Halloween Decorations Made from Used Cardboard
If you just moved in you’ll have plenty of leftover cardboard boxes on hand. Most of these boxes are destined for the dumpster, but before you toss them, consider making them into Halloween decorations so they can pull double duty before you’re done with them.
Cardboard Tombstones
First, you’ll have to figure out the sizes and shapes you want your tombstones to be. Cut out two of that shape to make it 3D and be sure to leave some cardboard at the bottom to fold over.
Use two pieces of cardboard the same length as your tombstones, each with a slit in the middle so you can put them together to created an X shape. Next, stand up the two tombstone pieces, fold over the bottom and tape them together with packing tape. Measure the width and height you’ll need to fill the sides of the tombstone and tape them to the sides.
Put the cardboard X inside your tombstone and tape it to one side to keep int standing and stop it from collapsing inwards. You’ll also want to put some small bags of sand or bricks in the base so it doesn’t fall over or blow away.
Next, you’ll want to give the tombstone a consistent exterior. You can coat it with a layer of paper mache to cover up the joints. Once it’s dry you can paint it, but you may want to coat it with some textured paint first to give it a rocky finish.
Use some stencils to add RIP or anything else you want on the tombstone. You can spray paint them with a darker color directly to the surface, or hot glue cut outs of letters to the tombstone. You can add some extra details if you like using other cardboard pieces or create a spiderweb effect with hot glue. Then stand them up and creepify your front lawn! For more detailed directions and pictures, check out this link.
Simple Little Ghosts
Cut out some little ghost shapes from cardboard boxes. You can make as many as you want. Slip these shapes into a white plastic bag and tape the back so that the plastic pulls taught. Use black construction paper to cut out a face and glue to the ghost. You can prop these ghosts in windows, tape them to the glass, or even hang them from the ceiling with a bit of string to haunt the room.
Spooky Ghost Town
With clean milk cartons and newspaper, you can make your own mini ghost town decorations. Glue the newspaper onto the milk cartons and paint windows and doors onto cardstock to glue onto the front of the newspaper-covered milk cartons. You can draw in creepy people, cats, ghosts, or pumpkins and even fill the cartons with candy for fun.
Just make sure the milk cartons have been thoroughly washed and dried before you start.
Robot Costume
Take a big cardboard box and cut out holes for arms, legs, and the head. Then cover the box in aluminum foil and secure it with tape. You can hunt around your house for shiny objects like CDs, or balls of tin foil or little buttons to tape or glue to the box to add details.
Take another smaller cardboard box, like a wide square shoe box, to make a headpiece. Decorate that as well and tape a string or strap to go under your chin so that it stays in place.
Wheelchair Costume Ideas
Cardboard boxes are the perfect way to make an elaborate costume for any kid that uses a wheelchair. The boxes are versatile and can do transform into a lot of different vehicles and platforms for your trick-or-treater.
Use a big box and some paints and make a pizza delivery truck or get fancy and shape some cardboard into The Batmobile. You can make Cinderella’s carriage with a cardboard pumpkin and cut out wheels, with painted-on doors and details. If your kids love Mario Kart, build the kart around their chair and press them and get the character’s costume so they can zoom from house to house on Halloween.
