Indeed, time flies - October 31st is just around the corner! Whether it's part of your yearly festivities or want to start a new family tradition, we have a handful of easy DIY Halloween decoration ideas to spookify your home.
From disposable to everlasting indoor and outdoor Halloween decor, we've included the most creative ideas to give your home a spooky makeover. It's up to you and your kids to make it is as festive or as spooky as you want!
Easy Halloween decor for 2024
Spider web
Spider webs are one of the most common decor for Halloween. Now, it's fun to thread intricate webs out of macramé, but who's got time? Instead, you can make them with yarn, construction paper, and even gauze to create the abandoned home feels. Just stick them on your porch or windows with some hot glue and attach rubber spiders for a finishing touch. Voilà! You've transformed your home into a haunted house.
Jack-o-lantern
The scary gourd is the ultimate representation of Halloween in many cultures, including Australia. If you can carve pumpkins, that's great. But I personally pick rock melons to make our family's Jack-o-lanterns. They're a lot cheaper and easier to carve than pumpkins using a craft knife.
I also like putting battery-operated flameless candles inside the lanterns for that glow-in-the-dark effect. You can also use a cloche instead of a mason jar.
Painted pumpkins
An alternative to jack-o-lanterns is painted pumpkins that appear to bloom from the ground. Paint faces on mini pumpkin varieties, if available in the area, or even oranges. You can also paint round objects to turn into pumpkins and tuck them in the grass in your yard. You can use orange balloons if you're in a jiffy. Personally, I prefer something more sustainable, like table tennis or rocks, which I could reuse the following year.
Paper bats
You can simply cut out bats from black construction paper and stick them on your windows. But if you have weeks ahead of Halloween, why not take it a step further and make paper mache? All you need are old scrap paper, homemade glue or Mod Podge, and black acrylic paint for your lifelike bat sculptures.
Ghoul behind the window
Here's a surefire way to keep the trick-or-treaters from knocking on your windows. You can assemble your creature with a coat rack using old blankets or towels. You would want to get some frosted window film from the store for maximum effect.
Pro tip: Choose a vacant room in your home so you don't give the kids the fright of their lives. Trust me, I've been there.
Dead dolls
Now, this one's a lot macabre even for me, especially being the mum of a little girl. My neighbour Leticia is famous for her collection, which is made out of old porcelain and silicone dolls, eyeballs gouged. She arranges the dolls with a thin layer of dirt under a tree in her front yard. I would try it, if it doesn't solidly spook me out.
Skeleton
Skeletons are a Halloween fixture, whether hidden in the closet, half-buried in your yard, or hanging from the ceiling. It's easy to make them using cardboard and markers. You can also take your Halloween crafter gig a step further using sticks and strings.
For older kids who don't care about huge skeletons, they can help create paper skeletons for your Halloween table. I'm trying out this tutorial for my nightstand this upcoming spooky season.
Cheap and easy Halloween decor ideas
Halloween wreath
For a more festive atmosphere, how about a wreath for your front door? Wreaths are a top choice for Halloween door decorations. You can attach fall leaves, eyeballs, skulls, and other ghostly furbishing. Plus, you can simply switch the ghostly decor with Christmas-themed ornaments for the upcoming holidays.
Sugar skull
My daughter is obsessed with Pixar's Coco, and that's why we have been doing sugar skulls for years. I find that the shape of papayas makes perfect Frida Kahlo-inspired table decor. Painting them with food colours is also a fun art and bonding activity with your kids. And they make a great first impression and bewitch our visitors too.
Mum hack? I always look for green papayas so we can eat them when they ripen after Halloween.
Mason jar lanterns
Mason jars are wonderful for enchanting yet spooky Halloween decorations for your coffee table and mantel. They're perfect if you have older kids you can trust not to knock stuff around.
You will need used mason jars, black construction paper cutouts, and small candles. I like getting violet or orange flameless candles from the store to make the setup even safer.
Ghost piñata
Piñatas are always fun, and a ghost-themed one is a perfect decoration for the home and a treat for your little ones. Simply cut the front and back sides of a big box - think cereal - into identical ghosts. Glue more cardboard on the sides so you create a box with an opening at the top. Paint white or cover with white scrap paper. (Put frills if you want!) Then, draw or use black paper for the face before putting the treats inside. Your kids will surely have so much fun!
Ghost garland
I'm the first to admit I'm not the crafty kind of mum, so my go-to last-minute decor is always the garland. Most likely, you can find these supplies in your kiddo's art drawer: construction paper, scissors, and tape or glue. Cut the paper into thick strips and assemble in alternating colours, using tape or glue to attach the ends. Cheap and easy!
If you have more time and supplies, you can hang cutouts of ghosts, pumpkins, or witch's hats from old book pages or craft paper onto a long piece of twine to hang on your mantel.
Store-bought orange string lights and plastic pumpkin lanterns also make for pretty DIY outdoor Halloween decorations for your front porch.
Wicked witch
Finally, we can't end this list without the queen of October 31st! Simple on-theme ornaments you can make at home would be a witch's cardboard hat, cape, and pointy shoes.
Another fuss-free witchy stuff is also her broom! If you're like me, you already have this at home. All you need is to attach some small pieces of ornaments like a strand of spider web, and you're good to go.
Conclusion: Spook-tacular DIY Halloween decorations for homemade fun
If you and your kids love Halloween, you would want to make it special every year. But also, you don't want to spend so much money and time on a one-day celebration. Here's where DIY crafts come into play.
Homemade Halloween decor comes in many forms. Spider webs, bats, ghouls, and witches are the first to pop into our minds when we think of this day. But flowery skulls, glass lanterns, and wreaths are also cool and on-trend.
The best thing about these decorations is that most of the materials are already found in your home. There's most likely a glue gun, spray paint, craft knife, and construction paper in your kiddo's art drawer. That way, you don't have to spend, and you can also turn this into a fun learning and bonding activity.
What's your favourite DIY idea?
