Fun for Kids

Halloween heralds the beginning of the holiday season and displaying a crafty Halloween tree shows you're in the scary spirit. Get the kids involved in creating and decorating a tree using Christmas ornaments.

Collect twigs and small branches from your yard or purchase some at a craft store. We used curly willow for our tree. Look for twisted, spooky-looking branches sturdy enough to hold your decorations and tall or short enough to fit the scale of your ornaments. You can use the twigs as-is or spray-paint them black on a tarp or newspapers outdoors.

 

While those dry, embellish the ornaments for the tree with a variety of peel-and-stick Halloween stickers. We decorated white Christmas glass balls for our tree but you can use any color and mix decorated balls with plain ones if you want.

Finish the ornaments by threading the tops with 9- or 10-inch lengths of narrow ribbon in black, orange, purple, or black-and-white dots. Knot it at the top so you can slip it over a branch of your tree.

To create the tree branches, simply arrange your painted twigs in Styrofoam or floral foam, being careful to stick the twigs in as far as they'll go. If you want a tree that will last year to year, secure the branches in plaster of Paris. To cover the foam, dot the top with hot glue and press a handful of Spanish moss over the top.

With your decorated ornaments dangling from its limbs, your Halloween tree is sure to give a friendly fright to anyone who sees it.

See the video for project tips