Updated October 2, 2026
Tomato cage ghosts are the fastest Halloween porch project we have ever done: about 20 minutes and about $40 per ghost, and the kids did most of it. My girls had been begging me to make those viral porch ghosts, so we built three for the front door with tomato cages, styrofoam domes, a white sheet, tulle and battery string lights. They are cute in the daytime and glow like little lanterns at night.
How do you make a tomato cage ghost?
Flip a 42 inch tomato cage upside down, pinch the prongs together and push a styrofoam dome onto them for the head. Wrap the cage in warm white battery string lights, drape a thin white sheet over it, add a layer of tulle, and stick on vinyl eyes and a smile. One ghost takes about 20 minutes and costs about $40 in supplies.
If you like the neutral pumpkins, mums, and layered rugs I used with these ghosts, I’ve got the full source list and styling breakdown in My 2024 Classic Fall Front Porch Decor. It is the same cozy fall vibe, just without the spooky glow, so you can mix and match ideas.
Table of Contents
Watch the Tomato Cage Ghosts Come Together
Here’s the whole build in under a minute, kids and all, for the visual learners.
Tomato Cage Ghosts at a Glance
- Cost: About $40 per ghost buying everything new, about $20 if you already own white sheets and string lights.
- Time: About 20 minutes per ghost, about an hour for three with the kids helping.
- Difficulty: Beginner. No tools beyond scissors, and nothing is cut, drilled or glued to the house.
- Height: About 4 feet on a 42 inch tomato cage, about 3 feet on a floral easel.
What You Need for Tomato Cage Ghosts
- Cricut: for the faces. Scissors and black felt or paper work just as well.
- Black adhesive vinyl: one sheet makes faces for all three ghosts.
- Floral easel: one per short ghost, the 30 inch size.
- Tomato cage: one per tall ghost, the 42 inch size.
- Styrofoam dome: one per ghost, this is the head. 6 inch.
- White cotton: one thin twin flat sheet per ghost. Thin matters, so the light shows through.
- White tulle: one 40 yard bolt covers three ghosts with plenty left.
- String lights: one battery strand per ghost. Get the ones with a timer, so they come on at dusk by themselves.
- Tip: Timer string lights save your sanity. Set them once and they turn on every evening.
You can find everything I used for these ghosts, plus the pumpkins and lanterns on the porch, in my Amazon storefront.
Step 1: Build the Tomato Cage Ghost Frame
For taller ghosts, flip a tomato cage upside down, pull the three prongs together at the top, and push a styrofoam dome onto them to make the head. That is the whole frame, and it is why ghost tomato cages have taken over every porch on Pinterest: no cutting, no wire, nothing to build. For smaller ghosts, poke a floral easel into a dome the same way. Mixing heights makes them feel like a little ghost family and gives you a better vignette on each side of the door.
Tip: If your porch is windy, add a brick or paver at the base and hide it under the fabric. You can also stake cages into soil or tuck them into planters.
Step 2: Cut the Ghost Faces
I cut simple eyes and a smile with my Cricut using black adhesive vinyl. No Cricut? Trace oval eyes and a curved mouth on black felt or paper and cut with scissors. Simple shapes read best from the sidewalk and photograph well at dusk. Keep edges smooth so the glow doesn’t look fuzzy around the face.
Step 3: Add Lights to the Cage
Wrap each frame with battery string lights or place an LED puck light inside the head. Turn the lights on at dusk and adjust until the glow feels even. Warm white reads cozier than cool white and looks better with pumpkins and baskets.
Troubleshooting the glow: If faces look blurry, switch to warm white LEDs and smooth the vinyl edges. If hot spots show, diffuse with an extra tulle layer.
Quick check: If you can see the battery pack, slide it into a basket or tape it to the back of the frame and cover it with the sheet.
Step 4: Drape the Sheet and Tulle
Start with a thin white cotton sheet so the light shines through. Then add a layer of white tulle on top for that soft, hazy glow. Let the sheet puddle slightly at the ground, then tuck or tape extra fabric at the back so the front hangs smooth. If you are styling on steps, trim or fold fabric to keep walkways clear. Most outdoor ghost decorations you can buy are stiff plastic; the reason these DIY ghost decorations look so good is that the fabric actually moves.
Step 5: Stick On the Faces
Add the eyes and mouth to the outer layer. Step back and nudge placement until the expression looks friendly. I like the eyes a little higher than center so the face does not get lost in the puddled hem.
This has to be the easiest Halloween porch decor I’ve ever done. When Halloween is over, they’ll be super simple to take apart and store for next year.
I love how cool these light-up ghosts look, and my girls are thrilled. I usually stick to simple fall-themed decorations, but I couldn’t resist this cute Halloween project. I’m especially excited for trick-or-treaters to see them!
Styling Ideas for Porch Ghost Decorations
If your door color is fighting the vibe, a quick paint refresh makes a huge difference. I walk through supplies, prep, and dry time in How to Paint a Front Door in 3 Easy Steps, and it’s an easy afternoon project to level up your entry.
- Pumpkins in odd numbers. Mix sizes and keep the palette mostly neutral with a few soft orange accents.
- Baskets and planters. Great for hiding cords or battery packs and adding texture.
- Lanterns with LED candles. Repeat the warm glow so the ghosts feel intentional with the rest of the porch.
- Layer a doormat over a rug. A flat-woven rug scales up the entry and makes the scene feel finished.
How Much Do Tomato Cage Ghosts Cost?
About $40 a ghost buying everything new: a 42 inch tomato cage is about $5, a 6 inch styrofoam dome about $9, a twin flat sheet about $10, a strand of battery string lights with a timer about $10, and a 40 yard bolt of tulle is about $19 and covers three ghosts with plenty to spare. If you already have white sheets and string lights in the house, you are down to about $20 a ghost. Our three came to about $120 new. For comparison, Pottery Barn’s lit ghosts run $50 to $150 each, so three of those is $150 to $450 for something you cannot resize or restyle.
More Halloween Projects
- DIY Terracotta Pumpkins: Easy Pottery Barn Dupe
- 31 Family Costume Ideas: Easy DIY Halloween Costumes
- How to Paint a Front Door in 3 Easy Steps
- Halloween Mantel Decor
📌 Save These Tomato Cage Ghosts for Later
Pin now and come back when you start decorating your porch for Halloween.
Tomato Cage Ghost FAQs
Turn the cage upside down so the wide ring sits on the ground and the three prongs point up. Squeeze the prongs together and push a styrofoam half dome onto them; that is the head. Wrap battery string lights around the cage from the bottom up, then drape a thin white sheet over the whole thing and a layer of tulle on top. Finish with black vinyl eyes and a mouth pressed onto the outer layer. The whole build is about 20 minutes per ghost and no tools beyond scissors.
Weight the base. A brick or a paver set inside the bottom ring and hidden under the puddled sheet holds a 42 inch cage through most fall wind. On a lawn or in a planter, push the cage prongs into the soil before you add the dome. On smooth concrete, a strip of clear outdoor tape across the back hem keeps the fabric from lifting. Ours sat on a covered porch for all of October and never went over.
Warm white battery string lights with a built-in timer. Warm white glows soft and cozy against pumpkins and mums, where cool white looks blue and harsh. The timer means you set it once and the ghosts come on at dusk every evening without anyone remembering. One strand per ghost is plenty. If you want a single bright core instead of a wrapped glow, an LED puck light set inside the dome works too.
Yes. For smaller ghosts we used a 30 inch metal floral easel from the craft store with a styrofoam dome pushed onto the top, and it gives you a shorter ghost for the steps. A tall garden stake with a foam ball on top works the same way. Anything that stands on its own and can hold a dome will do; the sheet and tulle hide whatever is underneath. Mixing one cage ghost with two easel ghosts is what makes them look like a family.
A thin white cotton flat sheet with white tulle over it. The sheet diffuses the string lights so you see a glow instead of individual bulbs, and the tulle softens the edges so the whole ghost looks hazy at night. A heavy sheet blocks too much light, so buy the cheapest 200 thread count twin flat sheet you can find. One 40 yard bolt of tulle covers three ghosts with plenty left for next year.
About four feet. A standard 42 inch cage plus a 6 inch foam dome puts the top of the head right around 48 inches, which is tall enough to read from the street and short enough that a kid can help drape the sheet. The floral easel version comes out around 3 feet. We used one tall ghost and two short ones by the door so the group had some height variation instead of three identical shapes.
About $40 a ghost if you buy everything new: about $5 for the cage, $9 for the foam dome, $10 for a twin flat sheet, $10 for a strand of battery lights, and a share of a $19 tulle bolt. If you already own white sheets and string lights, it drops to about $20 a ghost. Three ghosts came to about $120 new. A store-bought lit ghost runs $50 to $150 each, so the DIY version saves real money and looks better.
Peel the vinyl faces off the tulle and stick them to a sheet of wax paper so they can be reused. Pull the lights off and coil them, fold the sheet and tulle, and nest the cages inside each other with the domes on top. Everything fits in one bin with the rest of the Halloween decor. The cages go back to the garden in spring if you want them, and the domes and faces last several seasons.
The Bottom Line on Tomato Cage Ghosts
Tomato cage ghosts are the easiest Halloween porch project we have done: a cage, a dome, a sheet, tulle and a strand of lights, about $40 each and about 20 minutes apiece. The one thing I would tell a friend is to buy the timer lights. Ours came on by themselves every evening in October and that is the difference between a project you enjoy and one you forget to switch on.
If you make these, tell me in the comments how tall you went and what your porch looked like at night. I love seeing how you style them.
