How To Make Fun Halloween Wall Art From Egg Boxes

I can never resist finding new ways to reuse a cardboard egg box. I've turned them into flowers, Easter decorations and all sorts of other crafts over the years, so it seemed only right they got a Halloween makeover too!

For this project I created a trio of spooky wall pictures using just a cardboard egg carton, a few scraps of Halloween paper and some old picture frames. There's a quirky skull wearing a witch's hat in a bright orange frame, along with two little ghost portraits in black oval frames. They're inexpensive to make, easy to personalise and a great way to create unique Halloween decorations from something that would normally end up in the recycling bin.

You Will Need

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• Cardboard egg box
• White, black and orange acrylic paint
• Black Sharpie
• Halloween patterned scrapbook paper
• Black card
• Orange embroidery thread & needle
• Scissors & Glue
• Assorted picture frames

How To Make The Egg Box Halloween Pictures

Step 1: Make The Ghosts

Cut the three pointed centre sections from a cardboard egg carton. Cut two of them in half to create tall ghost shapes.

Paint the ghosts white and, once dry, draw simple ghost faces with a black Sharpie. Glue each one onto black-and-white patterned Halloween paper before placing them into small black oval frames.

These ghosts only take a couple of minutes to make, and you can experiment with different facial expressions.

Step 2: Create The Witch's Hat

Paint the remaining egg box point black. Cut a brim from cardboard and glue it around the base to turn it into a classic witch's hat.

Step 3: Make The Skull

Cut a skull shape from one of the flat sections of the egg box lid.

Paint it white and, once dry, draw the skull details with a black marker. Finish by gluing the witch's hat onto the top.

Step 4: Stitch The Mount

Cut an oval from black card to fit inside your frame.

Using orange embroidery thread, sew a blanket stitch all the way around the edge. It's a simple detail, but it adds lovely texture and gives the picture a handmade feel.

If you've never embroidered on card before, my how to embroider on paper tutorial has lots of tips for stitching clean, even blanket stitches and other decorative embroidery techniques that work perfectly for projects like this.

Step 5: Assemble The Portrait

Stick a piece of orange patterned Halloween paper behind the stitched oval. Add the skull, then cut a shirt and bow tie from contrasting Halloween scrapbook papers and glue them underneath to create your spooky character.

Finally, place everything inside an orange picture frame.

Tips & Variations

• Hunt around charity shops for old frames and give them a fresh coat of Halloween paint.
• Try making pumpkins, black cats, bats or monsters using other shapes from the egg carton.
• Use vintage book pages or old maps instead of patterned paper for a completely different look.
• Display several together to create an inexpensive Halloween gallery wall.

Make It Your Own

One of the things I love most about this craft is that you can invent all sorts of Halloween characters using the different shapes from an egg carton. If you're looking for ideas, take a look at my Halloween cork characters and tin can Halloween faces. They're full of fun spooky personalities that could easily inspire even more egg box portraits.

If you enjoy making seasonal decorations from everyday household waste, you might also like my Egg Box Bunny Portraits, which use the very same egg carton shapes for Easter, as well as my collections of Crafts From Waste Materials and Upcycled Halloween Decorations for plenty more creative inspiration.

I think these little egg box ghosts and skull have plenty of personality despite being made from such a simple material. They're proof that you don't need expensive craft supplies to create fun seasonal decorations; just a cardboard egg carton, a few scraps of paper and a little imagination.

If you make your own version, I'd love to see what spooky characters you come up with. A whole gallery of egg box Halloween portraits would look fantastic hanging together!