How to Build a Halloween Arts & Crafts Witch

Creep out your visitors with a life-size craft witch.

Along with vampires and ghosts, the witch on her broomstick has long been a symbol of Halloween. With her decrepit looks and evil intentions, a homemade witch decoration adds a touch of magic to your Halloween display. This Halloween, use your arts and crafts skills to save money and create a custom, life-size witch to display outside or indoors. Does this Spark an idea?

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Green fabric
Newspaper
Yarn
Fabric markers
Scissors
Tape
Glue gun
Long-sleeved black dress
Green or purple leggings
Old clothes
Garbage bag
Staple gun
Black gloves
Black boots
Cardboard
Black paint
Construction paper
Purple pipe cleaners
Polystyrene
Glue gun
Old broom
Rope

Instructions

- 1
  
  Lay an 18-by-18-inch green piece of fabric onto a smooth surface. Crumple up several old newspapers to create a human-size head shape. Place this in the middle of the fabric. Bring the corners of the fabric together and tie them with a piece of yarn, creating the witch's head. Draw the witch's face onto the head with fabric markers.
- 2
  
  Gather up your long black dress and two green or purple leggings. Stuff the leggings with an assortment of old clothes or whatever soft material you have on hand, shaping them to look like human legs. Stuff a large garbage bag with old clothes. Pull the long-sleeved black dress over the stuffed bag, adjusting the bag to look like a human torso from the collar to the hips. Staple the witch's legs to the bottom of the garbage bag. The skirt of the dress should cover the "thighs." Stuff the arms of the dress and tie them closed at the cuffs. Staple a stuffed black glove to the end of each sleeve. Put two black boots over the stuffed feet of the leggings. If necessary, use a hot glue gun to attach the boots to the leggings.
- 3
  
  To create the witch's hat, draw a circle 16 to 20 inches in diameter on a piece of cardboard and cut it out. Paint one side of the cardboard black; allow it to dry, and then paint the other side. Once both sides have dried, lay the circle flat on the table. This is the brim of the witch's hat. Draw a half circle with an 11-inch radius on a piece of black construction paper. (See Reference 1.) Roll the half circle into a cone and tape the sides together to keep the cone intact. Glue the open end of the cone to the hat brim. Use a hot glue gun to glue the brim of the witch's hat to the top of the witch's head. Glue several purple pipe cleaners from the bottom of the hat brim close to the witch's head to serve as the witch's hair.
- 4
  
  Paint a 6-inch tall cylindrical piece of polystyrene a green color, similar to the witch's head. Use a hot glue gun to glue the bottom of the witch's head to one flat end of the polystyrene. Glue the other end of the polystyrene, which is the witch's neck, to the collar and top of the filled witch's dress.
- 5
  
  Lay the completed witch on the ground. Use a hot glue gun to attach the broom handle to the middle of the front of the witch's body, with the top of the handle at her neck and the bristles positioned toward to her legs. Extend her arms so that her hands look as if they're gripping the broom handle. Gluing the hands to the broom handle is optional. The bristle end of the broom should rest near the bottom edge of the witch's skirt.
- 6
  
  Wrap one end of the rope near the top of the broom, and wrap the other end near the bottom. Hang the witch on her broom from the ceiling, with the handle end of the broom higher than the bristle end. Your witch should look as if she's riding the broom, with a leg on either side of the broom handle.