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You don’t need to spend a fortune on Halloween decorations bought from the store to get your house ready for the spooky season. With a few basic craft supplies, some household odds and ends, and a little creativity, you can create your own Halloween decor that’s more fun than what you can find on the store shelves.
These simple DIY projects for Halloween include everything from glowing cauldrons and creepy candy holders to spooky lanterns and colorful skulls. Most are beginner-friendly, inexpensive and easy to customize for your front porch, mantel, or Halloween party space.
1. Paint a Skull
If you favor bright, playful colors rather than ghoulish, ghastly decorations, consider this take on the Mexican sugar skull by A Beautiful Mess: Purchase a plastic craft skull at any hobby store, then trace along the eyes, nose, mouth, and add a few flowers using a Sharpie or paint marker. After that, all that remains is to fill in with colorful acrylic paints.
2. Wrap Your Front Door, Mummy-Style
Give your guests a ghoulish welcome by decking out the front door with a famous Halloween character. Although there are plenty of variations on this fun and festive project from East Coast Creative, this friendly mummy theme is so quick to re-create: Simply wrap some leftover white fabric around the door and secure it on the back. Cut out a few circles from felt or fabric for the eyes, and you’re done!
3. Paint a Spooky Cauldron
One of the simplest ways to create a Halloween look is to coat something in black spray paint. Take this example from Lindsey Sopcak, owner of The Rural Legend, who took a simple plastic planter and added creepy cloth, plastic balls, and some battery-operated lights to create this beautiful glowing cauldron. Position some skeletons around it to complete the creepy look.
Photo: Amazon
Rust-Oleum American Accents Spray Paint
This indoor/outdoor paint-primer combo works on surfaces like metal, wood, and wicker, and also on plastic and unglazed ceramic. Read the review.
Photo: Amazon
4. Design a Spider Web Halloween Wreath
While you have that can of black spray paint handy, repurpose an old holiday wreath and give it a much more sinister vibe. Add a few toy spiders, webs, or anything else you find and you instantly have a perfect piece of Halloween decor for your front door. This is yet another excellent idea from The Rural Legend’s Lindsey Sopcak.
5. Illuminate Old Bottles
If you happen to have an assortment of empty bottles lying around (or collecting somewhere on a shelf as decoration), repurpose them for Halloween. This crafty idea from Pillar Box Blue shows you how to add some creepy charm to those bottles, which can double as accent lighting to give your space a spookier glow.
6. Craft Spooky Witch Hat Lanterns
It’s easy to recreate these witch hat lanterns, created by Crafty Finds, with simple craft materials. Make them as scary or as cute as you prefer and set them up to add some proper Halloween vibes to your home for Halloween.
7. Build a Dracula Candy Dispenser
This slightly spooky candy holder from House Becoming Home involves light DIY work to create a cool way to deliver Halloween treats to your visitors. And of course, you can tailor the design to suit your own preferences—anyone or anything with a mouth would do!
The animated glowing eyes seem like an advanced step for regular DIYers, but you could always take it down a notch and use simpler eyeballs (with or without lights).
8. Construct a Wood Crate Jack-o’-Lantern
This fun wood crate project from Charlson Crafted could easily be a fun family crafting activity (adults assemble the plywood box, kids can choose how to decorate the face, Mr. Potato Head style!). These crate jack-o’-lanterns are a modern twist on a traditional pumpkin, and there’s no need to worry about them rotting like real pumpkins.
9. Upcycle Prescriptions Into Potion Bottles
You would never believe that these spooky apothecary jars were plastic medicine bottles in a former life. Blogger Magia Mia used a glue gun, a few coats of paint, and some imaginative add-ons to transform her household extras into decorative Halloween DIYs. Check out Magia Mia’s potion bottles tutorial to learn how to craft these creepy, display-worthy creations.
10. Scare Up a New Planter
Make a tongue-in-cheek, festive DIY planter like this one from The Merry Thought in less time than it takes to say, “Boo!” Ideal for small spaces, the decoration easily fits on a desk, window sill, or mantel—wherever you want to add mischievous and unsettling Halloween flair. To make your planter, shop online or at your local crafts store for a decorative—preferably grinning—skull made of styrofoam, cardboard, or plastic resin. Next, simply lop off the top and insert your plant of choice.
11. Sketch Enchanting Scenes on Lanterns
Like glass bottles, glass jars can easily be repurposed into spooky holiday luminaries, as blogger Adventure-in-a-Box proves. A light mist of purple spray paint provides color without a total opacity that keeps light from shining through. Then, she layers on a shadowy scene sketched in Sharpie, which really pops when illuminated by a candle.
The post 11 Spooky Halloween Projects to DIY…If You Dare appeared first on Bob Vila.