Craft Corner - All About Halloween

Its spooky season!! Halloween isn’t just about trick or treating on one day anymore. Some people decorate the inside and outside of their houses for the whole of October in preparation for the ghostly night. Whether you are looking for crafts to make with your children or looking for something to prepare for your Halloween party, we have lots of different crafts to sink your fangs into!

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Spiderweb ring

This spiderweb ring is such a fun take on a normal wreath. All you need to make this is a black wire ring and black wool. Start by tying a piece of wool to the top and bottom of the ring and then another piece across the middle. Then go across both diagonals. When all the main bits of wool are attached, tie the middle together to keep them in place. I then tied a long piece of wool to one of the main strands of the web and weaved it through the next strand along. Every time I did this, I wrapped the wool around the strand to create the web look. After I got back to the starting point, I moved up, so it was moving to the black ring. It was a bit fiddly in parts, but I think you can see the effect of the web. Once the web is complete, I tied the wool onto the frame and cut the remaining wool off.

And that’s it! You could make a few (and in different size) rings and display them together, either on a wall or hanging down from the ceiling at different heights. You could add little black pompoms as spiders or you could make bigger spiders out of chenille stems. You could also add some ready-made spiderweb to the display.

Bats and Skeleton bunting

This bunting would make a great display in your Halloween window or along your fireplace. All you need to make this bunting is black or dark coloured thread, felt squares, toy filling, scissors and needle (or sewing machine). To start, you need to decide what shape you want to make. We have gone with a bat and skeleton face. I think the black and white contrast goes together really well. Once you have decided on your creepy characters, you can start to cut your shape out. We did this by drawing it on a piece of paper first then when we were happy with the shape, pinned it onto the felt squares and cut them out. If you are putting decoration on them, like we have, do that before you stitch both sides together. On the bat, we stitched some wing detail and some eyes onto the top piece of felt square, then we stitched both sides together, leaving a little gap at the bottom to stuff with toy filling. Once stuffed, we finished sewing it up. We have stuffed them with toy filling to give them a 3d look. We used a sewing machine to sew them together, but if you do not have one, you can hand sew them too. Once you have made all your shapes, you can start threading them onto you thread to make the bunting. I have used a thin thread to try and give it the illusion of floating. I used a needle to thread them on rather than tying them or hanging them.

This idea is so versatile, you pick whichever Halloween shape you would like. We have done a bat and a skeleton, but you could have a ghost, a Frankenstein head, pumpkins, spooky house, potion bottle, witches hat and so on. You can make bunting, like we have, or you could add a hanger to the back with ribbon or thread and hang them at different lengths in your window or on a Halloween tree. You could leave them flat or stuff them, like we have.

Halloween tree

Last but not least is this amazing Halloween tree. This is the perfect addition to anyone’s Halloween door display. All you need is a branch or twig (please don’t cut down someone’s tree without their permission), plant pot, soil and decorations. Firstly you will need to make your decorations. You could use your felt square shapes from the previous make or we have made some tassel ghosts and pompom pumpkins. To make the tassel ghosts, you will need some white wool, a black felt square and some glue. Start by wrapping some wool around a hard back book. I used a book that was around 30cm. wrap it around 20-30 times and then cut the wool from the ball. I then pulled the wool from the book cover, carefully trying to keep them together. Cut the wool at each end so you get 2 piles of the same length wool. You then want to put the strands together and fold them in half. Take one strand out and tie in around the top part of the tassel, leaving a little gap from the top. You will then want to take some wool and thread it through the top of the tassel to create a hanger. I then cut some tiny black circles a glued them to the top part of the tassel to make a ghostly face.

For the pumpkins you will need some orange wool (I used Ribston dk Spice), pompom maker and a black felt square. Start by wrapping some wool around the pompom maker. If you have never used one before, they are so easy to use and they come with instructions. You want to wrap enough wool around each side so that it is slightly tight to close. Then cut down each side and tie with a piece of wool long enough to create a hanger (if you are confused by this bit, it will all make sense when you have the pompom maker in front of you). When you are happy with your pompoms, cut some black jack-o-lantern shapes out of a felt square and glue them onto the pompom.

Now that you have made the decorations for your tree, you can start to assemble it. Get your plant pot and fill it with compost, then stick your branch in the middle. Decide which side is going to be the front and hang your decorations on there. I have finished it off with some skeleton lights and added some sweets at the bottom to cover the compost and to make it into a trick or treat bowl. You could put it outside with sweets in if you pop out trick or treating or leave it inside and eat the sweets for yourself.

Whatever you are doing this Halloween, have a spooktastic time!! Don’t forget, we would love to see anything you have made using products bought from our YTC stores or website. Don’t forget to tag us in them on Instagram.