DIY chicken wire cheesecloth Halloween ghost tutorial

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October? Already?! Let’s start off the month with a Halloween DIY. As a part of the Lowe’s Creative Ideas team, I received a gift card to purchase the materials for a Halloween decor challenge. I made a cheesecloth ghost and what a challenge it was! Because of the large life-size, I ran into some obstacles and almost threw in the towel, accepting defeat and attempted to think of another project. The joys of DIY: sometimes a big fat fail. 

BUT I switched direction and saved the project! Below I share what I did, recommendations for what I’d do different and how I rescued the project making it a success. If this is something you’d like to tackle, read through my tutorial to decide the best way to go about making your ghost.

DIY Halloween Ghost Save

Materials for a chicken wire cheesecloth ghost:

Tools:

  • wire cutters
  • drill will very small drill bit

Tutorial:

Open the cheesecloth packages. Unravel and unfold cheesecloth.

how to make a cheesecloth ghost Save

Spray the top of the skull with spray adhesive. Wait a few seconds/fan with your hand a few times. Attach one strip of the center of the cheesecloth to create a “hood” around the skull. Let dry.

Using wire cutters, cut the chicken wire to create a torso and arms. I attached the arms using the cut side pieces of my strip of chicken wire along with extra wire.

ghost tutorial Save

When skull/cheesecloth glue is dry, using a drill bit smaller than the cup hook screw, drill a small hole into the top of the skull, towards the back. Too far towards the front of the skull will have it looking up, more towards the back, the skull will look down when hanging. Screw in the cup hook. (Add a dab of Gorilla Glue if needed and then screw in the cup hook.) 

scary DIY Halloween ghost Save

Place the skull onto the chicken wire torso. I used small cut pieces of wire through the cheesecloth hood at the base of the skull like a twist-tie , securing/twisting inside of the chicken wire torso frame to secure the skull into place. Drape more cheesecloth over the arms and torso, covering the chicken wire. Use more wire twist-ties where needed to keep cheesecloth in place.

Halloween ghost DIY Save

Hang using fishing line and an s-hook. Bend arms and torso if needed after hanging.

cheesecloth chicken wire ghost Save

Things I attempted, failed and learned. Optional:

  • You can search Google for starch ghost recipes for success in making smaller ghosts. I used 1 1/2 containers of cornstarch and 6 cups of water which did not hold my extra large ghost’s shape when dry. I think less water and making more of a wet paste would have maybe had better results. However, I still would NOT use the starch method if you plan to hang your ghost outdoors. Water (rain/dew/frost) will deactivate the starch and your ghost will lose it’s shape. That’s why the chicken wire frame is a better option. There’s less room for failure.  

    Mistake: starch is too watery and not a good option for an outdoor ghost.

  • Also, I used garden stakes and wire to create a frame for forming/drying the starched cheesecloth. A super heavy gage wire is necessary. Even coat hangers weren’t really strong enough for starch soaked cheesecloth, causing the arms to droop, which is why you’ll notice I had to use more stakes. This still didn’t work for me. My ghost did not hold it’s shape, although my cheesecloth is a little stiffer.

    Even with a frame/mould for the starched cheesecloth, the large size ghost is too heavy to stand hold it’s shape when dry.