25 DIY Halloween Decoration Ideas

25 DIY Halloween Decoration Ideas

Halloween swooped in quickly and half-term is approaching fast! It’s coming to a wonderful time of the year (minus the rain/snow and earlier sunsets), and with it the candy filled popular holiday of the States, Halloween.

It is the first holiday of the season where extensive decorating takes place, so we’ve compiled a list of 25 great and easy DIY decorations.

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1. Floating Ghosts

What a great “illusion” this DIY creates! Make sure to use something rounded for the head of the ghost and you’ll have this done in no time!

What you’ll need:

• cheesecloth
• corn flour
• black felt (for the eyes; you can also use construction paper and glue those on or googley eyes)
• glue
• water
• a stand which will mold the shape of your “ghost”

Get Full Instructions: Love and Laundry

2. Hanging Ghosts

These ghosts will sway in the wind and might scare you once or twice if you’re not careful. Very easy and spooky in a cute kind of way. So easy, your kids can definitely take part in putting together each ghost.

What you’ll need:

• Styrofoam balls (8 in, 6 in, 4 in)
• Black craft paint
• Small paint brush
• scissors
• Cheese cloth (about 2 yds per ghost)
• Eye screws (3 – one for each ghost)
• E6000, wood or other similar glue
• string to suspend the “ghosts”

Get Full Instructions: Simply Designing

3. Glow in the Dark No Carve Pumpkins

You can use either the technique in this tutorial with the luminious powder, or you can paint your pumpkin with glow in the dark paint. You have the option of carving the stencil out, if you are using a real pumpkin, but you don’t have to, either way, it’s going to look amazing! If you seal the paint, they can be put outside, so they can glow after the sun sets.

What you’ll need:

• pumpkin
• stencil of your choice
• thick tape
• gloves
• glow in the dark paint
• spray adhesive
• spray sealant
• well ventilated area or breathing mask

Get Full Instructions: Steve Sprangler Science

4. Cat Pumpkins

What cute little pumpkin cats, a perfect decoration for Halloween and cat lovers. You don’t have to recreate these kitties exactly, but they serve as a great inspiration for your own little black cats.

What you’ll need:

• Sharp serrated knife
• 2 small pumpkins (for the body of the “cats”)
• 2 Styrofoam craft balls OR you can find smaller sized pumpkins to take place of these
• if using Styrofoam  – black acrylic paint enough to cover each pumpkin and Styrofoam ball in at least 2 coats  + Paintbrush
• Scissors
• Small pieces of yellow, black and pink felt
• Hot-glue gun
• 11 black pipe cleaners
• 2 wooden or plastic toothpicks
• Black yarn
• 1 yard decorative ribbon

Get Full Instructions: All You

5. Pumpkin Diorama

This is a really great activity for children, they can create little scenes in the pumpkins and they can be placed in the window, outside, on a table, etc. If you use a foam pumpkin, you’ve got a decoration for many more years to come!

What you’ll need:

• foam pumpkin (if you can’t find one, use a real pumpkin, carved and gutted + rubbed with Vaseline to prevent it from going off as fast)
• anything you’d like to put in to the pumpkin

Get Full Instructions: The Art of Doing Stuff

6. Bats on Branches

A subtle yet creative way to decorate for the festivities is this chic black ribbon bats on twigs! You can place them in a large vase and you’re set!

What you’ll need:

• branches
• black ribbon
• puffy paint of little googley eyes (if using googley eyes, you need glue to adhere them to the ribbon)

Get Full Instructions: In My Own Style

7. Table Glitter Web

A lovely way to decorate a table for a party is this glittery spider web! Really easy and looks amazing.

What you’ll need:

• wax paper
• Elmers Glue or any other type of school white glue
• glitter in colour of your choice

 

Get Full Instructions: Red Book Magazine

8. String Spider Web

Eeek! Spiders!! With all the reports of abnormally large spiders this season, why not harness those fears and make this web a focus of the living room, just don’t forget it’s there when you’re entering the room in the dark!

What you’ll need:

• yarn in colour of your choice
• tape
• spiders (either ones you’ve made or plastic ones)

Get Full Instructions: Dana Made It

9. Paper Bats

Classic Halloween decoration, the bat! Place these wherever you fancy, and you have an instant “spooky” space. You can organise them in any “flying pattern you’d like, and with the above spider web, you’re all set!

What you’ll need:

• template from the link below
• 1 white sheet of paper on which you’ll  print the template
• cardstock or construction paper in black
• scissors
• double sided tape or regular tape (or sticky glue dots)

Get Full Instructions: Dana Made It

10. Mickey Bats

For all the Disney and Mickey Mouse lovers out there, here’s a cute version of the bat – Mickey bats! They’re still spooky, but adorable at the same time. Using the template provided in the link below, this will take you no time to assemble at hang up!

What you’ll need:

Get Full Instructions: Disney Family

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11. Styrofoam Tombstones

This is the spooky yard decor you’ve been waiting for! This may take a bit of time to carve out on the Styrofoam and some time to paint and dry, BUT once you are done – it will be really something! Why not add funny names to these and clever sayings?

What you’ll need:

• sheets (about 5cm x 30cm x 91cm dry Styrofoam sheet – one sheet will make 2 tombstones)
• serrated bread knife
• paring knife
• permanent marker
• black spray paint
• dark gray and white acrylic paint
• 6 or 7 cm paint brush

Get Full Instructions: Trenzona

12. Pumpkin Family

Create a cute little pumpkin family. This can be a family sit down craft you can do with your kids, each member of the family makes their own little pumpkin self! You don’t need to go out there and buy all the materials, just get inspired and work with what you’ve got!

What you’ll need:

• Black construction paper
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• 6 pumpkins in graduated sizes
• Assortment of ribbons, buttons and yarn and whatever else you’d want to add to your pumpkin family
• Hot-glue gun
• 1 small bunch natural raffia for the hair of you can cut up some construction paper to create similar effect
• Lightweight cardboard
• Stapler
• Pins

Get Full Instructions: All You

13. Bin Bag Spider Web

We’ve all got black bin bags at home, so why not use a couple to decorate with, because once you’re done cutting out your spider webs, no one will be able to tell what they used to be! You can even go a stp further and cut out some bats and other silhouettes to decorate.

What you’ll need:

• black bin bags
• scissors
• tape
• permanent marker

Get Full Instructions: How About Orange

14. Wizard Of Oz Witch Legs

Oh my your house landed on a Witch and you are not in Kansas! This is such a simple way to decorate and make your neighbors laugh! You can accompany this with the other “witchy” items such as a broomstick to really complete the scene.

What you’ll need:

• sand
• 1 pair of old socks
• ‘Witch’ tights
• string, yarn, or twine
• black shoes
• scissors
• tape

Get Full Instructions: Adventures of a Couponista

15. Spider Web Votives

Nothing easier and more classic than these votive holders wrapped in yarn. Once you’ve wrapped it up, you just add some eight legged beasts, and you’ve got a lovely and festive table decoration!

What you’ll need:

•  votive holders
• white yarn
• plastic spiders
• hot glue gun or a very strong glue
• LED tea lights

Get Full Instructions: Chicken Scratch NY

16. Door Monster

The front door is a perfect canvas for decorating. Make this paper bag monster or use him as inspiration to make your own. Your kids will love putting this together!

What you’ll need:

• 6 or more large paper bags
• scissors
• measuring tape
• tape
• pencil
• medium sized paper plates
• black and green sparkle paper or you can use construction paper for this or markers to colour in these colours
• glue
• Optional-stretchable cobwebs

Get Full Instructions: Home Jelly

17. Witch Potions

Before recycling those empty containers from the kitchen, whether it’s from a spice that finished or the honey, you can use it to create these neat and decorative “potion” bottles. What once held your vitamins, now holds lizards legs!

What you’ll need:

Get Full Instructions: While He Was Napping

18. No Sew Pillows

In need of some new decorative pillows? These can be used every year for the month of October once you put them together. The only challenge is to find the right towels for the job. You can even use fabrics from a craft or thrift store, and for the filling, you can use an old pillow than needed something to be done with it.

What you’ll need:

• kitchen towels, preferably in Halloween print
• hot glue gun or sewing machine
• wadding or old throw pillows that need revamping

 

Get Full Instructions: 24 Cottonwood Lane

19. Witchy Doorbell

Cute little idea to decorate your doorbell! You can take this idea and maybe make a zombie, mummy or bat instead, the possibilities are endless!

What you’ll need:

• scissors
• black foam sheet or heavy paper
• craft glue or another strong adhering glue
• large button
• Black and natural raffia or make your own broom head and witch hair from construction paper or painted coffee filter)
• large toothpick or wooden skewer
• markers (whichever colour you want to decorate the witch)
• orange paper
• double-sided tape or regular tape

Get Full Instructions: All You

20. Coffee Filter Spider Webs

Coffee filters are perfectly delicate to represent what a spider web is. You can place these on your walls or in your window!

What you’ll need:

• scissors
• coffee filters
• Optional – plastic spiders or cut out spiders from black construction paper
• tape

Get Full Instructions: Artful Parent

21. Witch Booms

If you haven’t picked up an old broom at a thrift store or a boot fair, here’s a chance to make your very own – for FREE! Go out and find long sticks and some branches of thinner sticks. Once you’ve got those, it’s just a matter of assembly! You can use any type of string or discrete tape, to secure the “handle” to the “head” of smaller branches.

What you’ll need:

• large branches for the handle
• smaller branches for the head of the broom
• tape or string to secure the broom

Get Full Instructions: Over the Big Moon

22. Spooky Window Silhouettes

Do you have windows at your house? Yes, these classic yet effective decorations are cheap and easy! You can use plain cardboard boxes and paint them black if you can’t get your hands on black cardboard. You can even get heavy stock paper and use it to create the smaller images. After taping them to the window, your house will look like a spooky mansion for ghouls and goblins!

What you’ll need:

• black cardboard
• scissors
• tape

Get Full Instructions: Shelterness

23. Head in a Jar

This is the most creepiest on the list and probably the one that will scare people the most (putting it outside your front door should do it). you can use whatever image you like on the inside, especially if you want to make it child friendly, as long as it is a face texture map.

What you’ll need:

• glass bottle with stopper or cap
• face texture map (google this term and you will get many potential faces)
• paper (if you are not laminating, use a heavy paper)
• scissors
• Optional- laminating paper and laminator
• extra paper (to fill in the center space
• Optional – wig (will make the face look extra creepy!)

Get Full Instructions: Madhaus Creative

24. Haunted Houses

These lovely haunted houses not only look great as home decorations, they double up as goodie bags! If you can’t find black paper bags, you cab either use black construction paper to create your own bags, or paint whichever colour your paper bags are, with paint.

What you’ll need:

• Haunted house clip art (in the link below)
• White card stock
• Black paper bags
• Scissors
• Tape
• Candy

Get Full Instructions: Martha Stewart

25. Illuminated Ghost Garland

These little ghosts aren’t scary at all, but very cute! They would make a great decoration anywhere outside or even indoors in the window. You can try to find different ways of placing the fabric, maybe trying to create alternating ghosts and maybe bats?

What you’ll need:

• Strand of White Lantern Lights (such as these)
• 2 Yards White Cotton Fabric
• White String
• Scissors
• Black Sharpie

Get Full Instructions: Design Dining Diapers

These should get you started on the festivities. From pumpkins to witch potions, we’ve got you covered. Just don’t forget the candy!

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