Transform your old milk bottles {or milk jugs} into spooky ghost lanterns with this fun and easy DIY craft. These upcycled ghost lanterns will add a haunting glow to your home or yard. They're perfect for Halloween and can be made in just a few minutes.
UPCYCLED MILK BOTTLE GHOST LANTERNS FOR HALLOWEEN
Supplies Needed:
- Empty milk jug {cleaned}
- Battery operated tealights
- Black permanent marker
- Rocks or sand
- Stanley knife
You'll need to start collecting empty milk bottles a little while before doing this craft so that you have enough to make as many ghosts as you like. We made 3 ghosts and used empty 2L milk bottles {64oz}. You can also use gallon milk jugs if you're in America.
Wash the milk bottles out thoroughly with water and then leave them to dry upside down with the lid off for a few days. If you're doing this craft in a school, or for a holiday program, and can't reuse milk bottles, you can get new empty plastic milk bottles in bulk here.
Do not use real candles or tealights for this craft. Instead use battery operated tealights as they're flame free, but still give a flickering glow like a real candle. You could also use white battery operated fairy lights or white glowsticks as an alternative, however these won't have the flickering effect.
A Stanley knife is what we call a retractable utility knife here in Australia. You can use an exacto knife as an alternative if you have one. Please make sure only adults use the knife and they're not left unsupervised near children.
HOW TO MAKE MILK JUG GHOST LANTERNS
If you're setting up this activity for children to do at a Halloween party or as a craft in school, I recommend an adult does step 3 for all the milk bottles first, then leave out the supplies and instructions for children to complete the ghosts.
1. Take any labels off the milk bottle. You'll need to peel carefully so they don't tear as they're coming off. This is great fine motor work for children, however some brand labels can be harder to peel off. If the labels are being a bit stubborn, an adult can heat the label slightly with a hair dryer which will loosen the glue underneath.
2. Draw a ghost face on the front of the milk bottle. You can get creative here doing a cute, cartoon, funny or scary design. We googled a few cartoon ghost face images to get ideas before drawing ours. You may need to colour in the faces twice to get them really dark.
3. An adult will need to carefully cut a door in the back of the milk bottle with a Stanley knife. Cut the door in 3 lines as shown below so it can be opened to put the tealight in, but will remain shut after. The door needs to be at least 1cm higher than the base of the milk bottle.
Don't worry if the lines aren't cut straight, as long as they all join up to create a flap door. If you're worried about children touching the door, you can tape the edges of the door with clear tape so they aren't sharp.
4. Fill the base of the milk bottle with a layer of Rocks or sand. This will help weigh down the milk bottle so it stays upright.
5. Place the tealight inside the milk bottle.
6. At night turn on the tealight to see the ghost glow.
Use the finished ghosts to decorate for Halloween either inside, on your front porch or in the backyard. It's important they're not left out in the rain as moisture or water may get into the tealight battery pack and damage them. It's also important to note that they may still fall over in strong winds, but if they do they shouldn't get damaged.
MORE HALLOWEEN CRAFT IDEAS
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