Easy Halloween DIY Crafts Using Linen
One of the things we love about linen is its durability. There's a reason why linens have traditionally been passed down through generations: quite simply, it looks great for years and years. But every linen sheet or tablecloth will eventually come to the end of its life. If you're trying to follow a sustainable lifestyle you'll be glad to know that linen is biodegradable and so leaves no waste. And if you keep old linens for scraps, you can create anything from cleaning cloths to easy Halloween DIY crafts.
There's no need to buy loads of plastic tat to decorate your house over Halloween (unless that's your thing, in which case go for it). Instead, you can have fun making your own seasonal decorations, and keep things looking classy too.
Here are some ideas for Halloween decorations and costumes that you can make from any household linens that are past their best.
In our book, homemade decorations should be cheap and preferably made with things you've already got around the house. This fun DIY uses toilet rolls, driftwood gathered from a beach walk, and scraps of natural coloured linen sheets. We think these would look adorable in a line up some steps, or either side of a fireplace. Also a great alternative if you can't face scooping out seeds and carving real ones!
Bat napkins
Follow this video tutorial to turn some plain linen napkins into bats. Strew these across your table for a really effective, simple Halloween decoration. Choose napkins in black for perfect bat-like vibes.
Linen ghost garland
This is a lovely Halloween craft to do with young kids as you can do the all the cutting out in advance. Simply cut an old linen tablecloth (preferably white or natural-coloured) into squares of around 30cm x 30cm. Make a small ball (roughly the size of a walnut) out of toy stuffing, or use small styrofoam balls, and place in the centre of the square. Gather the fabric around the ball and tie around with a piece of string to create a head. Let the corners dangle down, and draw two eyes on the head with a black Sharpie marker pen. Sew a quick loop on the top and thread through a longer piece of string. Repeat until you've got the enough spooky little ghosts to adorn your mantlepiece or doorway.
To make these from linen napkins that you're still using, simply wrap and tie the stuffing in the same way, but use stick-on googly eyes instead of a Sharpie.
Vampire napkins
Inspired by this post using plastic vampire teeth as napkin rings, we think you can make this look even spookier by using white linen napkins and splashing them with fake blood. Place around the dinner table for a truly ghoulish Halloween meal. You could go really wild and buy old crockery from a charity shop and splash this with fake blood too.
Mummy cushion
Dress up a white cushion to look like a mummy using cheesecloth and black felt, following this easy tutorial. We think they're really adorable!
As well as these linen-based crafts here are some of our favourite other Halloween bakes and makes. Feed these to any trick-or-treaters who come knocking, instead of the usual candy-fest.
- Witches finger biscuits
- Easy skeleton cupcakes
- This incredibly beautiful pumpkin snowy owl
- Donut spiders
- DIY trick or treat lantern
Happy Halloween to you, if you are celebrating. And if not, we wish you a peaceful couple of weeks as the nights draw in and things get properly cozy.
For seasonal table setting ideas go here, and for more fun family crafts go here.
