75 Best DIY Halloween Decorations You Can Pull Together Scary Quick
Score major scare points with these homemade Halloween decor ideas.
Get into the Halloween spirit with DIY decorations you can make at home! We’ve compiled a list of 75 spook-tacular DIY Halloween decorations for you to start crafting right now. Luckily, there’s plenty of time before the big day, so you can take on as many DIYs as you’d like. They range in difficulty from easy Halloween crafts (such as supernatural paper lanterns), to impressive, but more advanced creations (like PVC pipe candles). So, whether you’re new to making DIY decor or you're a seasoned veteran, there’s something for you to tangibly tackle and enjoy.
After creating these DIY holiday decorations, you may feel inspired to host a Halloween party and show off your masterpieces. Friends and family can attend in costume whether you throw a ghoulish Halloween dinner party or a chilling trivia night. Don’t be surprised if they ask where you bought your decor. Take it as your time to shine and say, “I made it myself!”
The best thing about homemade decor is that very few people have the same pieces as you. And even if they do, it’s easy to personalize and make a craft your own. This will ensure that your indoor and outdoor Halloween decorations stand out as the scariest, spookiest, most creative decor of all.
Shadow Pumpkins
Create your own "woman in white." Print an image of a silhouette onto paper, cut it out, then paint the silhouette black or white. Tape the image to the pumpkin using double-sided tape. Attach lace trim with double-sided tape or glue to form a frame around the silhouette.
Bat Garland
Go bat crazy, and hang this cute garland! Cut out bat wings and ears from black construction paper, and glue onto cork stoppers. Then glue on googly eyes. Push greening pins into the bottom of cork stoppers, and thread a ribbon through to hang.
Pumpkin Planters
Give your jack-o'-lantern a silly hairdo with plants! After carving a funny face into the pumpkin, create eyeballs by gluing lentils onto almonds. Then attach them to the pumpkin with dress pins. Place a battery-powered tea light inside the pumpkin, and cover it with a clear bowl. Set your plant on top of the clear bowl, so it sticks out the top of the pumpkin.
Bloody Lantern
Make Edgar Allen Poe proud with this The Raven-esque craft. Outline drops of blood on the opening of a lantern in red marker, and fill in with red glass paint.
Snail Statue
Gary, is that you? Turn a pumpkin on its side, and carve a hole large enough to clean out the inside. This will help the pumpkin sit flat. Draw a double-walled spiral around the stem with a marker, and cut it out. Chop off the bottom of the butternut squash to sit flat. Glue googly eyes onto ping pong balls. Using an X-Acto knife, cut a small x into the bottom of each ping pong ball. Stuff a pipe cleaner into the x, and secure the pipe cleaner to the squash using hot glue.
Boo-It-Yourself Ghosts
Talk about an easy craft! Blow up white balloons. Cut out three ovals from black card stock for the ghost's eyes and mouth. Attach them to the white balloon with dots of glue. Tape white streamers to the base of the balloon.
Embellished Pumpkins
Repurpose them for Thanksgiving too! Hot glue lace appliques and cotton trim to the ridges of pumpkins or gourds.
RELATED: Easy DIY Thanksgiving Decorations
Ghostly Garland
Glowing ghosts? Oh my! Pierce a hole on top of ping pong balls, and draw a face on the front in black marker. Dip squares of cheesecloth into mod podge, and cover the ping pong balls. Let dry, and poke string light bulbs into each ping pong ball hole.
Peek-a-Boo Pumpkin
It's like a Russian nesting doll made of pumpkins! Cut off the top 1/3 of the pumpkin, and hollow out the center. Halfway down the pumpkin, cut a small hole on either side, and push the skeleton arms in. For the smaller pumpkin, trace the outline of two plastic eyes onto the pumpkin using a marker. Then hollow out the eye cavities with a melon baller, and place the plastic eyes inside. Snap off the stem of the smaller pumpkin and carve a mouth. Insert wood skewers into the top and bottom of the small pumpkin, placing it inside the larger pumpkin. Push those same skewers into both pieces of the orange pumpkin to secure. Arrange the skeleton hands, so they rest atop the stemmed lid.
Bottle Faces
Whether they're used for decoration or for serving drinks, these cute bottles are sure to delight.
Get the Bottle Faces template.
Fang-tastic Bats
Need spooky desk decor? Paint a mini pumpkin with black acrylic paint and two pumpkin seeds with white acrylic paint. Add a touch of red paint to the pumpkin seeds to make the fangs. Cut ears and wings out of black card stock. Then glue the pumpkin seed fangs, wings, ears, and googly eyes to the pumpkin.
Candy Corn Orbs
If you're not a fan of eating candy corn, use it for decorations! Hot glue the yellow end to a styrofoam sphere, and set the orb atop a planter to display.
Pinup Pumpkin
No carving here, folks! Push white pins into a pumpkin in the shape of a ghost. Overlap pins to prevent the orange from peeking through. If pins struggle to stay, apply hot glue to keep them in place. Use a black marker to draw on a ghost face. Accessorize with a jewelry chain for added ghoulishness.
Broom Garland
Now, this is chic decor! Form small bundles of dried wheat. Trim the stems so all of the pieces are relatively the same length then wrap the stems with embroidery thread. Tie the end of the thread to a piece of twine to make the garland.
Mystery Treat Pumpkins
These also make for great party favors! Fill clear plastic ornaments with candy. Using a brush-tip Sharpie, draw patterns on orange tissue paper. Wrap the paper around the ornaments, and twist the ends into a stem. Cut out leaves from green construction paper, and secure the stem and leaves with green washi tape. Draw faces on the pumpkins with a brush-tip Sharpie, and arrange in a bowl to display.
Mad Science Bottles
Reuse these bottles for various holidays by relabeling! Spray paint glass bottles, and let dry. Print spooky labels, cut them to size, and attach them to bottles using double-sided tape.
Gourd-geous Candleholders
Make the perfect fall centerpiece! Snap off the stem of a small to medium-sized gourd. Place a tea light candle where the stem used to be, and cover with a hurricane glass. Secure the glass in place with greening pins.
RELATED: Best Thanksgiving Centerpieces
Spooky Paper Bags
Line your sidewalk or deck with these creepy paper lanterns! Print off supernatural images, and cut them to fit on the front of paper bags. Secure the images with tape and place a battery-powered tea light inside.
Pumpkin Family
Instead of scary decor, go the funny route! Fill clear glasses and vases with candy. Decorate small to medium-sized pumpkins with rick rack, googly eyes, buttons, and more to make silly faces and outfits. Use hot glue and tape to attach.
Watchful Eyes
Keep a watchful eye while you're away! Draw a pupil and veins on two ping pong balls with colored markers. Then use an X-Acto knife to cut a small x on the bottom of each ball. Place the balls on top of battery-powered tea lights to illuminate.
Corinne Sullivan is an Editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers a variety of beats, including lifestyle, entertainment, relationships, shopping, and more. She can tell you everything you need to know about the love lives of A-listers, the coziest bedsheets, and the sex toys actually worth your $$$. She is also the author of the 2018 novel Indecent. Follow her on Instagram for cute pics of her pup and bébé.
Kate Franke (she/her) is the editorial assistant at Woman’s Day. She loves all things lifestyle, home, and market related. Kate has a BAJMC in Magazine Media and BA in Writing from Drake University. She is a proud ASME alum whose work has appeared in Food Network Magazine, The Pioneer Woman Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Modern Farmhouse Style, Beautiful Kitchens & Baths, and more. Next to writing, Kate’s two favorite things are chai lattes and pumpkin bread!
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