DIY Halloween Scrap Wood Ghosts
During Halloween, you’re bound to see ghosts everywhere, from ghost-themed snacks, to easy DIY costume ideas. My favorite way to incorporate ghosts into the holiday is by making these DIY Halloween scrap wood ghosts.
The local home stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s often have scrap pieces of 4 x 4 timber. This size is just perfect for making these cute scrap wood ghosts.
These spooky wooden ghosts are fun to make and the perfect way to set a mood. Keep reading to learn how to make this seasonal craft project.
Supplies for these DIY Halloween scrap wood ghosts
To make the project you will need the following supplies:
- 3 pieces of 4 x 4 scrap wood (I used a 3 inch, 5 inch and 8 inch piece)
- Halloween ribbon (for the hair and neckties)
- White acrylic paint
- Black acrylic paint
- Artist brush and normal paint brush
- Glue gun and hot glue sticks
To make this easy DIY Halloween decoration, I repurposed my scrap wood from an old mailbox post that my husband cut into pieces for me. It was a great way to use materials I already had on hand to celebrate the season.
I made over my mailbox this summer and the post was in pretty bad shape so I could not reuse it for that project, but it was perfect for this one. I don’t mind having a few imperfections on these spooky ghosts!
How to make these Halloween scrap wood ghosts
Note: Hot glue guns, and heated glue can burn. Please use extreme caution when using a hot glue gun. Learn to use your tool properly before you start any project.
Prepare your wood
If you used new wood, you won’t have to fix any imperfections and can skip this step. If you use repurposed wood you might have to fix it a little bit before making this Halloween decoration.
- My pieces of wood had long splits in them, so I filled them with wood filler. I only did this on the side I wanted to paint into faces.
- Once I’d filled the splits, I sanded the surface so it was smooth.
Paint the wood
- I used two coats of some left over white paint from my mailbox. It covered well since it had a primer in it.
- If your paint doesn’t have primer in it, you may need to add an extra coat of paint.
Draw the faces
While I could have chosen many things to paint on this scrap wood project, I picked ghosts because they are one of the most recognizable symbols of Halloween.
- Once the layers of paint on the scrap wood were dry, I outlined the faces on the pieces of wood with a pencil first.
- Then I traced the pencil outline with a sharpie.
- I used an artist brush to fill in the eyes, mouths and noses of the ghosts.
Free printable ghost faces
- I painted my ghost faces free hand just by looking at the printable that I made.
- You can also print out the template and use transfer paper to get the design on your wood if you prefer.
Add ribbons to the wood Halloween ghosts
Now came the fun part. Originally, I was going to just paint the faces and call it good, but when I got them done, I thought they needed a bit of window dressing.
I used some ribbon I had left over from another project to add to the ghost’s personalities.
- I gave the little one have long hair by cutting pieces of Halloween ribbon and attaching it to her head.
- The two larger ones are her “beaus” so I gave them neckties.
- I attached the ribbon with a little bit of hot glue and my scrap wood ghosts were all dressed up for the Halloween ball!
Staging Halloween scrap wood ghosts
Since my scrap wood Halloween decorations were all different heights, I thought I’d emphasize that by staging them on my front steps.
I added a couple of real pumpkins decorated with stencils as well as a cute Halloween lantern and some faux gourds to set the stage. You could also use jack o lanterns instead of stenciled pumpkins.
They would be cute made up as snowmen too, for Christmas, wouldn’t they? I think that will be my next project!
Have you ever used scrap wood in DIY projects? What did you make out of them. I’d love to have you share your projects in the comments below.
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Looking for a fun Halloween craft project to try this year? Try making these cute scrap wood ghosts with the tutorial on Always the Holidays. 👻🎃🍁 #ScrapWoodHalloweenProjects #HalloweenDecorations Share on XPin these scrap wood ghosts for Halloween on Pinterest
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Admin note: This post showing how to make scrap wood Halloween projects first appeared on the blog in October of 2013. I have updated the post to add a printable project card and more images for you to enjoy.
DIY Halloween Scrap Wood Ghosts
Looking for fun Halloween scrap wood projects to make this year? Try making these Halloween scrap wood ghosts!
They're an easy project that's equally cute and spooky.
Materials
- 3 pieces of 4 x 4 scrap wood (I used a 3 inch, 5 inch and 8 inch piece)
- Halloween ribbon (for the hair and neckties)
- White acrylic paint
- Black acrylic paint
Tools
- Artist brush
- Normal paint brush
- Glue gun and hot glue sticks
Instructions
Prepare your wood
- If you are using new wood, you won’t have to fix any imperfections so you can skip this step. If you are using scrap wood, keep reading.
- Check to see which side of the wood you want to paint the faces on.
- If that side of the wood has crack in it, fill them with wood filler.
- After filling the splits, sand the surface so it is smooth.
Paint the wood
- Paint the wood with white paint.
- I used two coats of some left over white paint from my mailbox which covered the wood well since it had a primer in it.
- If your paint doesn’t have primer in it, you may need to add an extra coat of paint.
Draw the faces
- I painted my ghost faces free hand just by looking at the printable that I made.
- I outlined the faces on the pieces of wood with a pencil first.
- Then I traced the pencil outline with a sharpie.
- I used an artist brush to fill in the eyes, mouths and noses of the ghosts.
- You can also print out this ghost face template and use transfer paper to get the design on your wood if you prefer.
Add ribbons to the Halloween ghosts
- To finish the design, I added Halloween-theme ribbons to the ghosts.
- I gave the little one long hair by cutting pieces of Halloween ribbon and attaching it to her head.
- The two larger ones are her “beaus” so I gave them neckties.
- I attached the ribbon with a little bit of hot glue and with that, my scrap wood ghosts were done!
Notes
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Ghost faces