30 Cheap DIY Halloween Decorations for the Spookiest Holiday Ever

Boo Bottles

Raid your recycling bin to make these glass ghosts in four easy steps: First, remove labels and caps from bottles (we used Perrier ones here). Spray-paint them white, then draw faces on with black marker. To finish this cheap Halloween decoration, throw in colorful straws for cute centerpieces. Cheap Halloween decorations aren’t the only thing you can DIY—you can whip up a homemade Halloween costume, too! Check out the cutest homemade costumes for kids and our favorite DIY disguises for adults.

Cobweb Coasters

Cups look creepy when sitting on these spindly saucers. To make these DIY Halloween decorations, hook five bobby pins onto a 3/8-inch flat metal washer. Then, wrap twine around and thread through each bobby pin. Spray-paint everything white for that ghoulish look, and scatter small toy spiders around the table. Making cheap Halloween decorations with the family is one of our favorite ways to have some fall fun without breaking the bank.

Spooky Terrarium

The cute woodland world gets a spooky twist from Today’s Creative Blog. After you search the backyard for twigs, moss, and rocks, scour the house for small Halloween-themed decorations like skulls and scary birds for these cheap Halloween decorations. Then, build your scene on an upside-down lid of a Mason jar. When your miniature landscape looks complete, screw the jar onto the lid and place in the window or next to your front door in lieu of a pumpkin. Try one of these 31 free pumpkin carving stencils.

Vampire Napkin Rings

Serious chompers make your table settings look so cute it’s scary. Splash white cloth napkins with red Kool-Aid, thread a white twist tie through a set of plastic vampire teeth, and finally secure a twist tie around the center of your napkin. Learn the history behind how vampires—and 13 other things—came to be classic Halloween symbols. If you’re a fan of clever Halloween themes, these puns will have you laughing ’til your coffin.

Creepy Wall Hangings

The Graphics Fairy makes DIY Halloween decorations easier with three free printables and a simple technique to transfer the images directly onto fabric using your regular printer. (Make sure you have a full black ink cartridge.) Wooden embroidery hoops come from the craft store for under $2. If fabric hangings aren’t your thing, pop images into frames and hang them up around the house. Here’s the psychology behind why you hate scary movies.

Ghostly Lanterns

These DIY Halloween decorations are cheap and cheerful. Draw spooky faces on empty, clean gallon milk jugs, then fill with white holiday lights to decorate your porch or walkway with a ghostly Halloween glow. Speaking of spooky faces, did you know there’s a totally logical reason you’re scared of clowns?

Wicked Witch Candy Dish

Turn a pair of old heels into cheap Halloween decorations that act as a bewitching candy bowl. Wrap the heels in cheap sparkly paper, then decorate and fill with Halloween treats. Here are some crazy facts you probably didn’t know about Halloween candy.

Hanging Bats and Ghosts

Kids can help turn egg cartons into bat decorations; just cut, paint, and add googly eyes. Make cute, cheap Halloween ghosts by painting leaves white, then drawing a spooky face with a marker. Here are some other great Halloween crafts that the kids will love.

Forever Pumpkins

For cheap Halloween decorations that look like jack-o-lantern and will last past Halloween, cover clean, empty jars with orange construction paper or tissue paper. Add features with black construction paper, then pop in a tea candle—with flames, or battery-operated—and watch your “pumpkin” glow. We bet you didn’t know the spooky history behind the jack-o-lantern tradition.

Crafty Spider Sacks

You won’t want to dust away these Halloween cobwebs: Create chic, cheap yarn spider webs to decorate light fixtures, drape over curtains, or hang from a railing. Don’t forget to attach a tiny plastic spider to each sack.

Bloody Table Runner

The geniuses at Brit + Co. have made Halloween that much more festive with this so-simple-it’s-insane DIY Halloween decor. Your materials: Gauze, red acrylic paint, and a paintbrush. Dab your paintbrush into the red paint and sporadically brush along the gauze runner. For a truly Dexter-inspired look, swipe some red paint onto Mason jars for candle votives and on plastic cups (add a handprint or two for really gruesome settings). Are you brave enough to handle the most terrifying haunted houses in America?

Lace Pumpkin

To give the classic lantern a new look, do like Amy from Positively Splendid and spray your pumpkins with white paint before wrapping them in strips of lace. No lace fabric handy? Try using a thick lace headband, or cut a strip of lace stocking and fit around the widest part of the pumpkin for cheap Halloween decorations. Check out more of our favorite no-carve pumpkin decorating ideas.

Spider Garland

We screamed when we saw this creepy, crawly banner from Oh My! Creative. Glue black yarn “legs” onto a pom-pom and add a small dot of glue upon which to sprinkle orange sparkles. “While the spiders are drying (2-3 hours), cut the paper straws in half with scissors,” blogger Susan writes. “Sew through the belly of the spider…Then string them along alternating spiders and straws.”

Candy Corn Garland

Using paint chips in shades of yellow and orange, you can knock out these cheap DIY Halloween decorations—sweet candy corn garland! Another idea: turn the paint cards into mini jack-o-lantern shapes. If you’re having a Halloween party, make your guests laugh with these “corny” Halloween jokes.

Boo-tiful Wreath

Make a ghostly wreath with white felt ghosts and a black bow is a simple and cheap DIY Halloween decor for your home. You can spray your wreath gray or black, or leave it natural. Even sweeter: Wrap lollipops in tissues to make ghostly Halloween treats, then cover a wreath by tucking under a ribbon or attaching with glue.

Candy Corn Vases

Set the scene with cheap Halloween decorations are candy corn vases by decorating a table, windowsill, or mantel. For these DIY Halloween decorations, simply spray clean, empty bottles with orange, yellow, and white paint.

Front Door Mummy

Make a ghoulish first impression with this five-minute DIY Halloween decor by Honey and Fitz. First, tape paper streamers to the front door, overlapping the strips to give a wrapped look. Then, cut sheets of black and white construction paper into circles to make eyes. Place the eyes on the top of the door and tape to secure.

Halloween Ornaments

Christmas ornaments make festive, cheap Halloween decorations for your house or yard. Cover ornaments in paper mache, then paint with Halloween designs like striped witch’s stockings, pumpkins, or ghosts. We bet you didn’t know these facts about the history of Halloween.

Mummy Seating Cards

Decorate inside and out for Halloween with these ingenious DIY Halloween decorations from Curly Birds. Glue gauze, googly eyes, and cardboard to fashion small, square mummies. Set them out as place cards for a Halloween party, drop a few into the candy bucket for trick-or-treaters, or send to school with the kids to give out to classmates. To ensure that everyone can enjoy Halloween, stock up on these candies safe for kids with food allergies.

Can Boo!

What You’ll Need

• 3 clean tin cans
• Black spray paint made for metal
• Orange grease marker
• 1 spring clamp
• Drill with metal drill bit or a nail, a block of wood and a hammer
• Orange tissue paper
• Black tape
• Small, battery-operated candles

Directions
1. Coat the insides and outsides of the cans with spray paint. Use several sheer coats of paint for even coverage.
2. With the grease marker, make dots that form one letter of the word “BOO” on each can. Placing the dots in the valleys of the cans’ ridges makes drilling or hammering easier.
3. Clamp the can to a table; use the drill (or a hammer and nail with a block of wood inside the can) to punch holes.
4. Cut squares of tissue paper that are 1/2-inch larger than the punched letters, and tape them inside the can behind the pierced holes of each letter.
5. Illuminate the cans using battery-operated candles.

For your next Halloween party, show up in one of these popular costumes. 

Produced and Photographed by Matthew Mead – Country Woman, October/November 2017

Creepy Cottage

What You’ll Need

• Ceramic house
• Black matte spray paint
• Acrylic paints
• Hollow carvable foam pumpkin
• Battery-operated mini LED light string
• Fairy garden bench
• Spice jar lids, optional
• Moss
• Paintbrushes
• Drill
• Glue gun

Directions
1. Spray-paint ceramic house. Dry thoroughly. Using acrylic paints, paint house details, if desired. Paint pumpkin interior using acrylic paint; let dry thoroughly before adding any additional details.
2. Using ¼-in. drill bit, drill a hole in the back of the pumpkin near the bottom. Insert light string through hole and spread lights on the floor.
3. Arrange house and bench inside pumpkin. Glue to the floor, using jar lids underneath to add height if needed. Glue moss to floor and around the jar lids.

Craft by Christina Spalatin – Country Woman, October/November 2017

Yarn Pumpkins

Getting a head start on your DIY Halloween decorations is the best way to save time. But you can also save money by making cheap Halloween decorations like this yarn pumpkin created by Debbie from One Little Project. Her step-by-step instructions will show you just how easy DIY Halloween décor can be.

Monster Rocks

If you’re in need of really cheap Halloween decorations, look no further than your front yard. Creating Halloween monster rocks is the perfect DIY Halloween decoration if you have young kids too because all you need is paint, googly eyes, and rocks. This project is so easy that you’ll finish in no time and have time to binge watch the scariest Halloween movies ever made.

Pool Noodle Witch Legs

Who said that pool noodles were only useful during the hot summer season? Gina, AKA East Coast Mommy, shows you the most creative way to turn your everyday summer toy into cheap Halloween decorations that instantly make your house festive for the fall. Check out her blog for the easiest instructions you’ll ever find for DIY Halloween décor.

Floating Cheesecloth Ghost

Make your house spookier than ever with these cloth ghosts that you can hang practically anywhere. Everyone will think you bought these at the store when really they’re just cheap Halloween decorations you made yourself! Here are all the materials you’ll need and how to make them.

Floating Witch Hat Luminaries

Trick-or-treaters only stop by houses that are lit up. But if you want to do more than just turn your front porch light on, try making these light-up witch hats. You don’t need anything expensive because cheap Halloween decorations work just as well. Your house will look like it belongs to the Sanderson Sisters in no time.

Halloween Candy Door Hanger

If you’re not going to be home on Halloween night because you’re taking your kids trick-or-treating but you still want to hand out candy, here is your solution. This is one of the cheap Halloween decorations on this list that involves a tool that might not be the most kid friendly, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help write the message on the chalkboard! Get your full tutorial for this DIY Halloween décor from Cherished Bliss. Even after Halloween, there are clever ways to use your extra candy.

Sugar Skull Wreath

Bring together the U.S. Halloween holiday with the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead holiday to create one of easiest DIY Halloween decorations ever. All of the materials you need can easily be found in your local craft store. Worried about creating that detailed skull? Don’t worry, there’s a free template you can print out from The Crafted Sparrow. Did you know that sugar skulls are a key symbol in Dia de Muertos? Here are 10 more Day of the Dead facts that might surprise you.

Ghost Piñatas

Who said that Halloween candy could only be stored in orange jack-o-lanterns? Stephanie from Make and Tell puts a spooky twist on a typical birthday party favor making it the perfect Halloween party decoration. These ghosts are so friendly they’re just waiting for all the trick-or-treaters to open them up and get some tasty candy. Did you know that even Disney World gets a spooky makeover for Halloween?

Halloween Spider Web Placemats

Here’s one of the DIY Halloween decorations that might excite adults more than kids. This DIY spider web placemat instantly amps up your Halloween party without you needing to spend more money. All you need is black puffy paint, wax paper, invisible tape, and the step-by-step tutorial from Delia Creates. Wanna save a few bucks on your Halloween costume? Check out these cheap and punny DIY Halloween costumes.