Halloween is in a few days!
Even though it may not originally be a Malaysian cultural event, many Malaysians have adopted celebrating it with their loved ones in recent years.
And for those who do or intend to, you might already be spending heaps on your family’s costumes, candies and a few decorations in preparation for Halloween.
If you’re looking for more things to add to the spooky vibe around your house, users of TikTok have shared countless Halloween DIY crafts you can do with your kids.
All you need are simple things you can get from around the house or something cheap from the store.
It’s a great way to upcycle the stuff you no longer use, save money, and give your kids a chance to tap into their creative side.
1. Halloween Ghost Lanterns
Have trouble finding pumpkins to carve? Try plastic milk cartons instead.
Shannon Doherty is a mum on TikTok who posts videos about simple arts and crafts you can try with your child.
She shared this cute DIY project that you can easily make at home:
All you need are strong scissors or a craft knife, permanent markers, small lights and plastic milk cartons.
What you need to do is cut off a hole at the back of your milk carton and draw a face on the front.
Have your kids decorate the carton if they want using the markers, and once done, pop in the small lights through the hole, and you’re done!
For added safety, you can seal the hole with tape. So that your child doesn’t accidentally get cut by the sharp plastic opening.
2. The Ghost That Sticks Around
Shannon also shared this simple hack that is highly customisable and makes the best gift to give those little trick-or-treaters.
For this Halloween craft, all you need are plastic binders and some white glue.
For additional customisation, you can add glitter, googly eyes and paint.
Make a ghost shape using the glue on the binder and add in the decorations while it’s still wet.
Once it’s dried, peel them off of the binder and place them everywhere around the house, or pop them in goody bags to give trick-or-treaters.
The best thing about this craft is that you’re not tied to just making little ghosts; you can make other spooky monsters with it.
The only thing that’ll stop you is your own imagination.
3. Halloween Snack Cups
Another craft idea by Shannon is as simple as saying, ‘Boo’!
All you need are cups, colourful tissues, marker and any snack you may want to serve.
This is great if you’re planning on hosting a Halloween party at your home and displaying your snacks in a decorative but simple way.
Use the marker to draw faces of Frankenstein’s monster, the Jack-o’-lantern, ghosts, or anything else that you can imagine on the cup.
Then, put the tissue in the cups: white for the ghost, orange for the pumpkin and green for Frankenstein’s monster.
Once done, put in the snacks you’re serving in them.
4. Halloween Plate Suncatcher
Halloween doesn’t just happen at night; you can have plenty of fun during the day too.
With this DIY craft made by Home Is Where The Art Is, you can make sun catchers using only plates, tissue paper and contact paper.
What you need to do is cut the centre of the plate and place the contact paper over the hole.
Make faces on the plastic using markers or black paper.
Then, stick colourful tissue paper all over the plastic.
You can hang them around the house where the sun comes in for colourful lights bouncing around the house.
5. The Friendly Neighbourhood Spider
Another craft idea by Home Is Where The Heart Is only needs three things to make, which are paper, black marker and black paint.
On the white paper, use the black marker to draw out a spider web.
Then, cover the black paint on your child’s palm and place them in the middle of the paper.
Remember to not cover the thumbs of the hand, as your spider would appear to have 10 legs instead of eight.
6. Take a Trip with This Witch’s Broom Bag
Deena, another mum on TikTok, shared this genius DIY craft for those who don’t want to be basic with their trick-or-treat goody bags.
All you need to make the witch’s broom treat bag are paper bags, ribbons, candies and some long sticks.
Cut strips from the opening of two paper bags.
Only cut halfway for one of the bags, while the other almost all the way to the bottom.
Put candies in the bag that is cut halfway and place that bag in the empty bag.
Once done, take a piece of ribbon and tie it.
Place a stick in the middle of it to make it look like a witch’s broom.
7. Monster Plate Crafts
This might be the perfect time to show your kids flying saucers, but instead of the ones that have aliens in them and fly through the sky, these flying saucers have monsters on them and hang around your house.
Another craft idea Deena shared that you can make three different art pieces, consisting of a mummy, the Jack-o’-lantern, and a spider web that you can hang around the house.
You can try this hack if you have spare paper plates lying around, strings, hole puncher, glue, paint and small lights
For the mummy, punch holes around the rim of the paper plate using the hole puncher.
You can draw on eyes on the plate or stick googly eyes if you have them.
Grab a long string, preferably white, and let it go through each hole in a random pattern.
To make a spider web, all you need to do is squeeze out the glue in the spider web pattern.
You can leave it as is or use glitter to give it a little sparkle.
As for the jack-o’-lantern, you need two plates this time and colour them orange if it’s not already in that colour.
For one paper plate, cut out a face similar to those carved out on actual pumpkins.
Stick the two paper plates together with glue, and for added decoration, you can use the bits of paper plate you cut to use as the stems of the pumpkin.
To hang them around the house, just grab the hole puncher to punch the top of your mummy, pumpkin or spider web, and use a string to hang them up.
Have Some Spooky Fun with These Halloween DIY Crafts
Play some classic Halloween movies while you’re bonding with your kids and making these decorations and crafts.
Be sure to keep an eye on them, especially younger children, as you’ll be using dangerous tools like scissors and glue.
Have a spooky Halloween, parents, and have fun!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Motherhood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner.
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