How to make a Halloween invitation

Step by Step

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Tracing

Print the downloadable template and trace one of the Halloween figures onto tracing paper with a pencil. You can choose among a creepy bat, a scary ghost or a frightening jack-o-lantern.

Transferring

Place the tracing paper with the recently traced figure on the large eraser. The penciled lines should touch the eraser directly. Use the wooden handle of a gouge or a spoon to rub the tracing paper against the eraser. Remove the paper and you should see how the drawing has been transferred magically onto the eraser.

Highlighting

With the pencil, highlight the drawing on the eraser in order to see it better and make the carving easier. Now fill in with the pencil every part of the surface of the eraser that is not the drawing, such as inside the eyes, the mouth and all the space around the figure. This filled-in area is what you will have to carve away with a gouge.

Carving

Hold down the eraser with one hand and with the other grip the gouge. Use the finest-tipped gouge to outline the drawing on the outside of the line. To carve the curves, you can carefully turn the eraser with one hand while leaving the hand with the gouge in it firm but motionless. When you’ve finished outlining the drawing, change to a larger gouge and carve out a few millimeters deep everything you filled in with the pencil. Your stamp is now ready.

Stamping

Now you can decorate a Halloween card by writing your chilling message with a marking pen on a piece of folded construction paper and fill it in with the stamps of your favorite figures. Just press your stamp onto the inkpad of your chosen color and then press again firmly on the card where you want to leave an impression. You can use it as many times as you like; the stamp will last a long, long time.

Halloween invitation

To make this craft, you’ll need: