halloween countdown, day 18, cheese cloth corn starch ghosts and a short story? Something spooky is happening here!
Now a house that has been baking Halloween cupcakes all week is sure to attract some unsavory guests, of the flying, spooking by night sort: ghosts! These corn starch stiffened ghosts last year after year if stored carefully, so you can grow your own congress of ghosts (yes, that is the approved supernatural collective noun for ghosts, not some bad joke about our representation in the country, actually, scratch that, both ways work for me. Actually, scratch that, a group of Mitch McConnells should officially be known as a Chin of McConnells). In any case, in case your sweet tooth needs a break, get your hands messy making up a few of these floating ghouls that are cheap, easy and effective. Hey, who are you talking abo- just kidding, those are three of my favorite adjectives! These will take a few days to dry. They need to be stored in a way that they won’t get crushed to last forever. Don’t we all? The how-to is below.
Today’s movie is the Ghost and Mr. Chicken, which is just a really weird movie that feels like you might be watching it in slow motion- the timing just seems off and Don Knotts who usually just lights up the screen with his goofy, dorky charisma just seems like he is phoning it in. So, I would play this in the background, while reading Oscar Wilde’s the Ghost of Canterville- a story where very much alive children terrorize a very much dead ghost, to the point where he wishes he were dead. It such a funny take on the ghost story and shows off Wilde’s wit and imagination perfectly. It has been made into a movie a bunch of times (1944, 1986 and again in 1996…seems we are due for another one any day now), but they are hard to find online, so I stuck with the mediocre Ghost and Mr. Chicken, which gets points for just having the best movie title ever being easy to find on youtube.
cornstarch cheese cloth ghosts
Materials
- 1 c cornstarch
- 2 c water
- 1 balloon and tall plastic cup
- 1 pack of cheese cloth for 2 ghosts, seperated and spread out
Instructions
- blow up your balloon, this will hold the shape for the top of the ghost until it dries and is solid
- microwave the cornstarch and water for 30 second increments until it goes from white water to a paste
- dip your cheese cloth into the paste and coat well and smooth out over balloon, draping in a ghost like way. i like a trail along the back or you can just scrunch up the ends. this will all harden up once dry, so it will look super floaty
- continue to coat the ghost until you get the coverage and look you like, i like some thicker coated (like 2-3 layers of cheesecloth and others to just have one. its nice to mix and match
- let dry for a couple days, pop or gently pull out balloon and hang with clear thread from the ceiling or place on a shelf. you can also add felt eyes if desired. or bow ties. or hair bows. whatever, its your ghost!
Notes
