best for your tombstones? Make one.

Craft Items

6. Colors.

For the Halloween season, the colors are black and orange. Sometimes you’ll see a bit of purple or red. As you look through the different types of crafts and ideas below, keep these colors in mind.

7. Accessories.

Accessories alone can make a costume. In addition, everyone has their own style when looking for accessories. Age and experience working with materials will also determine what kinds of items you make. Research some of the following items and see which you would like to make for Halloween as part of your costume.

Glasses
Hat
Headband
Jewelry
Mask
Scarf
Wand
Wing

8. Garland.

You can make garland and streamers for indoor or outdoor use, depending on the materials you use. I like to use plastic canvas for outdoor use because it holds up longer. You can also decorate strings of lights as garland. Here’s a couple ideas to start you off.

String of ghosts spelling out “Happy Halloween”
Little paper jack-o-lantern punched shapes over a string of lights

9. Cards.

Whether you want to send invites to your Halloween party or you want to share holiday cheer, cards are a great way to do this. Stick to the colors of the season and make your own for friends and family.

10. Small.

Share the holiday with small Halloween items. Homemade stickers or refrigerator magnets are just two possibilities. Both of these are small and can easily be slipped into a treat bag. Not interested in these, ask yourself what else you can easily make that can be shared. Be sure to make enough for everyone.

11. Silhouette.

Silhouettes can be used on windows with backlighting to provide additional outdoor decor. They can be used on doors, mirrors or anywhere else. You can also create silhouette puppets (movable or not) for an extra activity. If you get vector-based graphics, you can resize them to any size without creating jagged edges. Create one or more silhouettes to add to your decor or for play.

12. Containers.

You need a container both to give and get treats. For giving, you can make your own zip top bag toppers or sleeves, paper boxes, plastic canvas baskets, crocheted holders, etc. You’ll want something bigger to collect candy in . . . perhaps a stamped tote bag. Explore the different kinds of containers you can make and do it!

13. Props.

You can use props for decor. Many of these are easier to make than to purchase . . . and you’ll get exactly what you want. Here are a few to start your brainstorming process.

Apple — shrunken heads
Potion bottles — empty, cleaned glass bottle with a printable label attached, colored water optional
Tin can luminaries — can punched to allow light through holes
Monster eyes — toilet paper rolls cut with glow sticks inside
Holiday pictures — cut out items to put on pictures already hanging on wall to fit holiday like a witch hat

14. Advent calendar.

Normally when you think of an advent calendar, you think of Christmas. Let’s adapt this idea and create one for Halloween. Find a printable, pattern or use your own design to create one.

15. Fun.

There are many more ways you can craft for the holidays. Check out the supplements below for a few ideas. Then, search the web for ideas and be sure to save your favorites.

Supplements

SUPP_ Halloween Crafts_2in_12up_larajla

Avery 2” round label printable, 12 up

SUPP_ Halloween Crafts_Checklist_larajla

Badge checklist

SUPP_Color Fun_Treat Bag_larajla

Decorate the treat bag with items you’d like to get for Halloween

SUPP_Craft Fun_CD Monster_larajla

Create a monster head on a CD

SUPP_Craft Fun_Craft Stick Monster_larajla

Create a monster on a craft stick

SUPP_Instruct Fun_List_Halloween Decor_larajla

Easy decor ideas

SUPP_Instruct Fun_List_Halloween Epitaphs_larajla

List of possible Halloween epitaphs for gravestones

SUPP_Printable_BM_Halloween Coloring_larajla

Bookmarks: Halloween Coloring

SUPP_Printable_BM_Halloween Graphics_larajla

Bookmarks: Halloween Graphics

SUPP_Printable_BM_Halloween Haunted_larajla

Bookmarks: Halloween Haunted with blood splatters

SUPP_Printable_CONE_Halloween_larajla

Cone: Halloween with blood splatters

SUPP_Printable_CONE_Happy Halloween_larajla

Cone: Happy Halloween

SUPP_Printable_Halloween PP_larajla

Sheet: Items to make ghost or pumpkin from a paper plate

SUPP_Printable_Misfortune Sayings_larajla

Samples of misfortunes you can print and put into fortune cookies (felt or craft foam)

SUPP_Printable_Pumpkin Popper_larajla

Print, decorate and assemble your own pumpkin popper

SUPP_Printable_SILH_Graveyard Background_larajla

Silhouette graveyard for craft and play

SUPP_Printable_SILH_Halloween Characters_larajla

Silhouette Halloween characters for craft and play

SUPP_Printable_SILH_Tree Background_larajla

Silhouette bare tree background for craft and play

SUPP_Printable_TOP_Halloween_larajla

Bag Topper: Halloween with blood splatters

SUPP_Printable_TOP_Happy Halloween_larajla

Bag Topper: Happy Halloween

SUPP_SWAP Fun_Spider I_larajla

Create a small spider as a craft or SWAP

SUPP_Temp Fun_Mask 01_larajla

Template Fun: Mask 01

SUPP_Temp Fun_Mask 02_larajla

Template Fun: Mask 02

SUPP_Temp Fun_Mask 03_larajla

Template Fun: Mask 03

SUPP_Temp Fun_Mask 04_larajla

Template Fun: Mask 04

SUPP_Temp Fun_Mask 05_larajla

Template Fun: Mask 05

SUPP_Temp Fun_Mask 06_larajla

Template Fun: Mask 06

Sites to Explore

Get the infographic here > larajla blog post

Get the PDFs of the badge program / supplements here > Full badge PDFs