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15 Spooktacular Outdoor Halloween Decorations

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Professional Associates

 

Couldn’t resist this awesome collection of home-made Halloween decorations!  I can’t decide if I like the eyeball wreath, bat filled front door or decorated tree best but the step by step instructions are great!

Eyeball Wreath

Trick and treat your neighbors with these wicked ways to transform your front door, porch, or yard for Halloween.

To create this eerie embellishment, you’ll need about eight dozen glow-in-the-dark rubber eyeballs ($7.99 for 12; amazon.com) and a 12-inch foam wreath form ($2.59 for three; createforless.com). Wrap the form in black crepe streamers and secure with straight pins. Poke a hole in the back of one eyeball with the sharp end of a flat headed pin; then insert the pin’s flat end into the hole. Using a thimble to protect your finger, press the pin halfway in. Push the sharp end of the pin into the form. Repeat until the wreath is full and hang as desired.

Spiderweb Doormat

Lure visitors with a spooky doormat.

Step 1: Purchase an indoor/outdoor needle-punch carpet ($3.70 for one square yard; Caldwell Carpet, 800-772-7090). To turn it into a circle: Mark the rug’s center point with a Prismacolor white-colored pencil (88 cents; dickblick.com). Measure and mark the distance from that point to a spot about half an inch from the rug’s edge. Cut a piece of string to that length. Tie one end of the string to the pencil and secure the other end of the string to the rug’s center point with a tack. Pull the string taut and draw a large circle onto the rug; remove the string. Cut out the circle, just inside the white pencil mark, with sharp scissors.

Step 2: Using a yardstick, evenly space and draw eight intersecting lines that cross the rug from edge to edge. Between those lines, draw arches around the mat, using our photo as a guide.

Step 3: Lastly, coat the rug with a clear finishing spray (Krylon Make It Last Clear Sealer, $3.99; joann.com) to protect your web from trick-or-treating feet.

Jack-o’-Lanterns in a Jiffy

Turn orange tissue-paper balls into proper Halloween pumpkins. Simply cut facial features and stems from construction paper and apply to the balls with glue dots.

 

 

 

 

Black Wreath

This eerie wreath is make from plain old crepe paper streamers.

Step 1: Cut a four-inch-long strip of black streamer and fold in half (you’ll need upward of 100 cut and folded strips). Select any spot on a 14-inch foam wreath form and pin three strips side by side so they overlap to form one row. (We used straight pins with black heads.)

Step 2: Directly beneath that first row, pin another overlapping row of three. Continue creating rows until you’ve gone almost all the way around the wreath form.

Step 3: Just before you return to your starting point, loop a two-foot-long streamer over the wreath. Trim the ends to about eight inches long, then cut a decorative V into each one. Fluff the folded streamers, and you’re ready to display your finished wreath.

Tissue Paper Ghosts

To call forth this gathering, use glue dots to stick construction-paper eyes and mouths onto white tissue-paper wedding bells (available at HobbyLobby.com), then drape them with cheesecloth. Group the ghosts on your front lawn once finished, but be sure to take them inside if it rains!

 

 

 

Bat-Filled Front Door

These felt bats are easy to make and ensure your house looks extra spooky. All you need to do is trace a bat shape onto a piece of felt and cut it out. Repeat until you have a swarm of them.

 

 

 

Candy Corn Candles

Use mason jars and anchor pillar candles in a bed of candy corn or black and orange jelly beans for a simple and festive Halloween decoration for the tabletop or porch.

 

 

 

 

Colorful Candy Cone

Neither children nor grown-ups want to miss out on trick-or-treating. Treat every guest to a surprise right at the door with candy-filled cones nestled in a vintage plant stand aflutter with feathered crows.

Step 1: To create a cone about 10 inches long, first wrap an 8 1/2″ by 11″ sheet of heavyweight white paper on the diagonal. Trim excess paper. Use this as a template to cut as many cones as desired.

Step 2: Shaping each cone according to the template, use pinking shears to cut a band of glossy orange paper about 4 inches wide for the middle of the cone, and a band of yellow paper about 3 inches wide for the top. Affix the orange and yellow bands to the white base, then join the ends of the cone together using double-sided tape.

Bottle-Gourd Scarecrows

Give trick-or-treaters and guests a festive first impression, framing the front door with these skeletal gourds. These bottle-gourd scarecrows were painted white, with features added in black felt tip. Just spear them on sticks and “plant” them in Styrofoam blocks inside urns to create a festive welcome to your Halloween home.

 

 

 

Lantern Pumpkins

New York City stylist Marissa Corwin put a cheeky spin on the very word jack-o’-lantern with her three glowing silhouettes of old-school lamps. “They’re a bit more sophisticated than your average spooky face—something adults can appreciate, too,” she said.

 

 

 

Jack-O’-Paper-Lanterns

The best thing about this simple porch decoration idea? No one has to deal with knives or squishy pumpkin insides! Create this classic Halloween craft by using two orange paper bags and a votive candle (we recommend the no-flame variety just in case!). Use a stencil or free-draw Jack-O’-Lantern eyes and smile on one bag, keeping the other intact. Carefully cut the drawn-on stencil shape, put the cut bag inside the other bag and line your walkway with these cheery—yet eerie—fellows.

 

Hometown Pride Pumpkins

Let revelers know they’re at the right address by emblazoning your house number—and hometown—on pumpkins. First, you’ll need number stickers ($8 for four; etsy.com/shop/doodlebugdesignstn), as well as a decal in the shape of your state ($4.99; vinyldecals.com). Use Fiskar’s star punch ($11.50; amazon.com) to mark your location on the state decal. Apply it to one pumpkin, and the numbers to another, then use a foam brush to cover both pumpkins with two coats of acrylic paint, allowing 30 minutes of drying time per coat. Remove the decals and discard. If you’d like the numbers or state to be a different color than natural pumpkin orange, fill in using a small paintbrush and contrasting acrylic paint, as we did for the green-and-white pumpkin.

Spooky Skeleton Pumpkins Carvings

These carvings look as if they’re reaching from beyond the grave.

Step 1: Select a pair of pumpkins to form each arm-hand combo. Determine which gourd will serve as the arm (usually the taller one) and trim its stem so the other pumpkin can rest securely on top. Carve a hole in the bottoms of both, scoop out the pulp, and return the cut pieces.

Step 2: Print out our skeletal templates and resize on a copier, scaling the images to fit your pumpkins.

Step 3: Cut out stencils as directed on the templates and affix the arm stencil to the bottom pumpkin with masking tape. Trace on the design with a felt-tip pen. Repeat the process on the other pumpkin, using the hand template.

Step 4: Remove stencils, then carefully carve along the drawn lines with an X-Acto knife. Affix a battery-operated votive candle ($14.99 for 10; bedbathandbeyond.com&) in the base of each pumpkin with adhesive.

Pumpkin Greeting

Spell out your greeting in mini pumpkins gathered at a prominent location.

Step 1: Pencil letters on hollowed pumpkins (carve out the opening from the bottom).

Step 2: Using a drill with a half-inch bit, bore holes to form each letter.

Step 3: Hang strings of Christmas-tree lights, gathered in small bunches, to illuminate each pumpkin (unscrew bulbs where the string descends to the next row).

 

Decorated Tree

Bare-limbed trees provide the perfect ghostly perch for jack-o’-lanterns, candle lanterns, and a flock of faux black crows (don’t be surprised if a few real ones alight). Make sure the tree limbs are sturdy enough to support the weight of the items you are hanging and take care not to overdecorate, which can lessen the overall effect. Funkins (styrofoam pumpkins) are an especially good choice for this project, since they’re lightweight and won’t rot.

 

 

Photos and directions courtesy of Country Living

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