Halloween Decorations: Cute Ghost Craft & SVG File -

Halloween is one of those tricky holidays for me. While I enjoy making DIY crafts, like these cute ghost decorations, I’m not a big fan of the creepy stuff. I do love that it’s one of those holidays that bring people together, encourages fun and sparks creativity.

How to make cute hanging ghosts for a cheap Halloween decoration with free SVG files.

When my kids younger, it brought me joy to see the excitement in them. I always made a pot of soup and my sister and nieces would come over to Trick-or-Treat with us. It was all we could do, to snap a picture before they flew out the door with their little orange plastic pumpkins. Oh how those years flew by!

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I wish I would have known about this craft back then. I think my boys would have loved making these cute ghosts and adding the silly faces to them. But, I still think they get a kick out of it when I decorate the house for Halloween. As long as I see them smile and roll their eyes, I know I’m on the right track!

Complete vellum form to light up your ghosts with a tea light and hang them.

While the tea light holders and ghost faces are my designs, I cannot take credit for the actual fabric/glue ghosts. There a a bunch of tutorials and videos out there with different variations of instructions to make them. This is my take on this cute ghost craft.

SUPPLIES

HOW TO ACCESS THE FREE LIBRARY (OVER 60 DESIGN IDEAS AND FREE FILES)

To access the free printables and SVG cut files, subscribe at the top right sidebar or at the bottom of this post. After a few moments you will receive an email confirmation page. You need to confirm your email and then you will receive the welcome email with the password. Go to the library page and enter the password in the empty box located below the word “Password”. You can also access the library on the top menu bar any time you’d like with your password. These popular paper pumpkin luminaries are just one of the many files available to you.

Handmade paper pumpkins for Thanksgiving.

Please keep in mind that the password for the library is case sensitive and does have spaces. Also, check to make sure your caps lock is turned off. If you have any problems, email me at laura@heartfilledspaces.com and I’ll do my best to help.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE GHOST FILES

Once you have subscribed and received your password via email, you can go to the library and view the free files. There’s over 60 files and free project ideas.

Free clipart, SVG, PNG, PDF and Silhouette files with ghost faces and accessories to make your cute ghost craft.

Here is a peek at the ghost faces and accessories, which are available as SVG, PNG, PDF and Silhouette file formats.

To download any of the files, click on the link you would like to download. You will see a preview of the file you have chosen. On the top right of the preview page there is a downward facing arrow with a line under it. Click on that arrow to download the file to your computer. At this point a (Save As) box will appear and you can decide where you would like to save your download. If you’re not sure, you can save it to your desktop folder. If you would like to rename the file, you can do that now, then click save.

At this point, depending on whether you are a Silhouette or Cricut user, go to the appropriate section below for instructions to open your file in the design software.

SILHOUETTE CAMEO INSTRUCTIONS

If you have a Silhouette Cameo, open Silhouette Studio. Click file, then open and click on the Ghost Craft Vellum file. Then open the Ghost Faces file. It will be in the location that you downloaded it to earlier. You can resize the file at this point, if you want. The cut settings I used for this file are:

For Vellum: Blade 2, Speed 6, Force 21
For Vinyl: Blade 2, Force 11, Speed 8

Please keep in mind that materials can vary in thickness and your blade can dull over time. Always do a test cut before sending your file.

Use a light grip mat for vellum and remove it slowly/carefully from the mat. The vellum does tear easily.

CRICUT INSTRUCTIONS

If you have a Cricut machine, open Cricut Design Space. On the top welcome bar, click on My Projects. Now on the left menu bar towards the bottom, you should see an Upload button. Click on Upload.

Under Image, click Upload Image. Then click Browse. Now find the file you downloaded earlier, click on it and choose Open. At this point, give your file an Image Name, Tags and click Save.

Under Recently Uploaded Images, click on the file. Then click the green Insert Images button on the bottom right.

Now you can resize the file.

Vellum File Size: W – 8.037 H – 10.50
Faces File Size: W – 8.034 H – 10.386

CRICUT: GHOST VELLUM INSTRUCTIONS

Once your file is resized, right click on it and choose ungroup. Change the 8 cut lines around the circles to score lines. Then select all the layers and choose (Attach) in the bottom right corner. Click (Make It). Use a light grip cutting mat for your vellum and load it into your machine. Under material choose Vellum. Load your scoring wheel and choose go. Then, when prompted, load your fine point cutting blade and choose go. When you are done cutting your Vellum, use extra care when removing it from the mat as it does tear easily.

CRICUT: GHOST FACES FILE INSTRUCTIONS

Resize your Ghost Faces file to the dimensions listed above. Then ungroup the layers. Change layers 3 & 4 (blue layers/horizontal lines) from cut to score. Hide the Top Hat words layer. Attach all the blue layers together.

Select all the red layers and attach them and hide all the blue layers for now. Click Make It. Set your material to Vinyl for the red layers. Load your vinyl in the machine and click the Go button. Once complete, unload your vinyl and go back to your main canvas.

Now hide all the red layers and unhide the blue layers (Top Hat). Load you black card-stock into your machine. Click Make It. Set your material to cardstock. Change your tool to the scoring wheel. Then press Go. When the software prompts you, change your tool to the Fine Point Blade and press Go.

Set your files aside for later.

PREPARE THE MOLDS TO MAKE YOUR CUTE GHOSTS

To create the ghosts, you will need to make some sort of form or mold. I used ping pong balls taped to the bottom of votive holders. If it’s not quite tall enough, add a cut toilet paper roll underneath it.

How to make forms for your ghosts to dry using ping pong balls and votive holders.

I decided to make twelve of them, since the LED lights come in a 12 pack. At this point, I cut each tea towel into 4 squares. I used a total of 3 tea towels for all twelve ghosts.

Then to protect my votives from the glue/water mixture I covered them in foil and added pipe cleaners for arms.

Cover your form with foil and give your ghost form arms.

At this point, I mixed 2 cups of Mod Podge (school glue works, too) with about 1 cup of water in a disposable container. I worked in batches, since my container was too small for all of the ingredients at once. I recommend you add the Mod Podge and slowly add the water to it. You may not need the entire cup of water. It only needs to be thin enough to wring out the towels after you place them in the mixture.

Mixing Mod Podge and water to create a ghost craft for Halloween.

After the tea towels are fully saturated, squeeze out the extra liquid. At this point, straighten out the towels and place them over the forms. The forms were on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and paper towels. I let them sit here for about an hour to slightly drip dry.

Wait for the ghosts to dry on paper towels.

Then I placed the towels over candle holders. At this point, take a little time to shape and smooth out the towels before they dry. The way they are positioned is the way the will look when they are dry and stiff. Let them fully dry overnight (about 24 hours).

Place your ghost forms on candle sticks to dry.

CREATE A VELLUM TEA LIGHT HOLDER/HANGER TO MAKE YOUR GHOSTS FLY

The purpose of this vellum holder is to soften the look of the candle, extend the candle down from the top of the ghost, and create structure to hang the ghost and candle. When I first made these ghosts, you could see the actual LED tea light through the ghost. It wasn’t just a glowing light, but the silhouette of the tea light was clear. Since I’ve been working with a lot of vellum lately, I knew it would let the light through and hide the actual tea light shape. I also wanted a way to hang the ghost with the tea light inside of it. That’s the purpose of this file.

Cut your tea light and hanging form out of paper for your ghosts using this free SVG file.

Start by cutting out the pattern with your cutting machine or a craft knife. Vellum can tear easily, so use a light grip mat and remove it carefully/slowly.

Assemble your vellum tea light hanger to place under your ghosts.

Then add your favorite adhesive to all of the flaps with the red arrows.

Next, place your candle on its side on top of the vellum. Then roll the vellum up to form a tube with the candle inside. Press the sticky end of the vellum to close the tube.

Now fold up the bottom flaps to hold the tea light in the tube. My tea lights have a timer that runs 6 hours on and 18 hours off. So I turned the switch to the on position for all of the candles at 5PM. Now the candles will come on at 5PM and go off around 11PM each night on their own.

Close and secure the top of your vellum form to place under your ghosts to illuminate and hang them.

At this point, take a brad and tie your string just under the head of the brad. Then slip it through the firs circle on the top of the tube. Then working in order add each circle until they are all on the brad. Finally to secure it in place, open the brad on the under side of the last circle.

This is the top of the ghost holder, when it’s fully assembled.

Tie the two ends of your string together to form a knot. I liked the way my ghosts looked on the candlesticks, so I took them out the molds/forms, added the vellum candle holders and put them right back on the candlestick holders. To secure them in place I added a loop of painters tape to the top of the candlestick and pressed the vellum holders on the tape. Then I placed the ghosts on top.

If you want to hang your ghosts for a floating effect, you need to add a hole in the top of the ghost. I used a thick upholstery needle to thread the strings (from the vellum tube) through the top of the ghost and then knotted the string.

ADD FACES AND ACCESSORIES TO YOUR GHOSTS

I designed a file for the ghost faces for you to use in the library. There are two ways to use them. I used regular permanent vinyl and cut out the ghost faces with my cutting machine. This worked O.K., but I recommend you add the faces before you remove the ghosts from the original ping pong ball molds. The molds support the fabric while you press the vinyl on the fabric. I actually used my fingernail to burnish the vinyl into the fabric. So far it is sticking pretty well, but I did notice it released on a few of the edges. I’m O.K. with that and just press it back down when I see it.

Free Clipart file with vinyl cutouts for your cute ghost faces.

Option two is to use the background of the vinyl as a stencil and use a black sharpie marker to fill in the faces. This will give you a guide, if you don’t want to wing it.

I also suppose you could use heat transfer vinyl, if you wanted to plan ahead and add it before you soak the fabric in the glue mixture, but I didn’t try it.

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Do you like budget friendly decor and crafts? Follow me on PINTEREST. Did you know that you can hover over the images below and save them for later? Just click on the red Pinterest button and save it to your Halloween Decorating or Fall Crafts Board. It’s so helpful to Pin It now and save it for later, when your ready to start your project.