You need to try these Halloween DIY decorations for your party
What do you do when the last of the summer blues start to slowly creep up on you? You get your weeny on, of course. When the days start getting darker and the nights start getting colder, one of the only things that gets us through is planning our annual Halloween bashes and transitioning our wardrobes from Margot Robbie's Barbie to Jenna Ortega's Wednesday.
So, if you're ready to raise your spooky spirit - and the thought of going into full-on party planner mode is getting you buzzed - we’ve got just the thing for you. Once you’ve got your food and drink sorted, planned the costume to end all costumes, and got yourself a Halloween mani, DIY Halloween decorations should be next on your list with these handy (and really quite easy) Pinterest tutorials. Whether you're after minimum effort with maximum reward (hello, spider ice cubes) or fancy getting your craft knife out and doing some real GCSE design and technology style, we've got you covered with these ideas.
Halloween ideas from Pinterest
Spider ice cubes
As if this one needs explaining - all you have to do is put plastic spider toys in your ice cube trays before filling them with water and sticking them in your freezer. Hey presto, scary drinks. Be sure to hold onto your plastic spiders for next year to be eco-friendly.
Napkin holder fangs
Is this the easiest Halloween decoration idea of all time? Stick a pair of fangs under your napkin at a dinner party and you're good to go.
Toilet roll faces
If you've got trees or bushes outside your house, this is GREAT. Cut pairs of eyes in cardboard loo rolls, snap a glow stick to put inside, and position them in your hedge for when it gets dark. GENIUS.
Bin bag spider webs
All you need is a bin bag (make sure there are some left for cleaning up, though!) some scissors, and lots of patience.
Pumpkin drinks holder
Scoop out the insides. Stick in a bowl. Fill with ice and booze. The *perfect* low stress Halloween decoration if you're just having a few friends over for dinner. A centrepiece that's actually functional = winning.
Blood dripping candle
Use a red candle to drip wax over an old wine bottle to act as a blood splattering. When you later light your actual candle, it'll be super effective.
Wall bats
HOW GREAT do these look? Super easy too. Find a bat shape template and cut absolutely loads (more is more in this case) out of black cardboard, before folding down the middle and sticking to the wall using double-sided tape.
Mummy jars
Old jam jars can become your best friend at Halloween. Wrap in muslin cloth or crepe paper, stick on some googly eyes and whack a light inside. This literally couldn't be easier or more effective - plus you can have your jars back at the end to use for something else.
Tin can luminaries
Slightly more fiddly but really great if you can be arsed. Use a drill to make holes in an old paint can in whatever design you fancy, put some fairy lights inside and wait for it to get dark. Oooh.
Eyeball wreath
Whether you stick googly eyes on ping pong balls or buy your spooky eyeballs already painted, all you have to do is glue gun them all to a ready-made Christmas wreath wherever sees fit. Such a cute end result.
Syringe shots
Plastic play syringes. Alcohol. Drinking games. Done.
Ice cube hands
THESE ARE SO FUN. Use a plastic glove or an unused washing up glove, fill it with water or your beverage of choice and tie a rubber band really tightly around the end. Put it in the freezer and whenever necessary, cut the glove off.
Hanging ghosts
All you need is white paper or card and some clear wire or thread to create these cute hanging ghosts. Cover your ceiling in them indoors or hang them from the trees in the garden. Perfect!
Floating candles
It's giving Harry Potter great hall vibes and we can't get enough. Involving recycled toilet roll tubes, spray paint, tea lights, hot glue, and few more crafty items, you'll be able to give the illusion that you've got floating candles around the house.
People will think you really went to Hogwarts, just sayin'.
String spider's webs
Get those paper mache skills back in action. Once you've got a blown up balloon, start to cover it in sticky string until it forms a hard web. Then, pop the balloon inside, and adorn your new creation with fake spiders.
Spider lights
Get saving your jars now for this quick and easy weeny decoration! You'll also need some frosted glass spray, cotton wool, a battery-powered tea light, and of course, some fake spiders! Once you've soaked the jars and all of the labels have come off, let them dry and then spray them with the frosted glass spray. Let that dry, and then pop the tea light at the bottom. Grab some cotton wool and fill the jars so it looks like a web, and then place the spiders on top and in between so they can be seen through the glass.
Ghoulish pompoms
We all learned how to make pompoms as Christmas decorations, but what about at Halloween too? This tutorial helps you make them into ghosts to create the coolest DIY garland.
Eyeball stones
This one might take a bit of foraging, but totally worth it. All you need is some rocks and some hardwearing paints, so you can create some eery eyeballs to leave around the front of your door.
Halloween candles
This is *so* impressive yet so easy to achieve. Grab some black thick candles of different lengths (or cut them down yourself), glue them together as per the picture, and then melt them for a while until the wax starts to drip down.
Hocus Pocus wall-hanging
There's literally a Hocus Pocus-themed decoration - it's meant to be! OK, while this one might be a little trickier than some of the others, if you're a hardcore fan and have some spare time to invest, you'll definitely wow all of your guests come October 31st!
Paper pumpkins
This one's described as a 'craft for kids', which is probably the level of DIY we're at. These ones involve painting a paper plate white and then cutting a pumpkin design into it, before putting in front of a fake candle for a glowing effect. Clever.
Gold skeleton wall mirror
This is giving chic haunted house and is pretty easy to put together. If you've haven't got a spare mirror hanging around (who does?) then head to your local charity shop or online marketplace and you should be able to find a reasonably priced second hand mirror. Feel free to distress it or paint another colour to suit your own style.
Then all you need to do is attach any skeleton pieces or skulls you've got lying around, or you know, from a craft shop, with craft glue and leave to dry.
Book page ghost garland
Big fan of ghost stories? Then this garland is a great way to incorporate your love of spooky tales into your decor. Whilst we wouldn't usually advise on cutting up books, Halloween may be the exception.
Books from your local charity shop can be super cheap and newspaper pages are always a good alternative if you don't want to be cutting up your favourite books.
Chilled out skeleton candle
If this isn't Halloween and chill vibes, we don't know what is. The tutorial video attached shows you exactly how to achieve spa day skelly, and it's surprisingly easy. You just need a few DIY tools like a glue gun and superglue, plus the other essentials listed.
Spooky face in a jar
If you're looking for a way to really freak out your fam, this is the perfect decoration. You might need to brush up on your photo editing skills to achieve this but it'll be so worth it! Basically, you need to blend two pictures together to give the illusion of a flat image of a head. Laminate it, submerge it in a jar, and fill the jar with water. The flattened image, plus the distortion from the water will make it look there's a decapitated head floating in preserving fluid.
Haunted house skeleton
This is most definitely an outside dec. Purchase an (obviously) fake skeleton online and then attach it to a wooden board with its arms in the air. If you can, add some extra blocks of wood to the back so the board stands up and place it on your drive.
Scary woman in the mirror
This is giving major horror movie vibes. Whether you've got a black ornate mirror hanging around already or you purchase one for the occasion, print off a photo of a creepy woman (making sure it's the same dimensions as the mirror) and stick the image on top.
Creepy crystal balls
It's giving Stevie Nicks meets Hocus Pocus. If you're after more of a witchy Halloween vibe, this tutorial shows you how to make your very own crystal visions.
Victorian spooky candles
If you don't think these candles are creepy, who even are you? This is a pretty crafty decoration so you need to make sure you've got the patience and precision of a saint.
DIY Cousin Itt
For all the Addams Family fans, this is a great (and very easy) Halloween decoration. Just grab a long gold wig, purchase a black bowler hat and some Blues Brothers style sunglasses, and voila, you have the staples for creating your very own Cousin Itt.
Cheesecloth ghost
Ngl, we're actually quite into this decoration, and it's super easy too. All you need is some cheesecloth, transparent round jugs that you can stand upside down and some black felt for the eyes. The picture is very self-explanatory, so there's probably not much more explanation needed tbh.
Guillotine decoration
Granted, where are you gonna get a guillotine from? But if you're handy with wood or you know a talented carpenter, this would be the perfect decoration for trick or treaters. For the guillotine effect why not try a load of tin foil stuck to a cardboard cut out in the shape of a guillotine.
Spooky chandelier
This will only work if you already have a black chandelier in your home, but you can definitely adapt with your own light fittings. Bascially, drape a black lace cloth over your chandelier and attach some purple and black beading like the picture. Then, purchase some scary looking skulls and attach them to the light like the image shows.
Marshmallow ghosts
A snack and a decoration rolled into one, what more could you want? Place some marshmallows on a wooden stick like you would a kebab and then - with an edible cake pen - draw a spooky face on the top marshmallow. Place them all together in a transparent jar like in the pic with some white cloth for effect.
Creepy spirits
You can actually buy scary white Halloween masks online for super cheap, so not much DIY is involved, really. Then, just drape some white cloth over them and with some invisible nylon thread, hang the spirits to a light fitting, or attach them to your ceiling.
Brains in a jar
Brains in a jar? You can't get more Halloween-ey than that. Of course, they're not actually brains in a jar, they're cauliflowers with red marker over them to give the illusion of brains. To make it even more creepy, get your cursive on and create a Victorian-style label with the name of one of your friends or family members.
Creepy babies
Right, this might be the creepiest Halloween decoration idea we've seen yet, and the best thing about it? It's *so* easy to recreate. Because let's be real, there's nothing more unsettling than a baby doll in a horror movie, right?
Death Eater vibes
The picture literally shows you how to create this dec without having to say anything. You can also create this idea with mannequins, too, which might actually be easier. Just dress them in a creepy outfit and there you go, a spooky Halloween decoration ready and raring to go.
Skeleton candle
Black roses, skeletons, burning candles. It's giving ultimate goth girl Halloween. To achieve this look, source a black tray, glue a skull to the middle and surround it with some plastic black roses. Then, purchase some black candles and burn them down so the wax melts around them.
Halloween silhouettes
Ready to get your craft on? Whether you go all out and carve some silhouettes out of wood (which we do not recommend unless you sincerely know what you're doing) or you go full-on primary school and use a carving knife on some black card, the end result (should you be arty and patient enough) will end up like this awesome garage display.
Family gravestones
Remember the Goth family in the Sims? They had their own graveyard in their back garden brimming with deceased ancestors. While of course that's very creepy, it's the perfect Halloween decoration and it's super simple to do, because you can literally buy craft gravestones like the ones in the picture online, and then use a white marker to write on them.
Bloodbath bathroom
If you're not bothered about having to clean up afterwards, why not create the ultimate bloodbath in your bathroom? Apply some fake blood to your hands and then press them to the mirror to create the illusion that someone has either tried to escape or a spirit has taken over your home. Then, for some extra pazzaz, scatter some plastic spiders around to really creep people out.
Message on a mirror
Easy, simple and incredibly unsettling. With either red lipstick or paint, write out a scary message on one of your mirrors at home and then don't tell anyone. For added effect, why not drape some fake cobwebs over it too?
Boarded up doors
Source some cardboard and cut into strips that you can layer over your door to appear like it's been boarded up. Then, write 'keep out' in huge letters to give the impression that something terrible has either happened, or there's something scary inside that don't want to experience.
Spooky crates
If you've got some spare crates lying around, you can create the perfect Halloween decoration. First, rub some shoe polish or ash over the planks to give the crate a more dilapidated feel. Then stand it up against a bush and place some creepy figures or skeletons behind, making sure to thread some fingers through the gaps for ultimate creepiness. You can also add a sign to the top like in the picture.
Halloweentown signs
Make a list of the scariest destinations in movies and create your own signs directing people to them. All you need to do is gather some old pieces of wood, saw them so they appear to point at the end, and secure them to one large wooden pole. Then, write the locations in your creepiest handwriting on the signs.
Water bottle Boogey Man
Got some plastic water bottles you want to upcycle? Why not create this creepy boogey man out of used bottles? First, trace your body on a large piece of card and then arrange the bottles within the silhouette until it looks like a person. Glue them all together using a glue gun, and then, when dry, cover the figure in bin bags and duct tape. Spooky or what?
Floating witch hats
For Harry Potter sorting hat vibes, grab some cheap witch hats online and some invisible nylon thread. Then - like in the picture - attach them to the ceiling to give the illusion that they're floating.
Silhouette houses
Another silhouette option you can try by using old Amazon boxes. The image shows you how easy it can be done too. When finished, secure them to your windows and put some battery-powered candles on the window sill behind them so the windows light up.
Creepy hanging spiders
Plastic bags? Tick. Cotton wool? Tick. Plastic spiders? Tick? Fill up a small plastic bag with cotton wool like in the pic, adding a few plastic spiders inside so they can be seen on the outside. Then, stick the remaining spiders to the outside of the bag, making sure to make the bottom area more concentrated to make it look like it's a spiders nest. You can then hang the creepy decorations anywhere around your home.
Skeleton in a wheelbarrow
This is the definition of minimum effort and maximum reward. Simply fill up a wheelbarrow with soil, add in a plastic skeleton and you're all done.
Candy corn lanterns
If you can't get your hands on candy corn in the UK, then any orange sweets will do.
Black cat wreath
Super cute and while it will take some time to assemble it will be worth it.
Black cat tubes
These are definitely veer on the side of cute not creepy, and all you need to create them are some empty toilet rolls, black paper and some googly eyes.
Scary balloons
Once blowing up an obscene amount of orange and white balloons, carefully draw on scary and funny faces for a quick and easy Halloween craft.
Milk carton scary faces
This is a genius way to use up empty milk cartons. Once empty and clean, use black markers to create the faces.
Lollipop stick webs
You'll have to eat a lot of ice lollies in order to make this one, but we're ok with that (or yes you could just buy them but where's the fun in that?). Once you have your sticks, stick them together with craft glue and then weave string on them to make the web effect.
Painted leaves
A quick and affordable craft, AND a way to get rid of the leaves in your garden? Result. Just make sure the leaves are dried out before painting on them, no one wants a party full of soggy leaves.
Scary sheet signs
We all have a bedsheet that's seen better days, so why not give it one last final use and paint on a scary message to hang up at your party?
Broom parking
All your witches are going to need somewhere to leave their brooms after all. Either paint the sign freehand or use a stencil to create the design.
Scary toilet
Make sure your guests are terrified in every single room, by either making a creepy sticker or buying one of these from Amazon.
Witch's legs in an umbrella
Yes, it's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors, but it's Halloween so that rule doesn't count. Create a seriously cool ceiling decoration by recreating this witch's look with her legs hanging down from an umbrella.
Giant spider
Honestly, this is a thing of nightmares and can be easily recreated at home with just two black balloons and some thick paper.
Dead body outline
Make your Halloween party murder mystery themed and leave a dead body outline in the entrance to get your guests guessing the minute they walk through the door.
Painted pumpkins
Everyone is painting their pumpkins this year. It's a fun and easy to way to do decorations, and you could get everyone to bring their own pumpkin and have a contest of who has the best painted pumpkin.
Skeletons climbing the drains
Simple but effective and doesn't require much effort. Just order some fake skeletons online and secure them to the draining pipes.
Hand plant pots
What do you plant in the garden? Well this Halloween expect to see some body parts coming out of the plant pots. Grab some pots, soil and fake feet or hands to create the this spooky garden decoration.
Body parts in the home
And don't leave the body decorations to just outside, find some old shirts and some fake arms online and create these hauntingly terrifying decorations.
Bagged bodies
Terrifying, and an impactful decoration. You should be able to make this with things you already have in your home - black bin bags, rope and some cushions to create the body parts.
Creepy doll wreath
This is most definitely a Halloween themed wreath and can be created with doll heads that you can get off dolls from a charity shop if you don't have any of your childhood ones to hand.
Cobweb balloons
Every party needs balloons and for your Halloween one take things up a notch by getting black balloons and covering in fake cobwebs.
Operation cake
Operation is a classic party game, but this Halloween decoration takes one thing further. Make (or buy we won't tell anyone) a large cake that then hide things in and have your guests go digging for prizes in the cake.
You Might Also Like
