These Recycled Tissue Paper Ghosts are super fun to make for Halloween! They are very simple to make so ideal for kids of all ages. Made using two different techniques so you can choose the style that best suits you and your family. The best part is that these ghosts are made almost entirely from recycled materials so they are a great low-cost option and a gentler on the environment. Our ghosts are going to be displayed on a wall for Halloween, how will you display yours?

Recycled Tissue Paper Ghosts

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Being in lockdown means that we have had a few more packages delivered than normal. Part of the increase in deliveries means that we have extra cardboard boxes and extra tissue paper! We always save tissue paper as it works so well in many different crafts. For these recycled tissue paper ghosts we used mainly white (handy since most packaging comes with white tissue paper) as well as a couple of black and white designs that we had already at home. For the eyes, we used black tissue paper but if you don’t have black tissue paper you could use black from pages in a magazine, black paper, or color in white paper black! Like always feel free to get creative, instead of a white ghost, it could be fun to make one using bright tissue paper colors.

Today we are showing you two different tissue paper techniques. For younger children, I recommend that you use the flat squares of tissue paper as it is much faster and simpler than the scrunched tissue paper technique.

Materials Needed

• Cardboard box. This can be a thin box such as a breakfast cereal box or a thicker packaging box.
• White and black tissue paper.
• PVA or similar speadable glue that doesn’t dry instantly.
• Our free ghost printable or draw your own ghost.
• A pencil.
• Scissors.

Printable Template

Click the above link listed under, Materials Needed to find our original ghost printable template. Below is a new template that we used to create one of the ghosts. You can print it from the link below or save it for future use.

Let’s Get Creating

Prep

Start by gathering all of the supplies listed under, Materials Needed. Cut off a flat side of the cardboard box. An optional extra at this stage is to paint the cardboard white. We didn’t do this and you can see in the photos the ghosts we made with brown cardboard vs the ghosts made with white cardboard.

Cut out the ghost printable that you are wanting to use. Place the ghosts onto the cardboard and trace around them using a pencil. If you do not have a printer then draw your own ghosts shapes. Cut the ghost shapes out using scissors.

Prep the tissue paper by cutting it into small squares (approximately 2cm, just under 1 inch). If you are going to do the scrunched tissue paper technique make the squares slightly larger (approx 4cm, 1 1/2 inches).

Decorate Your Ghost

Take the cardboard ghost and cover it with PVA/ craft glue or a similar slow clear drying glue. If you are making the scrunched paper ghost it could be better to do it one small section at a time as it this technique takes longer to complete.

If covering with flat tissue paper squares, slightly layer the squares so the entire ghost is covered. Do not worry about the edges. Once the ghost has been covered carefully trim off the tissue paper using scissors from around the edge of the cardboard. Glue on a ghost face using black tissue paper.

To make the scrunched tissue paper ghost first start with the face. Glue on the tissue paper eyes and mouth. Scrunch the pieces of tissue paper and glue them neatly onto the cardboard ghost base. Continue until the entire ghost is covered, working carefully around the edge and around the eyes and mouth.

If desired make so ghost accessories using cardboard and tissue paper. You can see that our girls made some party hats, glasses, a heart and Miss 7 made a sailor ghost complete with a hat and boat.

Other Fun Halloween Crafts

• 22+ Kids Halloween Crafts From Recycled Materials
• DIY Halloween Fabric Paint Window Art Clings
• DIY Monster Felt Play Mat
• Egg Carton Spiders

Thank you for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed making these Recycled Tissue Paper Ghosts today!