By CraftingStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Krysta Meeker.
A yarn ghost is a tassel with a head. You wrap yarn around a piece of cardboard, tie the bundle at one end, stuff the top to round it out, and cut the bottom loops open. That is the entire technique, and it takes about five minutes per ghost once you have made one.
Krysta Meeker of The Meekers makes hers with white worsted yarn and black fabric puff paint for the eyes. There is no sewing, no glue gun and nothing that needs to set overnight apart from the paint.
Two things. The height of your cardboard sets the length of the ghost, and the number of wraps sets how full it is. A taller rectangle with the same number of wraps gives you a long, wispy ghost. A short rectangle heavily wrapped gives you a dense, stubby one. Cut a couple of different templates and hang a mix on the same string.
It is tempting to skip the tissue in the head, and the result is always the same: the top flattens out and the whole thing hangs like a mop. A ball of Kleenex, tissue paper or a cotton ball is what holds the round shape that makes it read as a ghost at a glance.
Puff paint gives the raised, slightly glossy eye, but it needs a couple of hours to dry. Small googly eyes glued on, or circles cut from black felt or cardstock, both work and let you hang the garland the same afternoon.
10 steps · about 5 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Cut a piece of scrap cardboard to roughly four and a half by four inches. That rectangle is the only template you need.
Its height sets how long the finished ghost hangs, so if you want longer, taller ghosts, cut a taller piece. Everything else stays the same.
Tip
Corrugated packaging is ideal. It is stiff enough to hold the yarn taut without bending while you wrap.
Wind the white yarn around the cardboard, keeping the wraps side by side rather than piling them up.
How many times you go around decides how full the ghost looks. Thin yarn needs more wraps than chunky yarn to reach the same density, so judge by the look of the bundle rather than counting.
Tip
Around 40 to 50 wraps of a standard worsted yarn gives a nicely full ghost.
Once the bundle is as thick as you want it, cut the yarn away from the skein.
Tip
Leave the wraps on the cardboard for now. They stay much tidier there than loose on the table.
Slide a separate long strand of yarn underneath all the wraps, pull it up to the top edge, and tie a firm knot.
Cut this strand generously long. The tails are what you will use to knot the ghost onto the garland string at the end, so you want the extra.
Tip
Pull this knot tighter than feels necessary. It carries the whole weight of the ghost once it is hanging.
Ease the tied bundle off the end of the cardboard.
It should hold its shape on its own now, with all the loops gathered under that one knot at the top.
Tip
If a few strands slip loose, work them back under the tie before you go any further.
Ball up a piece of tissue and push it into the bundle just below the tie, then spread the yarn evenly around it.
This is what turns a flat tassel into a ghost. Without it the head collapses and you end up with something that reads as a mop rather than a spook.
Tip
Kleenex, tissue paper or a cotton ball all work. Check the coverage from every side, because a gap shows the white tissue through the yarn.
Wrap a second strand of yarn around the bundle just below the stuffing and knot it.
That knot holds the tissue captive and defines the head. Let the tails of this strand hang down and blend into the body rather than trimming them off.
Tip
Slide the neck tie up or down before you tighten it. Higher gives a big-headed cartoon ghost, lower a lankier one.
Snip through all the loops at the bottom of the bundle so the yarn hangs loose.
Then go back and trim the stragglers. It does not want to be perfectly level, and a slightly ragged hem looks more like drifting fabric anyway.
Tip
Cut the loops while the ghost hangs from your hand. Gravity lines the strands up for you.
Dot two eyes onto the head with black fabric puff paint.
Keep them small and set them fairly low and wide. Puff paint sits proud of the yarn as it dries, which is what gives the eyes their slightly bulging, cartoonish look.
Tip
Puff paint takes a couple of hours to cure. Do not hang the garland until the eyes are properly dry or you will smear them.
Repeat until you have enough ghosts, then tie each one onto your hanging string with a simple knot.
Push the tails to whichever side they naturally want to fall and tuck them down into the body so the knot disappears into the yarn.
Tip
Black and white bakers twine suits this better than plain string. It reads as part of the decoration instead of something holding it up.
Keep going
How to Make Pinecone Christmas Ornaments
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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