Spooky and Cute DIY Halloween Decor Projects

The holiday of spooks, scares, and sweets is right around the corner. People are going from door to door to tax their neighbors with sweet treats and wearing their most impressive costumes. But when the trick or treaters come to your home, you don’t want to greet them with tacky, boring, and visibly low-quality decorations. When it comes to Halloween decor on a budget, nothing is more economical than making it yourself.

Not only will this save you money, but it also allows you to make something entirely unique that has an added personal touch. What truly makes decor unique isn’t purchasing a rare edition of a witch’s cauldron for hundreds of dollars, nor is it looking through online markets to find off-putting contemporary takes on classic decorations. It’s about making something that is uniquely your own and says a little about you. DIY Halloween decorations are a great way to show off just how creative you and your household can be at spooking the neighbors. 

Unique Pumpkin Carvings

Jack-o’-Lanterns That Break Away from Tradition

Jack-o’-lanterns are a staple of Halloween decor. They are great DIY projects that can create a very moody atmosphere both indoors and outdoors. It’s safe to say that most people in the United States have made a Jack-o’-lantern at least once throughout their lives. It’s a holiday tradition that is more about the experience of making a Jack-o’-lantern than the decoration itself. But this does not mean you shouldn’t put a little extra effort into your pumpkin carvings to make them look special.

Instead of having the traditional mischievous smile, carve out something more unique and incorporate other elements into the Jack-o’-lantern. For example, you can carve out the pumpkin into the shape of a spiderweb then glue little fake black spiders onto it. Another very fun idea people have been carving out is pumpkin houses. You can even find a smaller pumpkin, carve a face into it and place it in the doorway of the pumpkin house making it look as if the Jack-o’-lantern has a cute home to live in. If you want funny carved pumpkins then consider a wacky vampire or even a cookie monster pumpkin carving that has a mouth stuffed with the sweets. These unique ideas will attract a lot more attention to your home’s exterior and decorations compared to those generic Jack-o’-lanterns you see all around. 

Terrifying Spiders

Creepy-Crawley Decor Ideas for Halloween

Spiders weren’t always traditional Halloween imagery but with how much people are terrified of them, it only makes sense that they would make for great holiday decor. There is no shortage of decorative creepy crawlies for you to make, from the big trash bag spider to tiny pipe cleaner spiders that you can decorate your porch with.

Speaking of which, you can purchase a load of fake cobwebs that you can tie to the beams and balusters of your porch. Once you have made an intricate network of webs around your front door, take a couple of the pipe cleaner spiders and place them all around. Your neighbors will rue the day you put up those decorations as they have to look at them every time they pass by your house. And isn’t that what Halloween is all about: scaring your neighbors and passersby alike? 

Pumpkin Painting

The Safer Alternative to Carving Pumpkins Is Painting Them

Decorative pumpkins are used for more than Jack-o’-lanterns. This squash is an indispensable seasonal image and is used as decor all throughout fall. So, there are many other interesting ideas you can try out that don’t involve carving into it. Painting pumpkins is quite fun and many homeowners see it as a safer alternative to carving pumpkins if you want to create decorations with young children but don’t want to give them any sharp objects.

A fun project you and your kids can try out is a ghost-painted pumpkin. Use tempera paint as it is washable so you don’t have to worry about your kids making a mess of themselves and your home. If they do end up painting their arms, the walls, and whatever else gets in their way, you can easily wash it off and won’t have to worry about long-lasting stains. Your kids can paint their favorite monsters and Halloween characters, such as vampire pumpkin painting, zombies, witches, and so on. Let their imaginations run wild with the possibilities on the pumpkins and see what creative paintings they come up with.

Spooky Door Decorations

Turning Your Door Into a Portal to Spooktown

Much like the winter holiday wreaths you hang from the front door to let guests know you’re in the holiday spirit, the same can be done on Halloween. There are many interesting Halloween wreath ideas out there, such as one covered in spiderwebs, a few of those pipe cleaner spiders, and even a couple of tiny skulls for the added spooks. These are fantastic homemade hanging Halloween door decorations and they allow you to personalize them by gluing your favorite holiday icons and imagery onto them.

But if you want to maximize the spirit of Halloween in your home, try the mummy door decoration. To make a mummy door start by covering the outside of your door with black crafting paper or foam. Then cut out two circular yellow pieces of crafting paper or foam, with two smaller black ones inside of them to create the eyes. Attach the eyes to the door using a glue gun. Then get hold of white streamers which you can attach to the door using Scotch tape. Arrange the streamers at random angles to make them look like they are wrapped around the door. With enough of the streamers stuck to the door, your door will look like a giant mummy peaking at the outside world through its bandages. These Halloween decorations for the outdoor will bring plenty of laughs, as well as a few chills down the spines of anyone who comes by your home. 

Gothic Candle Decor

Bring Out the Classic Halloween Visuals With Gothic Candles

Lighting helps you emphasize the exact aspects of the decor and festivities by illuminating areas of interest, spooky interest in this case. But not all lighting needs to be illuminating to get this done. Candles are not very bright, but they can be used to put certain aspects of the decor into focus. For example, gothic candelabras, even fake plastic ones, can bring in that haunted castle aesthetic so many Halloween decorations strive to emulate. 

But when looking for bigger candles, don’t simply go out and buy them; make them yourself. If your house has a pool, chances are you have a few extra pool noodles lying around. Old and worn-out ones can work too. First, you need to cut the pool noodle to the length that you want your candles to be. For the really long ones you can make them a foot long, but don’t go overboard with the length, as cutting them too long risks making them look fake. Once cut to the right length, spray paint the pool noodles with a color that screams spooky gothic haunted house. This can be a rich cherry red, grey, or, of course, black. Now that they have been painted over, you can put little fake electric candles inside them. Drip some wax over the sizes to make them look even more authentic and stack them close to each other at different heights. With these pool noodle candles, Halloween is about to get much, much more terrifying. 

Icky Jars

Weird Your Guests Out With Creepy Jars

Halloween is not only scary, but it’s also a little icky and nasty from time to time. In fact, a good blend of spooks and nasties is the perfect formula for great Halloween decor. You can opt for an easier route by purchasing a few fake torn limbs from the nearest 99 cent store Halloween aisle. But there are far more creative options out there.

Find a number of old jars that you’re not using. Ones with glass lids are even more preferable for that old-school mad scientist lab aesthetic. Purchase a few cups of slime from the store, preferably transparent, and bags of eyeballs, fangs, brains, and other body parts for a little visual variety. Pour the slime, put the fake human body parts into the jars, and place them all around your home to make it look as if a mad scientist lives in your household. If you happen to have some fairy lights for the winter holidays, also place them behind the jars and light them up to give them a radioactive glow.