Our 75 Favorite Halloween Decorating Ideas
Get ready to spook up your home — both indoors and out — with our favorite ideas for handmade Halloween decorations you can craft.
Spook Up the Front Porch
Even if Halloween guests never enter your home — like trick-or-treaters — they'll definitely see the front porch so give it a festive feel with a colorful rug, lanterns, mums and piles of pumpkins. For a spooktastic finishing touch, we added a pair of gnarled faux trees that are wrapped in mini orange lights that'll cast a spell long after the witching hour.
DIY Some Spooky Spiders
Easily craft these larger-than-life spiders with the kiddos for a fun Halloween craft that'll spook up your home -- either indoors or out. Inexpensive craft store materials and a little imagination are all you need to build these creepy Halloween props. Make your own with our step-by-step instructions.
Pick a Palette
Limiting your decor's color palette to just a few shades creates a look that's perfectly pulled together. For our Halloween mantel, we chose black-and-white and shades of orange. Metallics are a must for any well-style vignette so mix in copper, gold or silver for an added touch of glam.
Craft Some Spellbooks
Make brand new books look like old leather-bound tomes by covering them in a removable leather jacket that you've distressed and antiqued. Stack them as part of a vignette beside wine (aka potion) bottles for a touch of spooky sophistication. Magic up your own with our step-by-step instructions.
Mummify Your Front Door
Trick-or-treaters and Halloween guests are headed your way; trick out the front door with this frightful facelift that's a snap to craft. Learn how with our step-by-step instructions.
Or, Mummify a Beverage Tub
Need a quick and easy decorating idea for your monster mash? Turn a galvanized tub into a friendly mummy, ready to keep ice and cold drinks at the ready. Just a few craft materials and our step-by-step instructions are all you need.
Turn Pumpkins Into Black Cats
Welcome trick-or-treaters and Halloween guests with a litter of black cat pumpkins. These carve-free kitties are easy to craft, making them a fun project for older children or small kids with a little help from a crafty adult.
Or, Magic Up a Lucky Black Cat Mum-ster
Add a little personality to your planters with our tips for magicking a fall mum into a lucky black cat, just in time for Halloween. Craft your own with our step-by-step instructions.
Or, Even a Crafty Candy Hanger
Delight trick-or-treaters by turning a faux pumpkin and old frame into a playful black cat-themed candy holder. Hang or lean it against an interior or exterior wall to create an interactive candy bowl the kiddos will love. Our tips will help you craft your own.
Distressingly Dress the Windows
Give the front of your home a haunting makeover in a flash with curtains stencilled with Halloween designs to transform windows or clear doors into a spooktacular scene.
Or, Create a Shadowy Scene
Adhesive black vinyl sheets and a bit of creativity turned this ordinary garage door into a shadowy Halloween scene. Best of all: It's easily removable when the season has passed. Get more tips for recreating this look.
Eerily Greet Guests
Give trick-or-treaters and Halloween party guests a (slight!) scare with this smaller-than-life-size headless horseman figure. Add his jack-o'-lantern head to one hand and a sign leading the way to the festivities in the other. Add a little character to your front porch with our free template and step-by-step instructions.
Create a Colorful Display
Make a grand entrance with front porch planters filled with colorful fall annuals — like purple fountain grass, mums and ornamental sweet potato vine — surrounded by piles of pumpkins and candle-filled lanterns.
Safely Set a Spooky Tone
Dry ice + spooky decor = a match made in Halloween heaven — but, you must use this subzero substance safely. Get all our tips for spooking up your haunted house without getting burned. Learn how to safely use dry ice.
Create a Candy Corn Piñata
What's Halloween without the candy, right? Construct this colorful piñata to serve as both a party decoration and crowd-pleasing game for your Halloween get-together. Get started with our free templates and step-by-step instructions.
Turn a Peaceful Plant Into a Man-Eating Monster
Betcha never thought about giving your houseplants a Halloween makeover, right?! Hit the hardware and craft stores for supplies to turn the humblest of household residents into a devilish denizen. Get crafting with our step-by-step instructions.
Or, a Mum Into a Friendly Ghost
This project's easy assembly makes it perfect to craft with the kiddos. Get an assist from your little ghouls to make this cute planter with personality. Our step-by-step instructions show you how.
Give Arachnophobes a Fright
Inexpensive (and removable) supplies give an everyday shade a creepy-crawly makeover that's only visible when illuminated. Learn how to craft this lampshade with a scary surprise.
Craft a Few Ghostly Visitors
Witch Up Your Pumpkin
Magic up this not-too-scary witch for your front porch or entryway using a faux pumpkin and basic supplies from the craft store. Create a friendly witch to welcome Halloween guests or a scowling witch to keep mischief-makers at bay. Our step-by-step instructions make it easy to craft your own.
Or, Monster Up Your Mum
Give your entryway a not-too-scary Halloween update with this easy-to-craft blooming beastie. Our step-by-step instructions will make this front porch fix-up a snap.
Make a Mini "Pumpkin" Wreath
Although the tiny orange shapes covering this wreath look like diminutive pumpkins, they're actually putka pods. A great stand-in for mini pumpkins, the dried organic seed pods don't deteriorate, so your wreath can be displayed year after year. Get crafting to make your own.
Or, Ditch the Wreath for a Basket Instead
1 basket, 3 holidays. Make swapping out your Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations a snap by upgrading multiple wreaths for a single straw tote or basket you can fill to fit the season. Bonus: Add vinyl house numbers for a custom touch.
Craft a Classic Banner
You certainly don't need sorcery on your side to magic up this budget-friendly decoration. Our free printable template makes it a snap. Get our step-by-step instructions.
Stencil One On
Craft a (Cute!) Owl Pumpkin
Tiny Ghost Town
Glam Glittered Pumpkins
Craft a Cheery Orange Wreath
Whip Up a Little Poison
Don't toss that old bottle. Instead turn it into sleek Halloween decor. To get the look: Thoroughly clean the glass; once dry, coat each bottle with one coat of spray primer and 2-3 coats of matte black spray paint. Add a handwritten label and display your potent potables as a group. Check out 20+ hip Halloween decorating ideas for more inspiration.
Craft a Litter of Black Cats
Haunted Terrarium or Cookie Jar
Turn a Pallet Into a Jack-O'-Lantern
Spook up your front porch, walkway, foyer or any dark corner with this rustic recycling project that uses a (free!) wood pallet to craft a Halloween pumpkin you can display year after year. Learn how to make your own with our step-by-step instructions.
Light Up Your Front Porch
Invite Bugs to the Dinner Table
Give inexpensive white dinner plates a creepy-crawly makeover with black ceramic paint and easy-to-create bug silhouettes. Learn how to make the painted plates food-safe.
And, Ever-Watchful Owls to the Porch
These denizens of the dark are a just-spooky-enough way to decorate your front porch without making it too scary for the littlest trick-or-treaters. Learn how to attach them to the banister.
Craft a Gaggle of Ghosties
This quick-and-easy craft is a great Halloween project to make with the kids. Best of all, the inexpensive materials ensure you can whip up a whole gaggle of ghosts for your front yard.
Fake Some Formaldehyde
Fill lidded jars with water, green food coloring, rubber creatures (like mice, snakes, bats or insects), leaves or dried flowers to give any room the look of a mad scientist's lab.
Fashion-Forward Wreath
Ghostly Draperies
Witch's Broomstick Place Cards
Turn Mini Pumpkins Into Cute Bats
Conjure Up a Lifesize Ghost
Turn craft-store materials into a life-sized (or at least afterlife-sized) ghost that appears to float several feet above the ground. Learn how to make your own.
Turn Scrapbook Paper Into "Specimens"
Whip Up a Spider Web Pillow
Let Your Yard Go to the Birds
Playful Hanging Bats
Creep-Tastic Wreaths
Give your front door a fun Halloween touch with one of our 22 easy-to-craft wreaths.
Chicken-Wire Cloche
Edible Candy Topiaries
Stack a Jack-O'-Totem
Add some personality to your entry with a pumpkin topiary in the shape of a totem pole. All it takes is a few faux pumpkins, basic craft supplies and a little imagination. Get crafting to make your own.
Set Up an Outdoor Trick-or-Treat Station
Phantom Chair Slipcover
Creepy-Crawly Napkin Rings
Add a Trendy Silhouette
Craft a Graveyard for Your Front Yard
Peekaboo Pumpkins
Craft a Chalkboard Tray
Make Your Mark With a Monogram
Make a Haunted Mirror
Turn a Pumpkin Into a Candy Dish
Felt Bat Pillow
Make a Vintage-Inspired Banner
Go for a Gothic Look
Craft a Dramatic Wreath
Set the Scene for a Fiendish Feast
Gather a few of your favorite ghouls for a dinner party where handmade Halloween decor with a macabre twist sets the scene.
Scaredy Cat Cut-Out
Turn Your Family Into Pumpkins
Jack-O'-Lantern Luminaries
Bling Out Pumpkins With Upholstery Trim
Quick-and-Easy Banner
Craft a Giant Rat
Flying Bat Wreath
