My daughters are very excited about Halloween this year. They are always excited for candy and costumes, but this year they are all about making the house look haunted.
I won’t lie, there has been some backlash in the way of a certain 5-year-old who has been finding her way into our bed most nights for the last 5 days. I suppose that Zombie parade was a bit much, but she begged so much we thought maybe she was old enough to realize that they weren’t real. Apparently not really.
I have decided it’s time to go back to the kiddie decorations. My 7-year-old has been begging for these creepy skull lanterns to light the walkway for the trick-or-treaters but I’ve made an executive decision that they are too creepy and in it’s place we will be making these cute plastic gallon milk carton lanterns.
They can be as creepy as you want them to be, but I am envisioning ours as being whimsical and frightfully gleeful apparitions to greet the children of the neighborhood (mine included) rather than frighten them off. They are simple and fun to make. So easy to make, in fact, that I am making them with 30 7-year-olds next week. Here is how you can make your very own.
What you need:
- Empty plastic gallon or half-gallon milk jugs, washed and dried (this is a VERY important step)
- Small paintbrush
- Glue
- Tissue paper
- Construction paper
- Markers
- Sand
- Tea lights or small flashlights
To make it (If you are making these with a group of small children, I recommend doing steps 1-3 by yourself ahead of time because tissue needs to dry overnight).
- Cut the tops off of the milk jugs.
- Paint the jug with glue.
- Cover the jug with tissue paper, let dry overnight.
- Decorate jugs with markers, extra pieces of paper for ears, etc.
- Fill bottom with sand, light with tea lights outside, or flashlights inside.
What is your favorite craft to do with your children for Halloween?
photo credit: massdistraction via photopin cc
via Kraft
