When Halloween comes, there’s always one important figure that’s never forgotten by kids and adults alike: The Jack-O-Lantern! It’s black and orange eeriness brings chills to the spines of many people, but also brings about a festive, but spooky atmosphere. Most common Jack-O-Lanterns are seen standing on lawns or porches, or carried by children. Since you’d like to join in the fun, why not dress up your car too? Make a Jack-O-Lantern antenna ball to put on your car or radio antenna! Here’s how to do it.

Materials:

• Nerf ballistic ball or styrofoam ball



• Black permanent marker or paint marker
• Yellow paint or yellow paint marker
• White glue
• Hot glue
• Toothpick
• Sealer (you can use spray or the brush-on variety)
• Two pencils
• Scissors
• Orange craft paint
• Bits of fun foam (brown and green)
• Paintbrush
• Newspaper and rags

Procedure:

1. Gather your materials. It’s best to have them at an arm’s reach, so you won’t have to keep standing up while in the middle of your craft project. Also, cover the entire surface you’re working on with newspaper. You’ll be working with glue and paint, and these can be messy.



2. Using one of the pencils, poke a hole in the styrofoam or nerf ball. This gives support to the ball while you’re working on it, letting you hold it while painting. Get a small vase or some other type of support and put the pencil in it, with the ball.
3. Get the orange paint, and paint all over the entire ball. Make sure you paint over everything, leaving no white surface in sight. You can use spray paint, but check the brand first; Some spray paints have chemicals that melt and disfigure styrofoam.
4. Leave the ball on the support for several hours, to let the paint dry thoroughly.
5. Using the other pencil, outline the face of the Jack-O-Lantern. Don’t use the markers immediately, because they’ll be difficult to correct when you’ve made a mistake. Carefully draw the outline (as to not rip the surface of the styrofoam) of the design you like. You can choose whether you’d like a spooky look or a friendly face. Draw two faces on opposite sides of the ball. It’s all right to go in detail, since you’ll make them stand out later, anyway.
6. When you’re satisfied, go over the sketches with the black paint or black permanent marker. Outline both the faces you’ve drawn, as well as the additional details.
7. Using the yellow marker or yellow paint color in the face (the eyes, nose and mouth). Make sure you use a bright yellow color, so the ball will still be visible, even at night. If you’re using paint, you might need to leave it for a few hours to let it dry.
8. Get the fun green foam and cut out a couple of leaf shapes. Then, cut a small rectangle from the brown foam, for the stem.
9. Use the pencil to poke two or three little holes at the ball’s top.
10. Dip the foam leaves and stem in white glue or put a small drop of hot glue on them. Poke them into the hole at the top of the ball. If you want them to be more secure, you can also use toothpicks to stick them to the ball.
11. Brush or spray the whole project with a sealer, so whatever weather comes during Halloween, it won’t be ruined.
12. If the ball at the bottom of the ball isn’t big enough for your car or radio antenna, you may need to make it a bit bigger. If it’s too big, though, and isn’t very secure, put some white glue in the hole before putting it in to the antenna. When it’s time to remove it, just hold the antenna then twist the ball sharply.

Some Tips

• This Jack-O-Lantern ball can be hung from the ceiling, too. Just glue a length of invisible thread or string into the hole before putting in the foam.
• To make a scarecrow Jack-O-Lantern a bit scarier, add a straw hat or glue raffia or straw strands. The facial features must be like that of a scarecrow. (If you want to create a real scarecrow, learn how to make a scarecrow)
• Do this fun activity with your kids. They’ll surely have fun making Jack-O-Lantern faces!

Show your Halloween spirit by putting a Jack-O-Lantern on your car or radio antenna. It’s an easy craft project that will add to the spooky Halloween fun! For more tips on Halloween decorations, read Ten Macguyver-approved hallowee decorations.

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