Halloween Ghost Lights from Glass Light Covers

Halloween Ghost Lights from Glass Light Covers

If you wander into any Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or really just about any thrift store, you’ll be sure to find a selection of glass light covers. They come in different shapes- globe, teardrop, flower, etc. Some of them, however, are the PERFECT shape for Halloween ghost lights.

glass light covers at habitat restore

The truth is, there are all sorts of things to do with these shades. For instance, I made this replica Liberty Bell from one

liberty bell replica from a glass light shade

And this decorative beehive from another!

bee decor from the thrift store

But back to the Halloween project at hand. Turning one into a ghost light is about the easiest craft project you can do. In fact, it would definitely qualify as a 5-minute Halloween craft!

This post contains affiliate links for your crafting convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. All blue, bold, and underlined text is a clickable link, either to a product or to a related post.

Making the Halloween Ghost Lights

I picked up a few of them that were similarly bell-shaped. Specifically, they reminded me of a simple ghost costume, a la Charlie Brown.

glass light covers

All they needed was a basic face- two eyes and a mouth (or not, for the latter). 

So, I picked up an sheet of adhesive felt in black to make ghost faces for my glass light covers.

You could just as easily use regular black felt and some fabric glue or your hot glue gun. But adhesive felt is as easy as it gets!

making the halloween ghost lights

Next, I cut out various shapes for eyes and mouths. Now, I did this free-hand which ensured everything was a little uneven, a little wonky. Feel free to create paper templates to use as patterns.

In the end, though, I decided that my Halloween ghost lights didn’t need to be perfectly symmetrical! I kind of liked the wonkiness of their features.

shade ghost

Now for lighting them up! At first I thought of using an LED tea light, but decided that the ones I had would cast a glow that was too yellow.

Then, I headed to the party decor store where I found some white glowsticks! I decided they were worth giving a try.

white glow sticks for halloween ghost lights

Halloween Ghost Lights from Glass Light Covers

The ones I bought case an eerie blue color that was PERFECT. I don’t know if all white glowsticks do that, though

Either way, I LOVED THEM! My favorite was the ghost light that I didn’t give a mouth to. But each one was perfectly cute and silly-scary, if you know what I mean.

halloween ghost lights

A ghost light from glass light covers DEFINITELY took 5 minutes or less to complete – can’t beat that, can you?

halloween ghost lights from glass light covers

If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for Halloween lights, then you’ll love this Halloween Moon from a vintage light fixture!

Halloween moon and witch decor from a glass globe light fixture

And for another upcycled ghost idea, check out this Halloween candy stand for easy trick-or-treating!

Halloween trick or treat ideas with a candy bowl holder

Craft on!

S

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Sarah Ramberg is the owner of Sadie Seasongoods, a website that celebrates all things secondhand. From upcycling ideas and thrifted decor to vintage-centric travel itineraries, Sadie Seasongoods is a one-stop shop for anyone who loves thrifting and approachable repurposing ideas. Sarah is also the author of “Crafting with Flannel” and has been featured in numerous media outlets and magazines.

Comments

  1. What a fun idea! Love them!

  2. Indeed, the mute one is the best 🙂
    Love the idea!
    xx
    Mila

  3. Clever idea – and couldn’t be easier! Thanks.

  4. Clever idea – couldn’t be easier! Thanks.

  5. Such a cute thrifted holiday DIY, thanks for sharing this week at the #WWDParty.

  6. to fun and so adorable! love these little light cover ghosts!! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  7. This is a really cute idea – especially for some of those inherited, not quite in style, lights. Thanks for linking to the Craftastic Monday party at Sew Can Do!

  8. These are so cute:) Pinned so the kids and I can make for Halloween! Found this at the Merry Monday Linky Party!

  9. Oh my goodness…so darn cute…love this idea, Sarah! Thanks for linking up to Inspiration Monday Party. I’m going to pin these little guys this morning! 😉

  10. What a great recycling project! You’re right, every thrift shop has loads of these covers, this is a fun repurpose for them. Thanks so much for sharing at the Make it Monday Party! Hope to see you again next week.

  11. These are so cute! How creative. I like how you made them light up with glow sticks. So cool. Thank you for linking up at Frugal Friday. 🙂

  12. You did it again! You rock! I am surprised I haven’t run into you in the ReStore!!!

  13. What a fantastic reuse project! I think I even have a couple of the glass shades laying around too. Great idea!

  14. Such a fun idea! Thanks for sharing on the Monday Funday Party!

  15. Cute idea! I love the Habitat Re-Store and always find something fun to re-work. Thanks for sharing at the VIP.

  16. dwellinginhappiness says

    SO cute! What a great idea for those light covers, I always see them at Goodwill for so cheap! Great Halloween craft. 🙂 Visiting from On Display Thursday!

  17. Super cute idea, I think my daughter would love making these.

  18. Thank you so much for attending week 3 of #PureBlogLove and linking your fantastic blog post. These look awesome! You sure are one very creative lady, I am really impressed with the three posts I have seen today. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for our party next week Thursday 8 PM EST- Sundays at midnight . Have a great day!
    Nicole
    http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/

  19. These are so fun for Halloween! I know my youngest would love using glow sticks to light these up (she’s obsessed with glow sticks). Thanks for sharing this on Merry Monday. Shared on my FB fanpage.

  20. Melissa @ Simply Sweets by Honeybee says

    These are so cute and clever!

  21. I love quick crafts, and this is one of the quickest! I’ve seen these light covers for under $5 new at Home Depot, I always wished I had a good use for them! This is so clever!

  22. Lol, how adorable! Yes I love the mute ghost best too. Thanks for sharing at Five Star Frugal. This one will definitely be used here for Halloween! Mimi xxx

  23. These are awesome! It certainly never would have occurred to me to turn light covers into ghosts. I pinned them to share with others, too!

  24. woow. that is a great job 🙂 smile 🙂
    You are welcome to join
    SATURDAY SHOW OFF
    Hugs from Håkan in Sweden

  25. Love this! I’m always wondering what to with those when I see them at the thrift store.

  26. What a cute and simple recycle Halloween project, love it. Pinned and shared on Hometalk too!

  27. Hi there – I love this and I have held onto 3 of these globes from an old ceiling fan kit for about 3 years – now they have a purpose! I have a question (if you have already answered it please forgive my oversight) what’s making them blue?

  28. I love this idea too. If I could figure out a way to have them and kids not break them, that would be great. Thank you for the inspiration.

  29. So cute! Could make for a great and spooky Halloween party decor 🙂 (pinned!)

  30. N-joy-meant says

    Sarah, I love these! I am a real re-purpose kind of person, so your idea is right up my alley! I was wondering if the blue color comes from a blue light stick or not. Also, do you cover the hole on the top of these light shades with anything to stop the light from shining out the top?
    Good job & great idea.

    • I actually used a white glow stick, but it gives off an indigo glow- like a black light. And the glow sticks aren’t powerful enough to require me covering up the top, so no need to do so! 🙂

  31. I seriously don’t think you ever have a bad idea. These are awesome! Thanks. Pinned!

  32. These ghosts are so adorable and such a great idea! Thanks for sharing at Inspiration Thursday! I love partying with you each week!

  33. Hey, Sarah! Just wanted to let you know that we loved your Ghoulish Illumination – Light Cover Ghosts so much when you shared it at the #HomeMattersParty last week, we’ve HIGHLIGHTED it THIS WEEK! Hope you can check it out when you get a sec! Happy Friday!!! http://lifewithlorelai.com/2015/10/08/home-matters-linky-party-58/

    ~Lorelai
    Life With Lorelai / Home Matters Linky Party

  34. I need to go thrift shopping! These are cute. Congrats on your #HomeMattersParty feature.

  35. What a neat idea! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Merry Monday.

  36. I totally pinned this! I just LOVE it! 🙂

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

  37. Those are so cute!! I love how I would be able to reuse some of the shades that no longer have a “friend” at our home! 🙂 #HomeMattersParty

  38. Adorable Halloween decor DIY from thrift store shades shades. Thank you so much for linking up to the very first Vintage Charm party. Hope to see you here every Thursday at 8:00 AM EST!

  39. How did you make them BLUE?

  40. Donna Sylvester says

    You took white light shades and left them white, glued on black faces and then put a white, light stick inside of each shade. Where did the blue color come from?

  41. Alice Johnson says

    Such a cute idea!
    I know nothing about glow sticks. How long do they last? Thanks

    • Sadie Seasongoods says

      Not terribly long- bright for several hours but fade by 24 (usually). This project is many years old now (~6), though, and since I published it, cool white LED tea lights have since come out. So those might be a better bet.

  42. Really Some great tips. I never though of the place that has stuff like this that is a second hand store. They cost around $14.99 at Home Depot so glad to get that tip. I am usre vinyl on mine so I don’t have to paint. Thank you for sharing. I made these years ago and I made them for family and I didn’t make one for myself. I like to decorate my tables and bar counters. So I think I need one about fainted when I found the price and wan’t find any that fit with a 4 1/2 base. Altought there is that size they don’t fit. Got my others from home depot many years ago. And werent so expensie and fit perfectly.

  43. Loved your ghosts! So simple! Always love the old shades–my favorite upcycled one was an old etched shade with a colored votive holder inside–the red looked pink through the etched surface. So pretty!

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