Our ghosts with hidden legs are the most popular thing we make, and it’s easy to see why. With the legs tucked in, each one is a simple, sculptural little ghost. Let the legs out and it suddenly has a personality. Here are our favorite ways to style them for Halloween, plus two tricks from our friends at The Little House on Chestnut.
Start with a family of three
The ghosts come in 2, 4 and 6 inches tall (measured with the legs hidden). Odd numbers and varied heights always look more natural than a matching row, so a small, a medium and a large together read as a little scene: a parent and two kids out for an evening haunt.
Give them a ledge
The legs are made for dangling. Let them out and seat a ghost on the edge of a mantel, a bookshelf, a stack of books, a windowsill or a stair step, with the feet hanging over. On a flat surface like a console table, tuck the legs away and the ghost stands on its own.
Keep the palette calm
White ghosts look elegant next to natural pumpkins, dried leaves, linen, brass and candlelight. Keep everything else soft and let one or two pieces of color do the talking, such as a painted pumpkin scene or a candy corn with hidden legs in its orange socks.
Add a soft glow
Slip a small string of battery-operated fairy lights inside a ghost and it glows from within, lovely on a dark evening or in an entryway. Kara from The Little House on Chestnut shows how:
Get them standing with their legs out
Want a ghost to stand on its own two feet? Let the legs out, then nudge the body slightly forward or back until it balances. It takes a few seconds of fiddling, and then it stays put:
Build a little haunted scene
For a bookshelf or a mantel corner, add a mausoleum model kit: it snaps together in minutes with no glue or tools, and comes with a graveyard base and tombstones. Tuck a ghost or two beside it, add a tea light nearby, and you have a tiny, candlelit graveyard that’s more charming than scary.
Leave them out all autumn
Because they’re friendly rather than frightening, the ghosts don’t have to wait for October 31. Set them out when the first pumpkins arrive and enjoy them all season.