Grab Some Rope From Dollar Tree To DIY The Most Adorable Ghost Decor For Fall

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If your book and movie choices tend to skew toward haunting and dark when the weather turns cooler, ensure your interiors can keep up with the spooky theme. The easiest way to go about it is to display some ghost decor around your home. However, if you'd rather not spend your hard-earned money on expensive decorations, there are several adorable Dollar Tree DIYs to get your home ready for fall. Case in point, you just need a few bundles of Floral Garden Cotton Nautical Rope to DIY the most adorable ghost decor this year.

The exact number of bundles will depend on how many ghosts you want to craft and their width, as well as length. For instance, if you just want to get your feet wet and see how your initial creepy-cute Halloween decor turns out, two bundles should suffice. But if you want to create a huge ghost for your front door, you'll require more rope for its head. Long tassels will require more bundles, too. You can even experiment with the size of the strands to personalize the ghost per your preferences. Once you have the rope squared away, bring out your trusty glue gun, a sharp pair of scissors, a craft knife, and old cardboard you have lying about the house (flattened moving or Amazon boxes work too). In case you don't have any handy, get a Readi-Board White Foam Board. You'll also need some black felt to give your ghost two eyes and a mouth. Alternatively, use Home Collection Black Cotton Wash Cloths.

To DIY your budget-friendly Halloween decor, start by deciding how large you want your ghost to be. This will determine its width. Based on the dimension, draw a perfect semi-circle on the cardboard. Use a compass or a round object to draw the exact shape, or your ghost will look wonky and not in a good way. Cut it out with a sharp craft knife, like Diyself's Exacto Knife with 11 Stainless Steel Blades. After you have your base, decide how long the tassels will be and accordingly fold the rope lengthwise. To illustrate, if you just want it to be a couple of inches, you can loop the rope four times, but stop at two folds if you want to give your ghost some reach.

In case you're having difficulty deciding the length without a visual aid, place it over the base to get a rough idea of the finished product. When you're satisfied, start gluing the rope to the board. Be generous since you don't want it to come off within a few days. Tightly cover the entire board to ensure the base isn't visible to the naked eye. Then, cut off the looped part of the rope, so they can hang freely and start unbraiding the strands. But don't open it all the way through; stop short of the board. Trim the edges a bit if they seem unruly and give them a wavy finish. Or, let them dangle in all their untidy glory.

The easiest way to decorate your Dollar Tree rope ghost is to give it two eyes and a mouth. Draw the desired shape — your ghost can look normal or mimic the popular mask from the movie "Scream" — on black felt and cut it out with scissors. Or, freeze your ghosts mid-wink for a playful look. You can even use large buttons to distinguish your rope ghosts from the others. Whichever way you go, glue it firmly in place and let it cure. In case you want to DIY gender-specific ghosts, add cute lashes to your "female" ghosts. Having difficulty drawing them on? Just draw inspiration from Minnie Mouse.

You can even accessorize your ghosts to further their visual appeal. For example, make pretty bows out of thin ribbons or colorful twine. Dried flowers as hair accessories will look pretty too, as will a dashing bowtie. Once you're done decorating them, hang them in place with a nail. But if you're a renter, use self-adhesive hooks. Keep their weight in mind, or your craft will come crashing down when you least expect it. We like Jwxstore's 12 Pack Heavy Duty Transparent and Waterproof Self-Adhesive Hooks. Alternatively, stick a handle on the back of the board using duct tape, such as Duck Brand's Original Strength Silver, and hang miniature ones from your door handles or mount larger ones on your front door.