40+ DIY Halloween Wreaths

Now that summer is behind us and the witching season is ahead, it’s time to embrace a more mischievous aesthetic. You can carve jack-o'-lanterns for the front porch, wrap the banisters and columns in faux cobwebs and — of course — decorate the door with a wreath or welcome sign. Here are more than 40 DIY designs we love, ranging from funny to petrifying. The best part? All of these crafts are fairly simple and can be completed in an afternoon.

First up: Try adding a little romance to your Halloween decor. Show your eternal love with this sweet wreath of black roses and smooching skeletons.

Metallic, black and burnt orange florals and glittery pumpkins come together to create an elegant gothic door decoration that melds the autumn season with Halloween.

You can find similar Halloween wreaths selling for close to $100. We made this neutral floral and pumpkin wreath for about $30 with simple craft supplies and items from the dollar store.

Hit the craft store (or shop your craft stash) for everything you need to make this cuddly-looking cyclop that'll welcome trick-or-treaters and other Halloween guests with a playful one-eyed wink. Wrap a wreath form in bright-colored yarn. Use pompoms and felt to make the horns then embellish with fur hair and one big eyeball.

Your neighbors will be just ‘dying’ to know where you got this clever yet creepy welcome sign. You don't have to tell them it is one of the simplest DIY Halloween projects ever — it just takes a bit of assembly but not a lot of money.

Show off your sinister side with a crescent moon crafted from black yarn. Use heavy-duty wire cutters to cut your wreath into the right shape and tape or velcro to cover those sharp edges. Top the moon off with silk dahlias, roses, wisteria (all in black) and a large faux crow. Nevermore.

Jeepers creepers — pair ink-black plumage with a pack of disembodied peepers to craft this ultra-easy and ultra-scary front door sight. To make the wreath, insert feathers (you'll need a lot) into foam wreath form or for a quicker method, wrap feather boas a wreath form. You may need a little glue to hold them in place. Paint eyes onto PingPong balls then glue them onto the wreath.

Keep an eye on trick-or-treaters with a googly-eyed wreath. To make it, pick up two to three bags of white Ping-Pong balls. Use hot glue to attach them, in layers, to a foam wreath form. Once all visible parts of the wreath form have been covered, attach small and large googly eyes. Tip: It's best to hang the wreath with a door hanger, rather than wrapping ribbon around it, so the layers of Ping-Pong balls remain undisturbed.

Give a plastic skeleton a fresh take on the afterlife as a minimalist wreath. Disassemble the skeleton by removing the thread, wire or string used to hold the pieces together. Next, attach bones to a wire wreath form using craft wire, overlapping and interlacing the bones. As a creepy finishing touch, wire the skull to the wreath's bottom so its sockets are approximately eye-level with trick-or-treaters.

We love the woodland mushroom decor trend. If you do too, try this wreath that combines the new boho trend with Halloween. To make it easy, use peel-and-stick moss for the base then you’re free to get creative molding velvet-topped mushrooms and carving tiny tombstones.

Give arachnophobes the heebie-jeebies with a spider's nest wreath made with bunched gauze, ribbon and plastic spiders. First, loosely wrap a spool of pure white medical gauze (or cheesecloth) around a foam wreath form until completely covered. Next, attach a few plastic spiders to one side of the wreath with craft or hot glue. Hang the wreath with a black velvet bow looped through the top. For an added gruesome touch, glue on a pair of skeletal hands.

Teal pumpkins symbolize you're giving away non-food treats which is a welcoming sign for those with food allergies. Let the neighborhood know with these easy, embroidery hoop wreaths fashioned to look like a friendly pack of pumpkins. To make, stretch teal blue and orange fabric through embroidery hoops in three different sizes. Download our free jack-o'-lantern face templates, then cut out and trace onto black felt. Cut out the felt faces and glue to the fabric. Glue the three pumpkins together in the arrangement seen here, then add some green ribbon "stems" to the top of each hoop.

Embrace a bit of the macabre with an iron shackle wreath. Search online or at local antique/thrift stores for authentic iron or steel shackles. Pick up a twig or grapevine wreath from the craft store, then wrap and drape the chain around it. Adorn the wreath with a faux black crow or raven for an added eerie touch.

For a look that is a little kitschy and a lot creepy, try covering a wreath with random doll parts and glitzy, orange and black Halloween garland.

In a rush and on a budget? Give your existing front door wreath a very quick Halloween upgrade with some faux spider web and black plastic spiders from the dollar store.

Encourage trick-or-treaters to help themselves (to one treat apiece, of course) with this easy, upcycled DIY Halloween sign. Use our how-to, below, to create a custom plaque to display by your candy bowl on the porch, on your front door or by the mailbox.

Pick a card, any card! Can’t decide which one to choose? That’s probably for the best because you’ll need the entire deck to recreate this mystical tarot card door hanger. To make, simply attach tarot cards to a flat wreath form in a circular arrangement. Tip: Use removable mounting putty or glue dots instead of glue or tape so you don't ruin the cards. When the holiday is over, simply disassemble and pack your deck away for later.

Kids + googly eyes = a match made in crafting heaven. Enlist an assist from the kiddos to craft this green-eyed monster for the front door.

If you ever wanted to try your hand at mask-making, here's the perfect opportunity. We made our Green Man mask using a simple paper mache mask, tin foil, tape and modeling paste. It’s fun to make, and he doesn’t have to be pretty, so no need to worry about being precise. Since the wreath form is covered in evergreens, after Halloween, you can remove the Green Man mask and replace it with a piece of holiday decor.

Lure trick-or-treaters to your door with a spider web wreath full of candy. To get this look, all you need is a hula hoop, black spray paint, white string and some clothespins. Paint the hula hoop black, knot on the string and attach the clothespins with individually wrapped candy. And of course this piece pairs perfectly with an oversized, fuzzy spider.

Add a heavy dose of magical charm to your Halloween front door with this ornate, framed greeting. We found this oval picture frame at an estate sale, painted over the existing picture with black chalkboard paint, then scrawled in the words "Come in for a Spell" with white chalk marker. See more of this witchy front porch, plus learn how to craft your very own witch's broom, below.

Bright orange tow rope makes it a snap to craft a cheery orange wreath you can display from Halloween through Thanksgiving. Just swap out the saying on the mini pumpkins for an easy holiday update. Learn how to make your own with our step-by-step instructions, below.

Designer Kim Stoegbauer gave this basic grapevine wreath a Halloween-worthy makeover with some bone-white spray paint, inexpensive black rose garland and our free printable label. Get the full instructions and see the rest of this simple, spooky design at the link below.

Welcome guests from Halloween to the holidays with this simple, elegant DIY wreath made from mini faux pumpkins. Get the step-by-step instructions plus more fall front porch ideas from HGTV Magazine, below.

For a twist, swap your front door wreath for a slim basket or straw tote you can fill with a variety of spooky silk blooms, dried seed pods and grasses. For a free finishing touch, gather dead branches from your yard and tie it all together with a black-and-white striped ribbon. Get our tips for creating a front door basket that'll take you from Halloween through Christmas, below.

This cute, fuzzy black cat wreath couldn't possibly be bad luck, right? Craft your own from pipe cleaners, fun faux fur and a ready-made bowtie.

Raid your kids' toy box or hit the dollar store for a bunch of rubber snakes. Attach them with hot glue to a grapevine wreath form, then spray paint the whole thing a solid color. Trick-or-treaters and Halloween guests won't be able to see the swirling mass of snakes till they come close to the wreath for an unexpected fright. Be sure to position the snakes' heads in different directions to give the wreath a sense of motion.

Welcome Halloween guests with a friendly, furry monster wreath. To craft it, you'll need one yard of black faux fur, small balls in assorted colors and 8 to10 sets of plastic vampire teeth. Cover a foam wreath form with faux fur, securing the ends with strong tape or T-pins. Attach the balls and vampire teeth to the fur with hot glue. Finally, use black and white paint pens to add a slit pupil to each of the eyes.

Honestly, who doesn't have a little all-powerful sorceress within them? Honor your inner witchiness with this fun take on a wreath that starts with a costume hat.

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.

Add a little battitude to your front door with this wreath. To craft it, you'll need a foam wreath form, charcoal-gray yarn, black craft foam, black ribbon, floral wire and a hot glue gun. First, wrap the foam wreath form with yarn, ensuring that none of the foam shows through. Next, print or draw bats in various sizes and trace their pattern onto black foam, cutting out the shapes with scissors. Poke a small hole through the top of each bat with floral wire then wire bats onto the wreath, positioning them so they look like they're in flight. Finally, wrap a black ribbon around the top of the wreath for hanging.

Pick up an oval grapevine wreath and a bag of assorted plastic bugs at your local craft store. Use the bugs to add color and shape to the wreath, attaching them with hot glue.

Danger ahead! Put caution tape to decorative use as a yellow-and-black crime scene wreath. Pick up a roll of caution tape from your local hardware store and a foam wreath form at the craft store. Wrap the caution tape around the form, ensuring the letters face out. Use strong tape or straight pins to secure the end of the tape to the wreath's back. Complete the look with a caution tape bow.

Picture frames as wreaths? Sure, why not? Grab an old picture frame from a flea market or garage sale and update it with spray paint in a bold color. Next, remove the glass and artwork. Use string or yarn to create the spiraling look of a spider web then attach the web to the frame's backside with double-sided tape.

Design blogger Michele Strauts proves pink is always in season with this gourd-geous DIY pumpkin wreath. The wreath forgoes fall foliage and florals to make a seasonal statement with miniature pumpkins in a punchy, bubblegum hue. Recreate the lively design with a store-bought wreath and pink spray paint or give your gourds a personal twist with your own unexpected paint color.

Skip the vibrant autumn blooms and set the tone for Halloween with a bare-bones twig wreath and a bold, black-and-white ribbon. The minimalist twig wreath offers a subtly chic nod to the haunted holiday that lies ahead.

Shop your local dollar store to craft this silly-scary wreath made from car washing mitts and ping pong balls. Get the step-by-step instructions, plus more dollar store Halloween decorating ideas below.

Let everyone think you got a little too carried away with the candlesticks or cauldron this year, and cheekily display a "scorched" wreath. The trick is to cut and trace leaves onto felt sheets, then fuse those leaves to dark brown or black fabric for a suspiciously singed look. Follow our step-by-step tutorial down below to make it your own.

We're crawling with excitement over this cute, creepy wreath that costs less than $15. To make your own, paint a 14-inch foam wreath form with orange craft paint. Let dry, then stick a dozen T-pins into the back of the wreath so they’re evenly spaced. Tie black twine to one pin, then wrap the twine around the wreath, looping it around the front and the pins in the back to create a web. Snip excess twine and tie the end to a pin. Paint small wood circles with black craft paint. Hot glue eight short pieces of black twine to each circle for legs, then stick two round yellow stickers on for eyes. Hot glue a longer piece of twine to the back of each spider, then hot glue the other end to the web.

What fall figure is creepy and cute? That's right, a scarecrow. Evoke thoughts of these eerie humanoids with a corn husk wreath. You can use our gallery below as a starting point, then tie on an ochre or red-checked ribbon. Fill the hole with a frowning jack-o-lantern-style face to make the wreath extra creepy.