Halloween Characters on Stilts

Decorate with traditional ghosts, jack-o-lanterns and witches this Halloween, but put a little twist on those characters, by making them be able to stand up tall. The long-legged characters can become centerpieces, window decorations, mantle d?cor and more! Using a few simplistic craft supplies you can create a whole collection of Halloween characters on stilts! Use a 6" Styrofoam ball to create the head for the character. Cut a small piece off of one side to create a bottom for the ball. Paint it with tempera paints; other paints may melt the Styrofoam. Paint it green for a witch, orange to make a jack-o-lantern or leave it white to create a ghost on stilts.

Use a 6" wooden star, thats a half-inch thick, to make a collar for the Halloween character. Paint this piece white for a ghost, green for a jack-o-lantern and black for a witch. Use hot glue to attach the cut side of the ball to the wooden star. Set the head and collar aside for the moment.

Use a 6" round, wooden disk to make the base for the character on stilts. Paint it the same color as the collar and allow to dry. Use two Styrofoam eggs that are 2 ?". Cut a small slice off one long side of the eggs to give them a flat bottom. Paint these to create shoes for the character. Glue the flat side of the shoes to the wooden base. Leave a small space between the shoes rather than placing them side-by-side. Use two dowel rods to make the legs. They should be about ?" in diameter but can be a number of different lengths. Make a somewhat tall character by using 9" dowels. Make a much taller version by using 13" dowels. Paint the dowels one color and allow them to dry. Now use a paint marker to draw stripes around the dowel, spacing them apart, and making the stripes all the way down the dowel. Or, wrap the dowel with pieces of colored tape to make the stripes. Glue the two dowels into the two shoes. Position the star-shaped collar on the two dowels and glue in place. Now make the face you want for the long-legged character. Use markers, paint, felt, wiggly eyes, pom-poms and similar things to make the facial features. Glue on accessories like a witchs hat or a pumpkin stem (made from a short, fat dowel) to finish the character. Make much larger versions to use as centerpieces or porch decorations. Or, make much smaller versions, and group them together, to create indoor d?cor. The stilted characters are easy to make and downright adorable!