Pet Ghost Halloween Craft

In today’s post: Learn how to make adorable little pet ghosts in a bottle! This is a fun Halloween craft for adults that you can complete in under half an hour.

Aren’t these little guys cute? The ghosts themselves are made out of hot glue, which you’ll squeeze out in a ghost shape on a piece of fishing line. Once the glue has hardened, the fishing line gets threaded through the cork stopper so the ghosts can be suspended inside mini bottles, making the perfect “pet” for the Halloween season. These would be fun to give out to trick or treaters!

Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own pet ghosts:

• Mini Glass Bottles/Jars with cork stoppers: I used these small 10 ml glass bottles that I ordered from Amazon. You can use any small bottles or vials you can find. I like that these ones were inexpensive and quite small (2 inches in height). Look for bottles or jars with cork stoppers if possible.

• Glue gun and Glue sticks: The “ghost” part of this craft is made of hot glue which is squeezed out and allowed to dry. You can use a full size or a mini size glue gun to make the ghosts, although a full size glue gun is a little quicker and easier. This important thing here is to use glue sticks that are white, not completely clear, or else your ghosts will be very hard to see inside the bottles. I found that the Gorilla brand glue sticks have a nice white color.

• Fine Tip Sharpie: for adding eyes and a mouth to your ghost

• Moss: to line the bottom of the jars to give them a “graveyard” feel. I used reindeer moss from Dollar Tree.

• Fishing line: this is used to suspend the ghost in the bottle so it looks like it’s floating. I used 6ml fishing line. You could use thread if you prefer.

• Needle (optional): I used a needle to send the fishing line through the cork stopper in my jar so the ghost will float right in the middle of the bottle. Any sharp craft or sewing needle with a small eye should work. However, you can skip this step and just sandwich the fishing line in between the jar and the stopper if you prefer, but the ghost may not float in the very middle of the bottle that way.

• You will also need a piece of aluminum foil on which to create the ghosts.

How to Make Pet Ghosts

This is an easy Halloween craft that only takes a couple of minutes to put together. I will warn you though – even if you are only planning to make a few ghosts in a bottle you’ll probably spend a little while testing out different ghost shapes to see which one you like best.

Make the Hot Glue Ghosts

Grab a square of aluminum foil and fold it in half and then in half again. This is what you’ll squeeze the hot glue out on to make the ghosts. NOTE: it was very hard to take pictures of the glue on the foil since it’s shiny, so I took pictures using a cutting mat instead, but it’s actually easier to peel the hardened glue off foil.

Cut a six inch length of fishing line and lay it down on your foil square. It’s very hard to see fishing line in photos so I highlighted it in pink in the photo below.

Create a ghost by squeezing a large dot of hot glue out onto one end of the fishing line. Continue squeezing out glue to create a ghost shape. If you are using the 2 inch bottles I recommended, your ghost should be about 3/4 of an inch tall. (Don’t stress if you don’t like the shape of your first ghost – you can make another! In fact, you may want to practice a few times first before gluing with a piece of fishing line.)

Draw the Face

Allow the hot glue to cool for about two minutes. You’ll see it begin to get cloudy as it cools. As soon as it feels cool to the touch and firm, pick up the foil and peel it off the back of the glue ghost, which will have a piece of fishing line coming out of the top. Don’t wait or the glue will bond to the foil and you won’t be able to pull it off. You’ll see that once the ghost is pulled off the foil it looks much whiter. Use a fine tip or ultra fine tip Sharpie to draw eyes and a mouth on the ghost. If you look very closely at the photo below you’ll see the fishing line coming out of the top of the ghost.

Assemble the Pet Ghost

Open one of your mini jars and place a little bit of moss in the bottom of it. You can use the end of your sharpie to smash the moss down at the bottom of the jar.

If you are using a needle, thread the other end of the fishing line on it. Then starting from the bottom, push the needle through the cork stopper. Using a thimble or something like a ruler to push down on the needle will be helpful. Once the needle is all the way through, you’ll see your ghost suspended from the cork.

Place the ghost inside the mini bottle and press the cork down to seal, pulling on the fishing line until the ghost is suspended above the moss in the bottle. Place a tiny bit of hot glue on top of the cork where the fishing line comes out to secure it, then snip off the excess fishing line. Your pet ghost is complete!

If you don’t want to use a needle to thread the line through the cork, just lower the ghost into the mini bottle until it’s where you want it, then place the cork stopper on, sandwiching the fishing line between the lid and the edge of the bottle. This is easier, but the ghost may not “float” as nicely because it won’t be in the very center of the bottle.