Or as I lovingly refer to them, “Bobby and Cindy”.  I remember seeing those little “Corner Kids” several years back (you know, the ones that look like small children standing in a corner because they have been naughty?) and thought about making them into Trick or Treaters.

I actually did this for a display a couple of years ago and have been able to use them in various places in the store where I work every year.  They’ve held up pretty well. Especially considering that they get moved around a lot.

I gathered up: Kids shoes, pants and a hat.  Just think about what your favorite 3-5 year old wears to gauge sizes or ask friends or family for hand me downs. I picked my clothes up at Goodwill.

Line the shoes with a plastic bags and pour in wet Plaster of Paris (mixed with water according to package directions).  Put a dowel rod (a good sized one) into the center, prop it up on a cabinet or something to keep it straight and let them dry over night or longer.

Next, you’ll need a large styrofoam ball (the size of a toddler’s head) and an egg shaped one.  Cut one end off the egg shaped styrofoam and put a wooden skewer through it with 2-3 inches of the skewer sticking out of the egg.  Put glue on the cut end of the egg and push the skewer into the head.  This will keep the nose on better.  I don’t think glue alone would hold it as well.  We want our little ghost to have a bump where the nose would be.

Now you’ll need to juggle a few things at once.  Stand the feet on the counter and put the pants down over the dowels.  Shove the head down onto the wooden dowles.  Using strong wire wrap one end of the wire around the belt loops (If your pants don’t have belt loops you can just thread the wire through the fabric making a small hole with an awl or crop-a-dile if you need to).  Run the wire up over the head and secure in place with florist pins (the U shaped ones for holding moss down), down the other side and wrap around the other belt loop.  You have the basic form now.

I poured some marbles into the plastic bags sticking out of the shoes and taped them shut around the dowel to give it some weight and keep my kids from falling over.

Crumple up some paper to fill out the legs of the pants.    Cut a circle of white  (I used felt and a small table cloth as a template) for the ghost costume and two ovals out of black felt for the eyes.

Cindy got a bow and Bobby got a Mickey Mouse baseball cap.  I also stapled a trick or treat pumpkin tote to the “sheet”

When I first made them they were displayed up high on a shelf but this year they are down on the floor.  I keep dragging that pink door to work from home for a background.  Yeah, I’m a nut!

Post Notes: Originally posted on my typepad blog October 2009