While store-bought decorations are an easy and effective way to create a spooky front yard or chilling indoor environment for Halloween, a lot more fun and enjoyment can come from creating decorations yourself and tailoring the spook to your exact specifications. Here are some great do-it-yourself Halloween decoration ideas from around the web:
Zombie Windows
This is a really fun and creative way to up the spook level with household materials. Roll out a decent sized portion of wax paper to fit a window around or in your front door. Splatter with red paint and, if you dare, a “bloody” red handprint or two. Let dry, then cut the wax paper to fit the window and tape it in place. Repeat for any other windows you choose. This blood splatter effect will make people think twice before approaching your eerie house…or come even closer to inspect your creative decorations.
Spooky Drapes
You can easily make a spooky entrance to your porch by cutting a large black garbage bag into strips, making sure not to cut through the base so the bag remains intact. Then simply secure above your door or porch entrance for an ominous entry way. You can use a white garbage bag to make a more ghostly entrance way. A sheet of cheesecloth, available in most fabric/craft departments, can also be torn up and hung as a ghostly outdoor drapery.
Glow-in-the-Dark Jack-O-Lanterns
First define and protect the facial features, which you or your children can design any way you like. You can draw eyes/mouth/nose and then cut cloth tape to cover, or simply cut the patterns out of a pliable material and then tape into place. Next, in a safe and well-ventilated area, spray the entire pumpkin with glow-in-the-dark spray paint. Let dry, and then remove the tape/material. You will be left with a pumpkin that glows everywhere except for the eyes/nose/mouth. This is a creative way to have a spooky, custom jack-o-lantern without the danger of knives and tealights.
Balloon Jack-O-Lanterns
This is a great way to unleash the creativity of your children without having to carve up a dozen pumpkins. Purchase a bag of orange balloons, blow them up and tie them. Next, you or your children can decorate the balloons into jack-o-lanterns! If the child is old enough, you can use a sharpie and a stencil from the internet to make a scary monster. For younger kids, black paint and their imagination can suffice. These look best indoors or during the daylight.
These are just some of the fun and easy Halloween decoration ideas that you can do with your children to make a spooky atmosphere for Halloween night. Let us know any DIY Halloween discoveries you have made and share them!
