One thing tennis lovers know is that there is always a creative way to reuse dead tennis balls. With Halloween season upon us, we’ve put together three spooktacular DIY Halloween decorations you can do with those scary dead tennis balls lurking in your basement, garage, trunk or bag.

We found these DIY craft projects are great activities to do with kids or grand kids or even during a Halloween party as an activity station.

Tennis coaches and tennis clubs, you can incorporate these craft projects into a Halloween-themed tennis lesson or tennis tournament for kids too.

So let’s raise the dead (ahem tennis balls that is) and have some Halloween fun making these awesome tennis inspired DIY Halloween tennis ball decorations.

DIY Halloween Tennis Ball Craft 

What you need: 

1 can of tennis balls
Glue
Scissors
4 googly eyes
Orange, green and black markers
3-4 pipe cleaners
1 piece of colored paper
Bottle tops (Gatorade or milk container tops recommended)

Start by making the base for the three Tennis Ball Halloween figures by gluing a bottle top to the bottom of each tennis ball.

Grab your markers and color 1 ball green, 1 ball orange and 1 ball black.

Let’s make a Tennis Ball Witch!

Step 1: Grab the green tennis ball on base; the top to the tennis ball can, glue, paper, scissors, 2 eyes, green marker and a pipe cleaner.

Step 2: Take your paper and cut out a half moon shape. 

Step 3: Roll the half-moon shape to form a cone.

Step 4: Glue the cone to the top of the tennis ball can – you made a witch’s hat!

Step 5: Glue the witch’s hat to the tennis ball.

Step 6: Take a pipe cleaner and cut it in half. Take half of the pipe cleaner and fold it over two times, twist together to keep secure – you made a witch’s nose! Glue the nose to the tennis ball.

Step 7: Glue 2 googly eyes to the tennis ball – good job! You’re tennis ball witch is complete!

Let’s make a Tennis Ball Pumpkin!

Step 1: Grab the orange tennis ball on base; the other half of the pipe cleaner you just cut for the witch’s nose, glue, and the black marker.

Step 2: Take the pipe cleaner and fold it in half two times, twist together to keep secure and glue onto the top of your tennis ball.

Step 3: Take the black marker and draw on your pumpkin face. Whew! That was a quick one – you made a tennis ball pumpkin!

Let’s make a Tennis Ball Bat!

Step 1: Grab the black tennis ball, 2 pipe cleaners, glue, and 2 googly eyes.

Step 2: Glue on your two googly eyes to the front of the tennis ball.

Step 3: Take a pipe cleaner and twist it closed at the end to make a loop. Do this to both pipe cleaners.

Step 4: Create indentations in the bottom of the pipe cleaner to form the bat wings. Do this to both pipe cleaners. You made bat wings!

Step 5: Glue the bat wings to the left and right side of your tennis ball. YAY! A tennis ball bat!

Step 6: Bonus step if you have any extra pieces of pipe cleaners. Cut two 1” pieces of pip cleaner and bend to form a triangle. Add these two “bat ears” to the top of your tennis ball.

Enjoy your tennis ball witch, pumpkin and bat to decorate your house for this haunting holiday – Happy Halloween!

Are the winter holidays quickly approaching? Learn how to make a DIY Tennis Ball Wreath.

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Shell Wood is the Director of Adult Programs and Events for USTA Mid-Atlantic. She enjoys crafting and repurposing items to bring a little pizzazz to our events.