Make super easy indoor and outdoor decorations for Halloween with Aunt Annie's patterns for Halloween cutouts. The ghoulish shapes include jack-o'-lanterns, bats, spiders, black cats, and ghosts that can be used to decorate windows, doors, bulletin boards, party rooms, porches, and more. The jack-o'-lantern cutout can even be used as a mask!
Choose the patterns you want to use. Download and print the pattern(s) on computer paper or cardstock. Decorations can be made with computer paper, cardstock or construction paper, while it is best to make the jack-o'-lantern mask with cardstock. When decorations will be seen from both sides, like in a window or door display, the cutouts are best made from colored construction paper or computer paper that is treated with wax—see How to Wax Paper. Outdoor cutouts are more durable when made of cardstock or paper that is treated with wax.
Related craft: See Aunt Annie's Ghost Garland craft project for a selection of ghost templates.
Patterns are Adobe PDF files. The Adobe Reader is available for free.
All of Aunt Annie's project patterns are designed to be printed on standard letter-size paper (8.5"x11" or A4). When printing from Adobe Reader, you may need to select Auto-Rotate and Center or Choose paper source by PDF page size to ensure the best fit.
Cut out the pattern on its black outline.
If you are using construction paper for your decoration, use the cutout as a template by tracing around it onto a piece of orange or black construction paper. Cut around the traced outline.
Tip: Use a white pencil to trace on black paper.
Tip: If you plan to color black & white cutouts printed on white paper, color the cutouts before cutting them out.
For construction paper cutouts, add details to your cutout using the printed pattern as a guide. The bats and spiders need eyes, and the ghosts need eyes and a mouth. When displaying the cutouts in a window or door, you may want to cut or punch out the eyes.
For the jack-o'-lantern cutouts, you can either color the eyes, nose, and mouth black, or you can cut them out. If you are making a mask or a decoration to hang in the window or door, cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Use tape or repositionable adhesive to hang your decorations in a window or door. Use tacks for a bulletin board or to hang the cutouts on a wall. The ghosts look great hanging from strings.
For a jack-o'-lantern mask, add a piece of string to each side of the cutout. Use tape or punch holes and tie the strings to the mask. Put on your mask and go scare someone!
That's it! How will you use your
cutouts?
Tip: Halloween cutouts make terrific window decorations for daytime or nighttime.
Tip: The jack-o'-lantern cutouts can also be used as masks. The larger cutout will fit adults and older children (though it may need to be sized down), while the small cutouts fit small children.
Tip: When the spider is hung in a window or door, the legs can be cut out roughly, leaving some white paper.
Tip: Computer paper cutouts are stiffer, somewhat translucent, and water-resistant when they are treated with wax—see How to Wax Paper.
Tip: To hang the ghosts with string, just punch a hole in the top of the ghost, thread a 10"-to-12" piece of string through the hole, and tie.
