Our favorite thing to do every Halloween is decorate! More often than not store bought decorations can look a bit generic, luckily it’s super easy (and fun) to personalize your creation with some handmade pieces and arrangements.
These easy DIY Halloween decorations look better than store bought and use items you may already have lying around the house.
Many of these ideas can be used for both indoor and outdoor, in apartments or homes. They would also look amazing at a fall or Halloween wedding.
Whether you want to add a touch of creepy to your yard, a scary elegance to your windows, rustic fall charm to your porch, or transform your home/apartment into a full blown haunted masterpiece, these are the most efficient and effective DIY decorations that will cost close to nothing.
We’ve also added versatile decor ideas that will save you time by taking you from Halloween to Thanksgiving with little effort.
Let’s start out with the best versatile outdoor decorations that’ll take you from Halloween to Fall to Thanksgiving and even Christmas.
Versatile Halloween To Thanksgiving Decor
Wood crates are a versatile item you can use to effortlessly take your decor from Fall, to Halloween, and back to Thanksgiving just by adding and removing items.
Grab some wood crates to display your pumpkins and lanterns. You can even place a basket of candy on top for trick or treaters.
When Halloween is over switch out the jack o lanterns for harvest pumpkins, it’s so efficient.
Speaking of wood, this DIY wood slice decor is reversible taking you not only from Halloween to Thanksgiving but to Christmas.
Place black stickers making a jack o lantern face on the Pumpkin side for Halloween, remove the jack o lantern face stickers for Thanksgiving, and spin around to the snowman side for Christmas and Winter.
Like wood crates, hay stacks provide classy versatility to transition from Fall to Halloween to Thanksgiving. Just switch out the Jack o Lanterns and witches for Turkeys and Pumpkins.
Corn stalks also work perfectly for all Fall Holidays.
No need to redecorate, dollar store Halloween pumpkin pails can be turned around once Halloween is over for quick Thanksgiving decor.
Best Creepy Crow Halloween Porch Decor
Grab a witches caulderon and fill it with wicked goodies for your front porch. Here are some filling ideas:
- Moss, cobwebs, paper filler, cheesecloth, straw/hay
- Pumpkins
- Brooms
- Spiders and bugs
- Skull
- Crow
- Potion Bottles
- Spell Book
- Lights
Go hunting for fallen branches that you can use as a cheap yet elegant way to decorate your front porch or entry way. Just add some pumpkins and dollar store fake crows.
The same can be used to make a chic Halloween wreath for your front door
A pool noodle, ping pong balls, and boa will make a wicked eyeball wreath for elegant last minute Halloween decor.
Outdoor Witch Decorations
Floating dollar store witches hats may be all the haunting your front porch needs. There is a DIY option to make them luminaries.
A tomato cage and a garbage bag can make an amazing witches hat for your porch or front yard.
Make your own smaller witches hats with leftover paper Birthday hats and plates, glitter, and paint.
This lovely front porch Halloween decor idea comes from Old Time Pottery. This can take you from Halloween to Thanksgiving by just turning the pumpkin planters around and removing the signs, witches hats, and skeletons
Stuff some stockings with filler or a pool noodle and add some witchy shoes to make a cheap yet chic witches doormat.
Vampire Decorations
Paint a dollar store doormat for a fun Halloween craft you can use as decor.
Gather those twigs and fallen branches for this cheap and easy yet chic Halloween outdoor decor idea using cheap bats.
Bats, Pumpkins, and votives make an elegant and spooky front porch or apartment balcony decor for cheap.
Best Halloween Outdoor Party Decor Ideas for your Porch or Balcony
Buy a couple of those dollar store grass skirts to make your own Cousin It to greet guests at your front door.
Don’t forget those pumpkins leading up your stairs.
Have a haunted party on your porch with lighting, cobwebs and plenty of seating. This decor also works for an apartment balcony or patio.
Lay out your goodies on a table for an elegant Halloween porch party idea.
Dollar store plastic table clothes turn into illuminated tables when you place a tap light or camping light underneath the table. This could even work for a Halloween wedding.
Pumpkin luminaries make an excellent base for an outdoor Halloween party table! Click on the “Source” link to copy the look. When Halloween is over, simply spin around for Thanksgiving.
Don’t forget the seating! Paint a face on an orange chair, or buy dollar store pumpkin face stickers you can remove after Halloween.
Use white Pumpkins and Christmas lights in your yard to light the way to your home or event.
Halloween Silhouettes and Shadows for Your Windows or Walls
No need for labor intensive decorations and lights, Halloween silhouettes placed infront of a light will cast an eerie shadow on your home walls.
They’re creepy by day and night! Martha Stewart has an excellent tutorial. You can make them as simple or elaborate as you’d like.
Make these shadow witches out of thin wood board, cardboard, or posterboard.
Just add some lights behind them or infront of them to get your desired effect.
Don’t forget that garage, lighted silhouettes work great for that too.
Make these super easy Halloween silhouettes for your windows out of garbage bags to make the neighbors think you’re having a ghostly party.
There is plenty of inspiration for window design ideas.
The method above uses vinyl sheets instead of garbage bags.
OOGIE BOOGIE man will make even an apartment window come to life.
Here are plenty of horrific silhouette design ideas.
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You can also paint your windows too! For the details on how to do this visit the instagram page above.
Best DIY Outdoor Ghostly Decor
TOP PHOTO TUTORIAL, BOTTOM PHOTO TUTORIAL
Tomato cages and tap lights can be transformed into cheap and easy ghosts.
You can add creepy smaller doll ghosts to your stairs or even tables. This takes Chucky doll fears to a whole new level
Make an eerie cement ghoul or spook to sit on your steps.
Some black tape can create an elegant yet spooky design for cement floors.
For more realistic and ethereal looking ghosts, you can use the chicken wire method, just be careful when handling chicken wire as it is sharp.
Make a spooky yet elegant masking tape ghost. This method provides professional looking results.
Illuminated ghosts are the perfect addition to your Halloween cemetery.
There are plenty of ideas for shipping tape ghosts to fit ever ghostly need and style.
Make ghostly tattered drapes to give your porch a haunted look.
Best DIY Skull and Skeleton Decor Ideas
Haunt your garden with DIY skull sunflowers.
Full bodied skeletons are one of the easiest and most versatile ways to decorate your home or apartment for Halloween.
Place them on old tricycles or bikes…
Hang a skeleton from your lamp post for a haunted stripper Halloween decoration idea.
Sit them on a haystack for a camp fire to greet the neighborhood!
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Skeletons can even lounge in your pool for a quick and easy Halloween decoration for your party. Add balloons with glow sticks in them to your pool for added effect.
These are amazing! You can buy or make these fire proof skulls for your Halloween night full moon bonfire.
Best Dollar Store Pumpkin Pail DIY Decor Ideas
Dollar store Pumpkin pails transform any tree into a Halloween Tree! You can add solar lights for night time.
You can use this for virtually any size tree, the dollar store also sells mini pumpkin pails you can use on indoor trees or plants.
This idea uses solar lights in the plastic pumpkins so they automatically light up at night without the need for glowsticks or battery tea lights.
Need a cheap, quick, and easy Halloween decoration for your porch? Cut open a dollar store pumpkin pail and place it over your porch light.
This DIY craft decoration will take you from Halloween to Thanksgiving.
Make an easy totem pumpkin light out of dollar store pumpkin pails and lights.
When Halloween is over, simply turn it around for Thanksgiving.
Dollar store pumpkin pails can easily be converted into Halloween planters too and double as Thanksgiving decor once turned around.
Pumpkin Pails can also be painted to fit any decor or color scheme like these faux stone ones.
A faux pumpkin is easily transformed into a hanging candy dispenser for trick or treaters to help themselves to.
A faux pumpkin also serves as a unique man eating fly trap for your haunted garden.
In this post we showed you the best DIY outdoor Halloween decoration ideas that’ll turn your home into a haunted masterpiece and take you from Halloween to Thanksgiving, and even Christmas.
We hope you found some amazing and easy crafts to make your home the envy of the neighborhood! Feel free to show us your pics and check out some of our other Halloween decor posts below that will make your party an absolute hit!
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