People are shaping ghosts out of chicken wire and they look so realistic

When fall is underway and the weather gets cool, many of us enjoy decorating for the “spooky season.” Whether it’s decorative gourds, mountains of mums, or spider webs and ghosts, September and October are the time for some fun.

Maybe you’re into skulls, witches, or spiders – that’s cool.

But we’re all about the ghosts.

One trend we love for Halloween yard decoration is chicken wire ghosts that you can make yourself.

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Yes, you read that correctly. This fall, you can use some plain old chicken wire, a mannequin, a couple of tools you should already have on hand, some time and patience, and make your yard look fabulously spooky.

And, while it’s not hard to figure out how to go about this project, eHow has created a detailed video with instructions to help you recreate the fancy ghosts.

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First of all, you will need a few tools to help you with this project.

You will need:

36-inch-by-25-foot chicken wire, size 1/2 inch
1-inch painter’s tape
wire clippers
garden gloves
a foam head form
measuring tape
needle-nose pliers
a baseball bat

Here comes the fun part. All it takes is some trial and error and patience on your part – well, on your family’s part too, if you ask them to help!

First, create the head.

Take the head foam, measure the wire you will need, and cut it. Cover the head with the wire and make sure it fits around the chin and neck. Twist and close the wire.

Clip the excess wire on one side. Then move on to the next step.

Put on your leather gloves and use the needle-nose pliers to reattach the wire along the cut side of the neck. Make sure you start from the neck and move upward. Remove the foam head and clip the other side, too.

After you’re done with that, move on to the shoulders.

Don’t worry – it’s easier than it sounds!

Measure the necessary distance from the chin to each shoulder and use tape to mark the measurement. Place the baseball bat under each shoulder and clip the excess wire.

It’s starting to look great, right?

Now, measure and cut the chicken wire, then cut two pieces of chicken wire for front and back. Attach the pieces to each other, and then the torso to the shoulders.

Next, cut the necessary amount of wire to make arms and form the pieces into a cylinder. Bend them at the elbow, and attach them to the shoulders.

Now things are starting to look spooky.

Cut more wire and turn it into a cylinder. Attach that to the torso, and make the skirt – if your ghost is a female as it is in this case.

Cut four skirt pieces out of the wire and attach them to the torso, too. Bunch it up so that the “fabric” looks more realistic and there you have it – a life-sized ghost for your haunted yard!