When The Ghosts Come Out, Late At Night...

I turned my balloon over several times during the process to make sure that I completely covered the balloon.

Continue placing strips on the balloon until completely covered.  It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth as the paper mache will be hidden under the sheet but you do want it to be completely covered..  Let  dry.  Once dry, I came back and added another layer of paper strips because I wanted the final product to be thick and last for a while.  If you don’t add the second layer I think the paper mache will be too thin and when the balloon pops it may collapse.  Once your balloon is dry spray it with a clear sealer.  I used clear matte laquer because that is what I had on hand.  This will prevent it (hopefully! I haven’t tested this part out yet) from collapsing if you place your ghosts outside and it happens to rain.

Next, take your glue and apply it to the screw part of the hook.  Be generous.

Poke a hole through the sheet and the top of the balloon. (Your balloon will pop at this point.  It should leave you with a hard shell.) I added more glue between the bottom of the sheet and the paper mache balloon to hold it in place.  Once I placed the hook in, I added more glue around the top hook.  I don’t want my ghost to blow away so I was very generous with the glue.

Now comes the fun part – adding the eyes.  I used a black Sharpie to draw the eyes on my ghosts.

And here is what the completed little ghost looks like.  We have a tree in our front yard that I am going to hang them from. Have a great day!