How to Build
A CheeseCloth Ghost
Items Needed:
Cheesecloth - one yard per ghost
Fabric Stiffener (Stiffy is the best and comes in Glow in the Dark)
Clear plastic wrap
plastic bottles of various sizes
A balloon for the head (or anything round such as fruit or a ball)
Scotch Tape or Masking Tape
A Bowl
Cardboard
Lay the cardboard on the floor and cover it with plastic wrap. Tape down the plastic wrap so that it doesn't come back up.Blow up on of the balloons to about the size of a baseball (larger or smaller depending on the size of the ghost). Tape the balloon the the top of one of the larger sized bottles. Place this bottle in the middle of the cardboard, as it will become the head and body. Place a similar size bottle on either side of the "body" and position somewhat in front to resemble arms. Using a smaller bottle for one of the arms makes the ghost more interesting. Place a piece if plastic wrap over the bottles to prevent the cloth from sticking to the bottles.
Cut a section of cheesecloth large enough to cover the ghost frame (1/2 yard should work).Place this cloth in the bowl and poor fabric stiffener generously over the top. Saturate it to the point that you can wring out the excess and it is still damp.
Open the cheesecloth folds and gently lay it over top of the ghost frame. Make sure to not spread the fabric beyond the boundaries of the plastic wrap as it is very sticky as it dries.
Bend, fold and crease the fabric to desired shape. Cut and saturate another 1/2 yard of cheesecloth and layer it on top of the first.
Let dry for 24 hours. During this time, if desired, purchase the pump spray bottle of fabric stiffener and spritz on extra stiffener every few hours. Then, once completely dry, the ghost will peel off of the plastic wrap and retain its shape. Do not remove the fabric from the frame while still wet or it will collapse. Also, do not use pump spray stiffener on ghost after removed from frame as moisture of any kind will cause it to collapes.
After the ghost is done, you can decorate it! Glue on doll eyes or jewels for eyes to make it more festive. Feel free to improvise by first dying the cheesecloth different colors before stiffening or by making other characters such as witches and vampire bats!