Halloween is just around the corner and it would not be complete if you leave your house unprepared for Halloween. Design your outdoor area–make it spooky! Let your house be the eeriest in your neighborhood on Halloween.
Aside from your costume for the night, look for ways on how to make Halloween decorations on your own. It’s all part of the fun.
Here are 23 cool, original and great Halloween decorations for your porch/patio during the holidays:
Hanging paper bats
Materials:
- White marker
- Black paper (thick)
- Magic tape and nylon or removable hooks
- A bone folder
Procedure:
This is one of the easy halloween decorations.
1. Find a half photo of a bat; fold the thick black paper crosswise and trace it out using the white marker. Use the bone folder to crease the wings and fold it on the opposite direction of the body fold to create effect.
2. Poke holes on the head or at the bottom part to insert the nylon and hang it from the ceiling using magic tape or removable hooks.
3. Bats, the grossest and one of the most ridiculous animals of all time are mostly found in caves and have the image of mystery and darkness. As one of the few best decorations for your outdoors during Halloween, it ultimately adds mystery and design to your Halloween home. You could make your neighbors think that you’re a vampire if you decide to include this idea in your outdoor decorations.
Night Owls
Materials:
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Black thick card
- Masking tape
- Magic tape
- Paint stick
Procedure:
1. Find a creepy-looking photo of an owl on the internet, trace it using the pencil on the black thick card then cut to form its shape.
2. Cut two medium-sized holes for the eyes; cut two small black circles for its pupils.
3. Tape the little circles to the holes using the magic tape; take it from the back and just place the circles at the middle.
4. Tape a paint stick at the back of the owl and tape the owl to the wall using the masking tape.
Owls are known to have these mysterious eyes which make them one of the strangest and scariest creatures known lurking on our planet. What more if you see it against a black sky, plainly staring at you, watching you as you come close to the porch. Include it in your Halloween porch decoration in order for your house to have this eerie effect that can make children pee their pants!
Lamp Ghosts
Materials:
- Lamps
- White blanket
- Thick black yarn
Procedures:
1. Hang the lamps in your garden or porch.
2. Cover them up with the white blankets and knot the latter at the base of the lamp to make them look like they’re floating.
3. Finish by turning the lamp on when it’s nighttime.
Decorating for your outdoors during Halloween does not necessarily mean that you need to exert hard work. Just having a simple lamp can help turn your outdoor vibe into a spooky one–you just have to be creative.
Lamps are a great way to spook passersby! Making it appear as if they’re floating will definitely raise your house’s spookiness level. Like what we see in horror movies, a ghostly levitating lamp that sways can ensure a good scare.
The Witch’s Doormat
Materials:
- Styrofoam (1 foot long, ½ foot wide)
- Creepy looking socks
- Welcome mat
- Cutter/knife
- Creepy ladies’ footwear
Procedure:
1. Slice the Styrofoam to make it look like legs. Carefully slice at a curved angle to make calves.
2. Dress it up by adding the socks and place it underneath the welcome mat to make it appear as if the body is hidden somewhere below or inside the mat.
3. Add the creepy looking shoes.
With a little knowledge about voodoo, witches, and black magic, you can turn your front door into some kind of witch’s home by doing the witch’s doormat.
You do not need expensive, rare props to decorate your Halloween front door, you just need to get your imagination working–be creative. People would be freaked out if they see the two legs greeting them at the front door when they decide to knock for a visit.
Black Snake Wreath
Materials:
- Grapevine wreath
- Vinyl snakes
- Water-based black spray paint
- Red water color (optional)
Procedure:
1. Spray the wreath and the snakes with the black spray paint then let them dry.
2. Attach snakes on the wreath.
3. For flat snakes, twist floral wire around in two places, thread wire into wreath, and secure at back. Twisted or coil snakes can easily be placed on the wreath.
4. Optional: paint the eyes of the snakes with red water color to gain scarier snakes.
Snakes are known to be the one of the most dangerous and most frightening animals in our ecosystem. Evil and darkness are the two things that black snakes represent. Everything about snakes is creepy so what more if black snakes, coiled around a wreath are greeting you with a hiss when you knock on the front door for trick or treat? Include them in your outdoor decoration and scare the hell out of people.
Witch’s brooms
Materials:
- Stick brooms
- Hay
- Cylindrical 1 meter sticks
- Masking tape
Procedure:
1. Buy a stick broom and tear down the half side in order for you to put the meter stick in the middle. Place the torn pieces again and secure it using the masking tape.
2. Place the brooms on your porch, near the door; add hay for extra effects.
What would first come to your mind if you see broomsticks that you see in witch movies leaning on someone’s porch? Would you freak out and run away?
Use this great idea to gain the effect of you being a witch, a wizard or some other unimaginative living being who uses broomsticks to get to one place to another. This is a great add-on for your Halloween porch decoration plus you can make your neighbors think that they’ve been greeting a witch all along.
Evil Dark Smiling Pumpkin
Materials:
- Pumpkins
- Small carving saw
- Black floral spray
- Battery-powered light
- Needle tool
- Plaster scraper
- Pumpkin carving template
- Waxed paper and pins
Procedure:
1. Make a medium-sized round hole at the bottom of your pumpkin using the carving saw then draw out the insides of the pumpkin using the scraper.
2. Spray the pumpkin with the black floral spray (Make sure to do this in an open, well-ventilated area and to put newspapers onto the things you do not want to spray paint on) Let it dry for at least 30 minutes.
3. Print the template of the pumpkin then adjust it to the size that fit your pumpkin. Cut it and paste the cut outs to the pumpkin.
4. Use the needle tool to trace the outlines and then cut it with the saw afterwards.
5. Place the lights in the pumpkin and finish it by turning them on at night. For a better effect, place a sheet of wax paper behind the cut outs with straight pins.
The Martha Stewart Halloween section on her website offers a wide variety of cool, original, and creative Halloween decorations, be sure to check them out. Halloween would not be Halloween if it weren’t for pumpkins.
Throughout the years, the pumpkin has been the symbol for Halloween. Cover them in black paint, carve out an eerie grin, or create jagged shapes to make them scarier. Black, creepy-looking, glowing pumpkins on your porch or garden would surely awe children or even adults when they have a glance at your Halloween home.
Graveyard Tombstones
Materials:
- Cardboard boxes
- White and Black paint
- Gray paint (optional)
- Hay or artificial moss
- Scissors
- Wood or anything that can be glued to the boxes to make it stand
- Spotlights (Optional)
Procedure:
1. Find cardboard boxes then shape the boxes into tombstones by tracing them using a pencil.
2. Cut them out using scissors; paint them using the white paint and let it dry.
3. When dried, paint the letters R.I.P or other words that can scare people on the tombstones using the black paint.
4. Optional: paint a little bit of gray onto the pumpkins to make them appear older and realistically rotten. Add hay or artificial moss for cooler and spookier effects.
5. Place the wood at the back of the tombstones to support it and have it planted on the ground.
6. Optional: add small spotlights at the bottom of the tombstones to have creepier effects!
A personal cemetery on a neighbor’s front yard or garden? What is spookier than that? Scare your neighbors, design it well and on how you like it; make it realistic! Maximize this decoration and scare everyone who passes by your lawn.
These tombstones are a cheap and great way of designing your outdoors during Halloween.
Haunted Trees
Materials:
- Trees in your garden (an aged one preferably)
- Oven-baked modeling clay different colors
- Double-sided tape
- Oven
Procedure:
1. Create noticeable basic shapes for the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth. For extra detail, carve out teeth, eyelids, pupils and other creepy facial features.
2. Bake them in the oven according to the clay instructions.
3. Use double-sided tape to arrange the facial features onto the tree.
4. Optional: add scary sound effects near the tree to scare people who will come near your house better!
Haunted trees are a great way to make your Halloween garden come alive. Use this unique technique to make your garden look like it’s inhabited by supernatural forces that dwell on trees. This is a good decoration if you are planning to incorporate everything that is in your garden.
Skull Light
Materials:
- Fake human skull
- Battery-powered light
- White wig (optional)
- Knife, drill or screwdriver
Procedure:
1. Enlarge the eyes of the skull to your liking. If the size is okay, do not bother anymore.
2. Insert the battery-powered light inside the skull through the eyes if it does not have an opening at the base.
3. Light it up during night time.
4. Optional: scatter the fluff of the wig for it to look like spider webs.
5. Place it around the skull to gain the effect to make it look like it had been abandoned for a long time.
Make people believe that the undead is real by using this craft as your decoration during Halloween. Toy skulls are a great way to represent the dead. Make them realistic and they can surely bring an edge to your home. This could be an inexpensive add-on to your Halloween porch decoration.
Be creative. Add details in order to make the toy skull look as if it were real and it rose from the grave.
Zombie Pumpkin Guards
Materials: (For 1 zombie)
- 3 pumpkins, preferably different sizes
- Sharp knife or small carving saw
- Black spray paint
- 2 branches (“12-14 for the arms)
- 2 dowels (3’ to hold the pumpkins together)
- Drill
Procedure:
1. Find pumpkins for the head, body, and the base. Cut out the back of the head and body pumpkins. Then take the insides out except for the base.
2. Carve and detail the face then cut the stems from body and base.
3. The dowels will go through the body up to the base. Drill two on either side of the stem. Do this by marking where the dowels will touch on the bottom part of the body then finally drilling.
4. Carefully mark where it’ll go through the top of the base pumpkin; drill afterwards.
5. Mark the bottom part of the head for the dowels to go in, make sure that it is aligned properly to the top part of the body.
6. Insert the dowels to go through the head, body, and the base for the hold.
7. Spray black paint on the branches for the arms; drill small holes for the arms and attach arms.
All homes need guards whatever the occasion is; this Halloween, have these pumpkin zombies guard your home and scare bad people away!
A nice touch of creativity, imagination, and resourcefulness could take you a long way. Use this as one of your front door Halloween decorations to impress your neighbors and for your home to be free from unwanted visitors.
Hooded Figures
Materials:
- PVC pipes
- Boxes (small and large)
- Monoblock chairs
- White dirty blankets
- Small balloons
- Yarn
Procedure:
1. Plant the PVC pipes on the soil; make sure they wouldn’t fall even if struck by strong wind.
2. Place large boxes or a monoblock chair at the bottom part for the body then place small boxes at the middle part for arms or torso to create the illusion of a person.
3. Place a small balloon at the top of the PVC pipes for the illusion of the head.
4. Cover it up with white dirty blankets. Ensure that people looking at the hooded figures wouldn’t notice the things inside the setup by placing the blankets carefully.
5. Optional: add lights near the hooded figures for creepier effects!
If you were walking down the street and see white hooded figures, not moving and just standing, what would you do? This will most likely make people run from your house to anywhere else because of this idea’s cult and ritual-related effect. This is a great add-on for your Halloween outdoor decoration.
Gigantic Black Spiders with Web
Materials:
- Thick black paper
- Scissors
- Double-sided tape
- White yarn
Procedure:
1. Find a photo of a cartoon spider on the internet. Enlarge and print it out.
2. Cut out the spider then trace the spider onto the thick black paper.
3. Use the double-sided tape to glue the spider to the walls of your home. Make at least 4 spiders and a web for its full spooky effect.
4. To create the web, use the white yarn. Find a guide on the internet on how to do simple web patterns.
Spiderman is usually the only creature affiliated with spiders that all of us aren’t scared of. Spiders are small, (sometimes big) dark, creepy creatures that crawl everywhere we go! Include spiders in your halloween outdoor decorations to ensure a frightening scare and jump to passersby at your property during Halloween.
This is a great idea if you plan on exhibiting a creative but cheap outdoor design for your Halloween home.
Spiky Glowing Pumpkins
Materials:
- Pumpkins (different sizes)
- Christmas lights
- Plastic scraper
- Drill
Procedure:
1. Drill out a small hole at the bottom of the pumpkin then hollow it out using the scraper.
2. Drill small holes all over the pumpkin; it’s up to you if you would design on how the holes will be drilled.
3. Place the Christmas lights inside the pumpkin. Finish it up by lighting up during nighttime.
This is just one of many creative outdoor decorating ideas that can turn your simple porch to a pool of glowing, living pumpkins during Halloween.
Try to hang the pumpkin from the stem to add a creepier and scarier vibe to the outside halloween decorations of your home.
Creepy Halloween Wreath
Materials:
- Artificial flowers
- Googly eyes
- Straw wreath (14-16”)
- Black spray paint
- Glue gun
Procedure:
1. Spray the wreath and artificial flowers with black spray paint. Make the wreath darker compared to the artificial flowers then let them all dry.
2. Glue the artificial flowers to the wreath accordingly. Scatter them all over the wreath evenly.
3. Distribute the googly eyes through the wreath and finish up by hanging it at your front door.
Wreaths are not made to be creepy; in fact, wreaths are often used for the Holidays. By spraying it with black paint, it will surely look the like wreaths are made for Halloween decorating ideas.
Be creative, detail it the way you want it to and spook people who will come knocking at your door for trick or treat with a good, inexpensive front door decoration for your Halloween home.
Ravens on Your Porch
Materials: (for 1 raven)
- 2 small to medium-sized chains
- 2 eye hooks
- Mailing tube
- Black Acrylic paint
- Monofilament
- Pushpins
- Chalk
- Black foam core
- Hooks
- Craft knife
Procedure:
1. Paint the mailing tube with the black acrylic paint to make the perch and let it dry for a few minutes.
2. Cut a diagonal slit at the center of the mailing tube. Screw one eye hook at each end of the tube for the chains; attach two chains on the eye hooks.
3. To make the raven, print out the raven template and use chalk to trace it to the black foam core.
4. Cut it out using the craft knife then insert the foot of the raven to the slit at the center.
5. Make a small hole at the head of the raven using a pushpin and attach monofilament to the hole and make a knot.
6. Hang the two chains into the ceiling using hooks. Attach the monofilament to the ceiling using a pushpin to avoid instability.
Ravens are one of the most mysterious, evil-looking creatures known to mankind and can look great for Halloween yard ideas. Use their ability to deceive people as one of your decorations on Halloween. Add raven-like sounds to fully utilize the ravens that are guarding your porch as one of many great halloween decorations ideas.
Illuminated Ghost Garland
Materials:
- White lantern lights
- 2 yards of white fabric (preferably cotton)
- White string
- Scissors
- Black marker
Procedure:
1. Cut 12-14” squares of the fabric. (depending on how many lantern lights you have)
2. Fold the square into a triangle and cut the base of the triangle so when you open the triangle, the middle part of the square has a small hole.
3. Carefully remove the light from the lantern then thread the light through the hole in the square fabric.
4. Take the lantern back in place and wrap the cloth around the sphere.
5. By using the black marker, make the eyes and mouth by creating black circles. Finish up by lighting it up during nighttime.
What a cute line of little ghosts you can use to make your homemade Halloween decorations less spooky and cuter! Use this idea and place it on a fence or at railings in your porch for a cute, decorative Halloween outdoor decoration.
Creepy Silhouettes
Materials:
- Black foam paper or thick black paper
- Craft knife (if black foam paper)
- Flashlight or bright light
- Chalk
Procedure:
1. Find a photo or figure online that you would want to do as your silhouette. Enlarge it and print it out or you can just draw it if you can.
2. Cut the figure using the craft knife (if you used black foam paper) or scissors.
3. Make a rectangular shape (depending on the size of your figure) and paste it on the back for the support.
4. Finish it by placing the halloween window silhouettes on a window, at the staircase of your porch and cast bright light upon it for better effects.
It is true that we get scared of the things we do not see; what more if we see figures we are not quite sure what to make of?
Silhouettes are a great way to design your Halloween home. You can put them on windows, on your garden, on your porch, even beside your front door! This is just one of many fall porch decorating ideas on this list!
This is a great way to puzzle people who pass by your house and think if they saw a figure–or did they? This is actually one of the scarier halloween decorations. DIY enthusiasts can enhance everything with dirtier sheets and a fog machine.
Big Poisonous Mushrooms
Materials: (for 1 mushroom)
- One round pumpkin
- Tall squash
- Linoleum cutter
- Keyhole saw
- Fleshing tool
- Wooden skewers
Procedure:
1. Cut the top of the round squash for the head of the mushroom. Hollow it out using the fleshing tool.
2. Put a skewer onto top of a tall squash; press the round squash (cap) onto the skewer.
3. Use the linoleum cutter to create designs like eyes or swirls for the cap of the mushroom.
Mushrooms aren’t really scary but the fact that many of them are considered poisonous makes us not want to even hear the word mushrooms.
Toadstools and other poisonous mushrooms could be great outdoor Halloween decorating ideas. You can place them in your garden, on your porch or on your lawn! Just make sure you maximize its effectiveness by placing it where they can easily be recognized.
Black Evil Snakes
Materials: (for 1 snake)
- Gray pipe insulation (3 foot)
- Two 1.5” nails
- Map tracks (yellow)
- Red paper
- White acrylic paint
- Green spray paint
- Permanent marker
- Glue gun
- Scissors
Procedure:
1. Draw a triangle at one end of the insulation pipe. Squeeze it and cut it using sharp heavy-duty scissors; this is the snake’s open mouth.
2. Cut a medium sized rectangle from long red paper and cut it to make it look like a snake’s tongue.
3. Glue it to the bottom part of the mouth using glue gun.
4. Use map tracks for the snake’s eyes then add pupils to the eyes by using permanent marker.
5. Paint the two nails with white acrylic paint and attach it at the head to create fangs.
6. Spray the body with green spray paint and distribute the green color fairly to create scale-like feature.
Wrap these artificial black evil snakes around your pumpkins, chairs, or place them even in your porch to scare people!
Use this idea to create a home filled with poisonous, free-roaming snakes that would accidentally make people jump of fear when they set foot on your property. These DIY Halloween decorations are surely a cheap and easy, but also effective props to your porch decoration.
Scary Message Lanterns
Materials:
- Two paper bags for each lantern
- Stencils
- Candles in a glass or battery-powered light
- Craft knife
- Glue stick
- Scrap cardboard
Procedure:
1. Find a stencil for a message on the internet and write it on one of the paper bags. Use a scrap cardboard for a cutting surface when you cut your stencil using the craft knife.
2. If for instance you decide to use letters or designs with closed shapes, do not throw away the center (e.g an “A”, “D”, or “O”) because it will be useful later for your cool halloween decorations.
3. Fold the top edge of the second bag twice. Cut the top of the first bag to make it appear shorter than the second bag.
4. Place the folded bag inside the other bag with your stencils and glue the edges of the cutout stencils to the second bag. Ensure that it they’re properly glued.
5. Collect the cutouts of closed shapes and glue them on the inside of the second bag exactly where the stenciled letter is for it to appear more accurately.
6. Place the candle or the battery-powered light carefully inside the bag and lower it slowly.
A scary message walkway will truly scare people away from your lawn. To make things scarier, the message is glowing and the message is not as fun as it seems.
Be creative and design your message lanterns to be scarier and less “cheesy” to spook the hell out of children – even adults if they choose to have a glance at your Halloween porch decor.
Frankenstein’s Front door
Materials:
- Black felt paper
- White cardboard
- Command strips
- Double-sided tape
- Measuring cup
- Mixing bowls
Procedure:
1. Trace a zigzag on the felt paper for Franky’s hair. (the length of the paper and the zigzag depends on how wide your front door is)
2. Make circle shapes on the white cardboard then use the mixing bowls for accuracy in creating the eyes. Use measuring cups on the felt for the eyeballs.
3. Cut a black rectangular shape from the felt paper for his mouth and 2-3 shorter ones for his “incomplete teeth.”
4. For Franky’s stitches, cut out one long rectangle and 4-5 short ones then use the felt paper to form the gash and the short cutouts for the stitches..
5. Attach the hair on top of the door using the command strips for it to have a strong hold.
6. Glue the eyes, the eyeballs to the eyes, and the stitch as well.
This is just one of many Halloween door decorations that will work best if you first paint your door green like good old Frankenstein. Add details on your own liking and witness people awe at your cute front Halloween front door. We bet that if you decide to use this as part of your Halloween decoration, a lot of people will follow what you have done!
Spooky Glowing eyes
Materials:
- Toilet paper/tissue rolls
- Scissors
- Glow sticks
- Masking tape
Procedure:
1. Find a pair of terrifying or terrifyingly cute eyes on the internet then trace it on the toilet paper roll.
2. Cut it carefully using scissors. Leave the pupils or other details that would be needed in order to maximize the glowing effect of the eyes.
3. Pop the glow sticks and put them inside. Cover both ends using masking tape for the glow to be concentrated only inside the roll.
4. Finish up by putting it on the window, some bushes or even near your front porch candles.
Finding a pair of scary, glowing eyes while walking will surely scare everyone. Include this in your arsenal and a cool and good scare is guaranteed.
Experiment on where you put it for its full effect; put eyes a bit farther from one another to maximize the space of your porch, garden, patio, or even anywhere within your property.
There are a lot of things you can work with to produce delightful outdoor Halloween decorations–from animals like bats, owls, to simple things like cardboard boxes, lamps, and many others.
You just have to be creative and imaginative in order to pursue the decoration you want. Spook other people and spook yourself. Have fun on Halloween yard decorations!
Additional Research:http://www.marthastewart.com/852559/hanging-bats#Outdoor%20Halloween%20Decorations%7C/274309/outdoor-halloween-decorations/@center/1006804/halloween-decorations-crafts%7C852559http://www.marthastewart.com/268929/black-magic-decorations#Outdoor%20Halloween%20Decorations%7C/274309/outdoor-halloween-decorations/@center/1006804/halloween-decorations-crafts%7C268929http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/crafts/outdoor-halloween-decorations-0/pumpkin-guardshttp://www.marthastewart.com/853606/ravens-waiting?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/outdoor-decorations-for-halloweenhttp://designdininganddiapers.com/2012/10/illuminated-ghost-garland/http://www.marthastewart.com/267473/creepy-snakes#Outdoor%20Halloween%20Decorations%7C/274309/outdoor-halloween-decorations/@center/1006804/halloween-decorations-crafts%7C267473http://www.marthastewart.com/272656/scary-message-lanterns#Outdoor%20Halloween%20Decorations%7C/274309/outdoor-halloween-decorations/@center/1006804/halloween-decorations-crafts%7C272656http://eastcoastcreativeblog.com/2012/10/halloween-decor-2012.html