Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Line Up Of Ghosts


My kids and I are having so much fun decorating for Halloween. We're crafting and baking like crazy and I am amazed how many free crafts I can find out there to make. This one was the best because it was totally free. Yep, free!

We go through a ton of milk jugs but I sent out an email at work asking for some more. My co-workers probably think I'm a nut because I'm always asking for their "garbage." But hey, one man's garbage is another man's treasure, right? (Or something like that.) This great idea came from Disney Family Fun Magazine. Have you heard of it? It's awesome! I love it.

It was super easy. We cleaned out the milk jugs. You can use as many as you would like.

Use a permanent marker and draw a face on each one. My kids picked out the faces. Can you guess which one my daughter likes the most?

Then cut a piece out of the back of the jug so you can put lights in it. White lights would have probably looked better but we didn't have any of the all white ones. So we used a string of multi-colored Christmas lights. (I wanted this to be free so we used what we had.)

Put the lights in the back of the jugs and line them up. I used a piece of duct tape to tape the jugs together. Just in case the wind blew or something. I guess you could fill them with sand or something else to hold them down. Hopefully they won't blow away =o)


What do you think? It'll be fun to have these plugged in on Halloween to greet all the trick-or-treaters!

Come see the great things that are linked to the linky parties on my sidebar.
blog button


Entertain Exchange

48 comments:

Raina said...

These are a scream..lol What a great idea! These definitely would be perfect to have out for the trick or treaters on Halloween. I love that they are free and easy. Thanks:)

Ash said...

We made some of these too (http://stuffbyash.blogspot.com/2010/10/ghostly-milk-jugs.html). The duct tape is a great idea, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for sharing!

Our Treasured Home said...

Very cute and a great way to recycle!

Michaela said...

SOO cute! Never seen anything like this. What a fun way to recycle, too!

Kathleen said...

The multi-colored lights look so cute. Love the line-up of faces. That's one of my favorite magazines, too. Just chock-full of great ideas.
Good job!

mamahaas said...

So cute - I wonder if they make strings of orange lights? That really is a great magazine, btw.

Tiffanee said...

These are amazing! How fun and what a great way to recycle.

Close to home said...

very cute, did not see it in this magazine. thanks for always stopping by my blog

Sue said...

I LOVE this idea! "Free" makes it even better!

Carpenter's said...

My boys just did this and I enjoyed watching their imaginations at work!! Too fun!

Cathy said...

Your ghosties looked so festive on your porch, Erin. I think this is one of my favorite decorations. Love the lights you added and the fact that they are FREE!

Jami said...

Erin, please stop by and link these to Theme Party Thursday. I LOVE it when we can decorate with up-cycled materials (boo jars too!)

Tashia said...

Just dropping by to thank you for stopping by my blog, becoming a follower and entering my first giveaway! I hope to see you back often!

My family and I have been collecting milk jugs for this same project! Love it!

Tashia @ http://homeinspiredbliss.blogspot.com

Beccy said...

How cute. We did something similar but just used our jug (apple juice with a green cap) for orange juice. It's a great addition to our breakfast table.

Amanda said...

I love the faces, and the colored lights are awesome!

The Answer Is Chocolate said...

Wonderful idea and so cute. Thanks for linking up to my Open House!

Suzy said...

This is a fun idea! I've seen something similar done with christmas lights, but I love the faces!
Come stop by and promote your blog on my Commercial break! http://suzysartsycraftsysitcom.blogspot.com/2010/10/commercial-break-thursday-promote_14.html

Cheryl said...

My sister showed me this exact craft and I'm starting to save milk jugs. Yours look great.

Judy said...

Oh my goodness, how cute are those?! I love that they are completely free...I only wish we consumed more milk.

Vicki said...

What a hoot these are! I love them. Great job and so frugal. Thanks for sharing.

Vicki at Rusty Rooster Vintage

Bella said...

Yayyy Erin, these are adorable, I too have my garage overflowing with bottles, and milk cartons, and newspapers, and bags, lol. I have to start crafting or Im going to lose it. Love the way they turned out. Come link up girl, you know where!!! **6 weeks 2 Spook** Squeeze those kiddos for me, Take care, Bella :)

Madigan at madiganmade said...

What a fun idea... and I like the unexpected look of the color lights, too.

Stephanie said...

What a clever idea! Great decoration for Halloween and so cute.

deb said...

Super super cute!! What a fun blog. Just found you via Twitter. :)

Corinna said...

I've been saving our milk jugs for the exact same reason. I love Family Fun mag! And I like how you made yours multicolored. They're unique :)

Corinna

Allie said...

Very cute! I love the multi-colored lights! it actually makes them more ghostly, in my opinion!
Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie!
I hope to see you next week!
AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

KM @ This Plate is Full said...

Now that is clever!! Thanks so much for sharing! I gotta try this!

Susan @ Entertain Exchange said...

These are so cute. I am going to something like this to line my driveway for my Halloween party using candles instead.

Submit them in my Handmade Halloween Contest - starts now!

Susan,
http://entertainexchange.blogspot.com/
Party and Entertaining Inspiration

Sweet'Art Boutique said...

What a wonderful way to recycle...Love it!
Thanks so much for sharing this.

Cristie said...

Well how cute are they all lined up! Fun idea!

Jenny @ Simcoe Street said...

Sooo cute!!
Great idea!!

Jenny
www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

bet1975 said...

great idea! love that it was free!

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

You've been featured today! Thanks so much for joining the Sunday Showcase Party- I greatly appreciate it. Stop by and grab a featured button if you like. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. - Stephanie Lynn

JDaniel4's Mom said...

This is such a great way to recyle. They looks wonderful.

Kara said...

I love these! I just grabbed my milk jugs out of the recycling box- can't wait to make them!
-Kara
http://littlelearnerslounge.blogspot.com/

Just Jana said...

I've seen gumdrops made of milk cartons for Christmas, but never the ghosts. This is so cute! I guess I better stop giving my puppy the empty jugs to play with...

ButterYum said...

Adorable! We go through at least one gallon of milk a day, so I could have quite a lot of these little guys by the time Halloween rolls around.

:)
ButterYum

Jennifer said...

So creative!! LOVE it!!! (=

Anonymous said...

What a great way to get children's imaginations zooming.

The Better Baker said...

Hi Erin - I wanted you to know I'm posting this terrific idea on my blog tomorrow....I LOVE these fun and frugal ideas! Keep up the good work! www.thebetterbaker.blogspot.com

Kristi @ Creative Kristi said...

I found you via IShare Crafts and I made your milk jug ghosts with my 3 year old this weekend! I posted (and linked to you!) about them here on my What I Did This Weekend post!
Thanks for the great idea!
-Kristi

Erin Quinn said...

What a clever idea! So creative! You should enter them in my sister's "DIY Halloween Contest". She's giving away great prizes! Here's the link to her contest: http://ellekate.blogspot.com/p/diy-contest.html

Rachel said...

Hi Erin! I love this idea! I just linked to it from my holiday craft site:

http://www.allfreeholidaycrafts.com/Halloween-Crafts-for-Kids/Milk-Jug-Ghosts

Let me know if it's okay to link to your projects like this in the future.

Thanks!
Rachel @ AllFreeHolidayCrafts

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting this fabulous idea. I have been looking for something nonscarey but cute ghost related to decorate my back yard. I am having a Halloween party and want to add more light to the back yard and dress it up. What an excellent project! Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

Found orange lights at Walmart

Jerri Davis said...

You have made these Milk Jugs Look So Good. Thank you. Jerri Davis

Karen Smith said...

I bookmarked this last year before I started a Pinterest account, I almost forgot I wanted to do this instead of the traditional pumpkins.
Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to make these this year for Halloween!

Mona said...

How creative! And, unlike carved pumpkins, you can use them year-after-year.

Maybe I would alternate the face jars with some painted solid black or orange.

Related Posts with Thumbnails