DIY Kids’ Halloween Ghosts Milk Bottle

For a busy parent, Halloween can sometimes seem like a monster task. You’ve made the costumes, bought the sweets, and now it’s time for doorstep Halloween decorations – but the shops are just as out of pumpkins as you are out of ideas… Fear not, we’re here to stop you from crying over spilt milk. Instead, take the empty bottle and make our quick, easy and fun DIY light-up milk bottle ghosts.

What You'll Need

• 1 x Empty Milk Bottle
• 1 x String Of Battery Fairy Lights (great for popping in Halloween party bags)
• 1 x Small Blob Of Blu-tack
• 1 x Pair Of Scissors
• 1 x Ballpoint Pen
• 1 x Black Marker Pen

How to Make a Homemade Ghost

1. Cut a Hole in the Base

This step is for grown-up monsters only. Take your ballpoint marker pen and mark a small circle near the base or on the back of each milk bottle. An adult should then use scissors to make a small entry hole big enough to thread your string lights through.

The hole will be hidden, so don’t worry about making it neat.

2. Decorate Your Ghost

Now you can hand over responsibility to the little ones. With the black marker pen, allow them the freedom to design their ghost milk bottle. The more spooky milk bottle ghosts you design, the better, as the ghouls look great lined up to illuminate your path or doorway to greet the trick-or-treaters. 

If you’re planning to leave them out for a while, you may want to use outdoor fairy lights.

3. Thread Your Lights Through

Thread the end of your chosen fairy lights through the base and out of the carton’s spout (leaving the battery pack and clear lead out of the base). To ensure your ghost glows from top to bottom, use Blu-tack to secure the LED at the end of the string to the bottle’s lid, and pop the lid back on.

4. Choose Your Glow & Light Them Up

Time to choose the best setting, colour, and set-up for your lights. Whether they’re ready to spook guests on your porch or front garden, or you're hanging them around the home, pop them in the perfect spot and illuminate your fairy lights.  

Safety Tips for Crafting with Kids

Crafting should be fun and accident-free. So, let’s run through some quick and easy safety tips to ensure that your milk ghost bottle making can be as straightforward as possible. 

• Adult Supervision Required: Leave scissor and hole-cutting tasks to parents or responsible older children. 
• Use LED Lights Only: Always opt for battery-operated LED lights. Never use real candles or open flames for your ghost milk bottles.  
• Secure Battery Compartments: Ensure that your battery packs are safely screwed shut and kept out of reach of children.
• Thoroughly Clean Cartons: Ghosts are scary, but the smell of out-of-date milk is terrifying.  Wash and fully dry the inside of your milk bottles before beginning your milk bottle ghost crafts. 

More Ways to Style Your Milk Bottle Ghosts

Looking for some inspiration on how to display your ghost milk bottles? While ghosts typically keep themselves out of sight, your milk bottle ghosts deserve to be front and centre this Halloween.

• Porch Display: Whether you’re lining your doorstep or driveway, the porch or front garden is the perfect way to guide brave trick-or-treaters to your front door. 
• Windowsill Lights: In scary movies, ghosts are always caught glaring ominously from windows, so why not embrace the clichés of horror cinema by lining your windowsills with milk bottle ghosts?
• Floating Ghosts: Consider attaching string to your milk bottle ghosts and hanging them from garden trees or indoor bannisters to create a floating effect.

Shop Lights4fun’s Range

Now that you know how to make a homemade ghost, explore Lights4fun’s Halloween decorations to transform your space into a haunted house. Think milk bottle ghosts, autumnal wreaths, towering TruGlow® candles, and more.