House-o-lanterns DIY

The first DIY on my blog!

Well, I love halloween decorations, probably more than any other holiday's decorations...and every year I try to think of new ideas. This year I made "House-o-Lantern" decorations for my windows. I found this idea on Disney's Family Fun website, but changed it a bit to work better for me.

Supplies:

Black plastic sheeting (you can substitute cardboard instead)

Tissue paper

Scissors

Craft knife

Measuring tape

Tape

Acrylic paint

Paintbrush

Cardboard box (flattened)

First, measure the window you would like to cover. Then measure and cut the plastic sheeting to fit (make it a couple inches longer on all 4 sides so you can tape it to the walls on the edges of the window). If you chose to use cardboard, cut it so it fits snugly in the window.

Next, cut stencils for the shapes you would like to cut out (unless you are an artist, which I am not). I printed some pictures off of the internet.

Trace the stencils with paint onto the plastic sheeting. The paint should dry within 20-30 minutes.

Next, slide the cardboard underneath the plastic sheeting. Use the craft knife to cut out the shapes you painted onto the plastic sheeting. (hint: it helps to tape the plastic to the floor. makes it easier to cut the shapes out...just make sure you can slide the cardboard around underneath it).

After you have cut out the shapes, you will tape the colored tissue paper onto the back of the plastic sheeting, covering each shape completely.

Finally, you can tape the plastic sheeting over the window, making sure that the exposed taped tissue paper is facing in the house.

I happen to have bright lights in the room that I covered the window, but if you don't, you can stick a lamp behind the window to make it look brighter from outside.

Here are some other designs I made as well. The one on the door (with the bats)...I just taped the bats that I had cut out from the plastic sheeting to the window, then covered the window with tissue paper.