Tennis Ball Ghosts
My Halloween lights, pumpkins, and spider webs are cool and all, but my favorite decoration would be the tennis ball ghosts I made several years back. They are so simple, kid friendly, and cute. If you have an old tennis ball and an old white dish towel, bed sheet, or t-shirt, you have all you need.
I made them out of what I had lying around the house at the time. We had just bought our first house and I didn't want to get too spendy with Halloween decorations outside. So when I came across a nice white dish towel with a hole in it, I got an idea.
I think I first tried wrapping the head of the towel in newspaper, but quickly realized it wouldn't hold up. Then I came across an old tennis ball in my tool drawer. It was light, would hold up in the rain, and provided a nice, sturdy hollow shell to attach a hook into so that it could hang.
Tennis ball ghost head
What you'll need:
- White cloth from an old dish towel, t-shirt, or bed sheet
- Tennis ball
- 2 mini zip ties
- Black marker
Use the entire back of a t-shirt or an entire dish towel and place the tennis ball in the center. If you have a small piece of white fabric to cover the tennis ball before wrapping the large sheet around it, do so as a double layer helps block the yellow from being seen through the fabric.
With the tennis ball in the center of the cloth pull the corners together and "choke" the ghost forming a neck. Use a zip tie to secure the neck and trim it.
On the top of the head, drill two small holes a half centimeter apart. Fish a zip tie into one hole and out the other then secure the tie to form a loop. Don't close the loop entirely. Trim the end of the tie. This is where you will attach a string to hang the ghost. You can push the square end of the zip connector into the hole so that it is not visible.
Finally, draw two eyes (and a mouth if you want) on the head and consider it done!
Over the upcoming year my goal is to find a boat load of used tennis balls and create an army of a hundred ghosts to hang from my front trees.
- Wrap a tennis ball in white fabric.
- Secure neck with zip tie
- Drill two holes on top of head and fish a zip tie through for a loop.
- Draw eyes.