How to Make a Rustic Yarn Ghost Garland

Add some seasonal charm to your home with a handmade, rustic ghost garland. Here are the steps to make yarn ghosts from the fiber of your choosing. String them with wooden beads onto twine and decorate your mantle or shelf for Halloween!

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The sun is setting earlier and there is a little chill in the morning air, so it’s time to decorate for Halloween in my book!

I don’t do a whole lot of holiday decorating, but I’m not opposed to adding some festive cheer here and there. I have found that garlands are just the thing to add some simple seasonal charm to my regular home décor. They are fun and easy to make too!

Here is how I made a 4-foot rustic ghost garland with handspun art yarn that I created with mohair from my Angora goats. You can make the ghosts with natural fiber or acrylic yarn; the choice is up to you.

Materials Needed for Making a Rustic Yarn Ghost Garland

• Approximately 83 feet of white yarn
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• Approximately 7 feet of jute twine
• 8 black wooden beads (1/2-inch diameter)
• Black felt
• Hole punch
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue sticks
• Large eye yarn needle or sacking needle

I used mohair yarn for my ghosts, which is off-white in color. You can use colored yarn if you are going for a different look. I used 3-ply natural jute twine for the garland because I like how rustic it looks, but yarn will work for the base of the garland as well. I chose to add ½ inch diameter black wooden beads to my garland, but feel free to omit these or use other colors and sizes to make it your own! I used a hole punch to make eyes for my ghosts with black felt and attached them with hot glue. A large eye yarn needle or sacking needle is helpful for stringing the garland.

Directions for Making a Rustic Yarn Ghost Garland

1. Using a measuring tape and scissors, cut a 10-inch piece of white yarn. Set it aside.
2. Using a measuring tape and scissors, cut another piece of white yarn approximately 10 feet in length.
3. Fold the 10-foot-long piece of yarn back and forth 10 times so that it is about 10-12 inches in length once folded.

4. Tie the 10-inch piece of white yarn around the middle of the folded 10-foot piece and make a double knot
5. Fold the 10-foot piece in half at the location of the tie, so that the knot is in the center and hidden in what will be the ghost’s head

6. Using a measuring tape and scissors, cut a new 12-inch piece of white yarn
7. Tie the 12-inch piece around what will be the neck of the ghost, making a double knot. This tie will be on the back side of the ghost; the tails will become part of the tassel which makes up the ghost’s body.

8. Turn the ghost around and adjust the strands to make a nice round head shape for the ghost’s eyes to go on
9. Cut all the loops at the bottom with scissors to make a nice full tassel for the body of the ghost. If your ghost is a little uneven, you can use scissors to trim the strands to the same length
10. Repeat these directions until you have 7 individual ghosts
11. Now you are ready to make the garland. Using a measuring tape and scissors, cut 7 feet of jute twine. The garland will end up being about 4 feet long once finished.
12. About 18 inches from one end of the twine, make your first knot
13. Thread the other end of the twine through a large eye or sacking needle and add one wooden bead
14. Tie a knot after the bead, to keep it in its place
15. About 2 inches from the bead knot, add a ghost and tie it onto the twine with a single knot, make sure the knots on the ghost’s neck are facing the back of the garland
16. Every 2 inches, add another ghost or bead to complete the garland. I used a total of 8 wooden beads and 7 ghosts and this left about 18 inches of spare twine on each end to use for hanging

17. Using a hole punch, make 14 eyes for the ghosts with black felt
18. Using a hot glue gun and hot glue sticks, attach the felt eyes to the face of each ghost. I added a dot of hot glue to the back of my ghost at the site of the tie to make sure it wouldn’t come undone because mohair is slippery
19. Now you are ready to hang and enjoy your garland!