DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

by | Jun 20, 2019

We love a fun project for Halloween! Milk Carton Ghost Luminaries are officially spooky.

We’ve been saving the milk jugs for this project for a while, and we’re happy to get them put to work and out of the storage area.

We have another tip…. rinse stored milk jugs.

Thankfully, our video did not include audio. *inhale, gasp, ewwww*

Materials

  • Milk Cartons/Jugs
  • A string of C7 or C9 lights
  • Permanent Marker
  • Crafting scissors, box cutter, or Exacto knife
  • Paper for the ghost templates

Instructions

We used permanent markers throughout this project. I hope you have a handful of them in a miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen. If not, head to a big box store and make that happen with a multi-pack. So handy.

We prefer a medium sized tip on the markers instead of a fine tip for projects.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Start by making a template for each of your ghosts using a marker and paper.

Use the same one for all or vary it up. It’s all up to you.

We found that pre-sketching out a template kept us from wasting our milk cartons. Be inspired by traditional ghost images and jack-o-lanterns.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts
DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Collect your rinsed milk jugs. Choose to soak off the labels or not.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Transfer designs to the jugs.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Enlist a friend.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

The jug needs a bulb. Make an X low on the side of the jug opposite the ghost face.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Use the best thing you have on hand to cut through the X. A super sharp pair of craft scissors works well.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

If you plan to leave your luminaries outside for more than a few hours, consider poking holes in the bottom of the milk cartons to allow any rainwater to drain out. Also, be sure to plug your project into a GFCI outlet.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

For this project, any C7 or C9 bulb and cord assembly will work – either incandescent or LED.

We chose a 24-foot long C9 cord that has a socket every 3 feet (total of 8 sockets) that’s perfect for spacing out luminaries. At under $10, this cord is perfect for projects like this and is super magical for lighting trees up in the leaves, as well.

We filled the cord with C9 incandescent bulbs.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Just insert the bulb and socket into the X you cut out earlier.

We found that our bulbs stayed in fine without any type of adhesive by the tension of the cut triangles.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Our happy ghosts.

We look forward to seeing photos of yours. Post them to instagram or facebook! @christmaslightsource #christmaslightsource

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

At 3-foot spacing.

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

Boo!

DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts
DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts
DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts

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DIY: Milk Carton Ghosts
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