I’ve been trying to think of Halloween craft ideas that would appeal to my big boy as much as it would to little ones, and something that we could re-use year after year too. I came up with these Mod Roc Ghost Lights and have to say, I’m delighted with how well they turned out! (Although they proved very tricky to photograph well, lol! Sorry, I just couldn’t get their glow to glow on the photos!)
Halloween arts and crafts are always good fun and I loved that these ghost lights allowed us to use a different craft product to usual. Finally I could put the Mod Roc plaster of paris bandage that had been sitting in my cupboard for an age to good use and I just knew my boys would love the mess factor!
Supplies For a Mod Roc Ghost Light
(This post contains affiliate links.)
-
- Mod Roc UK / US (you might see it called Mod Rock or Art Rock, Plaster Gauze or Plaster of Paris Bandage)
- Some old tins or bottles to mould around
- Bowl of Water
- Permanent markers/Sharpies UK / US
- Battery operated tea lights UK / US
How To Make a Mod Roc Ghost Light
- Simple Halloween craft ideas are great aren’t they and things don’t get much simpler than this! Choose something from your re-cycling tub that you can use as a base for your ghost craft. We chose a selection of bottles and tin cans of different heights. If your tin has a flat top it’s worth screwing up a piece of paper and balancing or taping it on to the top to give your ghost’s head a more rounded shape.
- Cut the Mod Roc into sections a little longer than the height of the bottle or tin you are using as the base. Chop zig-zags along one end to give the ghost craft a nice ragged bottom.
- Dip one piece of Mod Roc at a time into the bowl of water and quickly pull it out. gently run it between your thumb and fingers to squeeze out the excess water.
- Drape the wet Mod Roc onto your bottle or tin frame.
- Repeat the whole process working your way around until you’ve completely covered the frame. We made our ghost lights 2 layers thick to make them rigid enough to last a few years but still transparent enough to let the light shine though.
- Leave them to dry and when they are firm enough to hold themselves up but not yet completely solid, pull out the bottle or tin you used as a framework. Don’t let the ghost set completely before doing this otherwise you won’t be able to get them out. We took ours out after about 10 minutes.
- When your ghosts are completely dry, draw on their features. You could use paint if you prefer but we liked the ease of using the permanent Sharpie markers. Then pop the ghosts over the top of the battery tea lights, turn off the room light and watch them glow!
I love that the Mod Roc plaster of paris bandage is so cheap, it means you can make these ghost lights at a fraction of the cost of anything similar shop bought and of course you can make them as big or small as you like.
It’s not always easy finding Halloween craft ideas that really appeal to my eldest son, aged 11, but he really loved working with the Mod Roc, a new hands on material for him and he thought the ghost lights were “Pretty Cool”.
Mod Roc plaster of paris bandage is great for smaller children to use too, it’s quite messy and feels amazing in your hands which is lots of fun but you might need to support them a bit because of the speed needed. This stuff sets pretty fast so you do need to work quite quickly!
These Mod Roc Ghost Lights will be sitting beside our Giant Frankenstein’s Monsters and Painted Pumpkins this Halloween, it’s going to look great! Click through here to see lots more of our kid friendly Halloween craft ideas.
Have you got a favourite Halloween craft? We love hearing from you, leave a comment below, come and chat on Facebook or sign up to our email updates.
More Fun Halloween Crafts To Try:
Kara Guppy says
October 19, 2014 at 8:40 amThese look really effective – mine would love making them
VaiChin says
October 17, 2014 at 5:54 pmThey look so much fun, to make and to have around for Halloween. Great idea.
Joanna Sormunen says
October 17, 2014 at 1:28 amWhat a fun idea! They are perfect for the Halloween!
Helen @ Witty Hoots says
October 17, 2014 at 12:53 amI think these are fab! I like how you can make them into friendly ghosts too!
Shell Louise says
October 16, 2014 at 11:24 pmLove them! They look like great fun to make as well. ELla would love doing something messy like this 🙂
Rachel says
October 16, 2014 at 4:07 pmThese are amazing, they look brilliant x
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
October 16, 2014 at 7:31 pmThanks Rachel. 🙂
Sonya Cisco says
October 16, 2014 at 10:35 amThey are fab! I would have them up all year round, but then I am a bit odd!
nessjibberjabberuk says
October 16, 2014 at 10:28 amI’ve never seen crafting like this before. So much more effective than papier mâché.
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
October 16, 2014 at 12:36 pmAnd much, much quicker too!
Louisa says
October 15, 2014 at 9:49 pmLove this!! I have never used mod roc but I will order some and have a go at this.It’s brilliant!
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
October 16, 2014 at 7:32 pmIt’s definitely a fun material to work with.
Foz says
October 15, 2014 at 4:19 pmOh these look fab. We don’t really celebrate halloween but am tempted to try these out!
Jen Walshaw says
October 15, 2014 at 2:34 pmThese are inspired. Plus you could always plaint them with glow in the dark paint. Off to order some mod rock for my lads!
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
October 16, 2014 at 10:04 amOhhhhh glow in the dark paint! That is a fab idea Jen, thank you. 🙂
Pinkoddy says
October 15, 2014 at 2:08 pmOh my they are so cute. I am featuring ghosts on the Kids Co-op tomorrow and was looking for inspiration to make some more with the boys.