Halloween Jack-o-lantern Phantom Decoration!

BOO! This jack-o-lantern decoration is great for Halloween! Its low costing and easy to make which makes a perfect decoration for your yard.

Step 1: Materials

For this project you going to be needing a 1 in wide PVC pipe, a reaper Halloween costume (They cost 10 dollars at Target), zip ties, A Burlap pumpkin mask ($8 at Target), a piece of cardboard at a least 1 foot wide and 2 feet long (this is if you cant get the mask), a sandwich ziplock bag, rope or string, battery powered lights (make sure the lights aren't unfolded), two twist ties, a metal hanger and a box knife and/or scissors.

Step 2: Making the Head and Arms

What you need tot do first is cut out the front part of the mask so you can fit in the other mask. Once the front is cut out you can either cut a piece of cardboard out for the face or insert the mask. If you use the cardboard you can make the face look any way you want, I would also spray paint it, then I would use safety pins to secure the mask in place.

Now to make the arms its pretty simple you first get the pipe and then get enough string so it goes through the pipe and then comes out on each sides. You want the rope/string to be tight so it doesn't slide around on the pipe. Then you want to tie at least 2 knots to make it secure. This pipe is essential because it gives arms and holds the cloak in place.

Step 3: Making the Head Frame

So you want to get the metal hanger and bend it downwards so it fits the width of the mask. Then you want to fold one side of the hanger and fold it over so there is a loop, if you cant do it try to twist the bottom of the hanger. Then you fold the loop up. The loop is because the hanger is normally too long so this makes less space so the head is closer to the body. At the end it should look like the last picture.

Step 4: Adding the Lights to the Frame

You first want to put the battery pack in the zip lock bag and wrap the bag around a few times, this is for rain so the batteries will be protected. You can now insert the battery pack into the loop of the hanger and then zip tie it in place. Cut the access zip tie.

Now position the lights in the middle of the hanger and use the twist ties to secure the lights in place.

Step 5: Attaching the String to the Frame and Putting the Frame in the Head

Attaching the string to the frame is pretty easy, what i did first is bend a little part out the twisted part of the hanger to make a little slot and then i put the string under the slot and wrapped it around the hanger and then put the rest back under the slot. Then to make sure it stays I put two zip ties on it: on the wrapped around part and a little farther down. Then cut the access zip tie.

Now this should be done carefully, you need to cut two holes one in the hood, and one in the mask if you used the mask. The hole in the hood should at the top but near the back or middle. Now in the mask you put the hole on the top but make sure its small but you can still figure out where it is, I put the hole in the middle of the top and near the plastic. To put the frame in the head i straightened the hook and first put it through the mask and then put it trough the hood. You should be able to lift the whole decoration up now.

Step 6: Testing and Positioning the Lights (if You Want)

This step is optional but if you want you can make sure the lights look good and you can easily slide the lights up and down the metal frame to make it look good according to how you want it. I brought the decoration into the darkest room of my house to make sure it looks good.

Step 7: Hanging the Phantom the The Tree

So I have tress that dont have branches going across so I found a sturdy notch in the tree and bent the hook of the hanger around the notch then I zip tied it until it felt secure (I used 5 zip ties for this part). Then make sure to cut the access zip tie.