12 Halloween Decor Ideas DIY You Can Make This Weekend
You do not need a big budget or a craft store haul to make your home feel haunted this year. The best halloween decor ideas diy projects start with things you already own, like old jars, cardboard boxes, scrap fabric and leftover paint. A few materials and one afternoon can fill your walls and shelves with handmade pieces that look more expensive than they are.
Work in batches to save time. Cut all your paper pieces in one sitting, paint everything at once, then assemble each project while the paint dries. Keep safety basics in mind. Let a glue gun cool between uses, keep real candles away from paper and cheesecloth, and choose battery tea lights whenever a flame would sit near fabric.
1. Paper Bat Wall
You need black cardstock, scissors, a pencil and removable wall tape. Draw one simple bat shape, cut it out and use it as a template to trace thirty or more bats in two sizes. Fold each bat gently down the middle so the wings lift away from the wall. Stick the bats in a swarm that flies up one wall and around a corner. A big wall takes about forty minutes and costs almost nothing.
2. Cheesecloth Ghosts
You need cheesecloth, a balloon, white glue, water and scraps of black felt. Blow up the balloon and rest it on a jar. Mix equal parts glue and water, soak strips of cheesecloth and drape two layers over the balloon. Let it dry overnight, pop the balloon and glue on two felt eyes. These ghosts look perfect lined along the mantel with your halloween mantel decor ideas, at about two dollars per ghost.
3. No Carve Painted Pumpkins
Skip the mess and paint your pumpkins instead. You need real or foam pumpkins, acrylic paint and brushes. Wipe each pumpkin clean, paint a base coat in black, white, orange or gold and let it dry fully. Add stripes, polka dots, spooky faces or words with a thinner brush. One pumpkin takes about twenty minutes plus drying time. Group them on the dining table, then move a few outside to match your fall porch decor ideas.
4. Potion Bottles from Old Jars
Save jars and bottles for two weeks and this project costs nothing. Wash the jars and remove the labels. Fill each one with water tinted by food coloring in green, purple or deep red. Write names like Spider Venom and Witch Brew on paper, rub the paper with a tea bag for an old look and glue the labels on when dry. Tie twine around the neck, then line the potion bottles along a kitchen shelf.
5. Cardboard Tombstones for Indoor Corners
You need one large cardboard box, a craft knife, grey paint and a black marker. Cut the cardboard into tombstone shapes with round or pointed tops in varied heights. Paint each one grey, let it dry, then paint a border and a few cracks. Write funny names and dates with the marker, like Barry Alive or Ima Ghost. Lean the tombstones in hallway corners or beside a bookcase. They pair well with the halloween entryway decor ideas guests see first.
6. Yarn Spider Web
You need one ball of black or white yarn, clear tape and a plastic spider. Tape eight strands from a center point in a window corner or doorway so they spread out like spokes. Cut a piece of yarn and weave it around the spokes in circles, tying a knot at each spoke as you go. Work from the center outward until the web looks full, then tie the spider near the middle. This classic takes about thirty minutes.
7. Fabric Scrap Ghost Garland
Use an old white sheet or fabric scraps for this garland. You also need twine, cotton balls and a black marker. Cut the fabric into napkin size squares. Place a cotton ball in the center of each square, gather the fabric under it and tie twine around the neck. Draw two eyes and a mouth on each head, then tie the ghosts along a piece of twine. Hang the fabric scrap ghost garland across a window or bookcase.
8. Painted Mason Jar Luminaries
You need clean mason jars, acrylic paint in orange, green or purple, a black marker and battery tea lights. Paint the outside of each jar with one thin coat so light glows through. Let it dry, then draw a jack o lantern face, a ghost face or a haunted house. Drop in a battery tea light. These mason jar luminaries take about fifteen minutes each. Always use battery lights, never real flames near paint and glass.
9. Spell Books from Old Hardcovers
Hardcover books from a thrift store become spell books in minutes. You need two or three hardcovers, dark paint or black paper, a gold paint pen and glue. Paint the covers black, deep brown or dark green, or wrap them in black paper. Write titles like Book of Potions or Spells and Charms across the front with the gold pen. Stack the spell books on a coffee table or shelf and top the pile with a small pumpkin.
10. Egg Carton Bats
This is one of the cheapest halloween decor ideas diy crafts because it starts with recycling. You need a cardboard egg carton, black paint, scissors, white paint and string. Cut out a row of three connected cups. The middle cup stays as the body and the side cups become wings, so trim them shorter and cut points on the edge. Paint it all black, add two white eyes and tiny fangs, then hang the egg carton bats with string.
11. Haunted House Village from Cardboard Boxes
Collect cereal boxes, tea boxes and shoe boxes. You also need black paint, a craft knife, yellow tissue paper and one battery tea light per house. Paint each box black and let it dry. An adult cuts the window and door shapes with a craft knife. Glue yellow tissue paper behind the windows, then set a tea light inside so they glow. Line the houses along a sideboard. For the rest of the room, browse halloween home decor ideas in matching colors.
12. Candy Bowl from a Real Pumpkin
One pumpkin becomes a candy bowl guests will love. Choose a pumpkin and cut a circle around the stem. Lift the top off, scoop out the seeds and strings, then scrape the inside smooth. Let it dry for an hour. Line it with a plastic bag or set a glass bowl inside, then fill with candy. Keep it by the front door or on the party table. Make it on the day itself, since a cut pumpkin stays fresh only a few days.
Final Thoughts
Start with the paper and cardboard projects, like the paper bat wall, the tombstones and the egg carton bats, because they store flat in a folder and come out perfect again next year. Keep one craft box with your leftover paint, yarn, glue and fabric scraps. With that habit, your collection of halloween decor ideas diy pieces grows every October for almost no spending.
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