Easy Halloween Decorating Ideas for the Home and Yard

Ghouls and ghosts and goblins galore! October is right around the corner, and that means Halloween will be creeping up too. Get the whole family involved in fun, seasonal house cleaning and Halloween decorating during the month of October. From fresh autumn inspiration to easy do-it-yourself ideas and holiday-specific decor, there’s endless possibilities to spread Halloween spirit around your home and garden.

Interior Halloween House Decorating Tips

Cobwebs, cobwebs and more cobwebs can create an old time, spooky feel. Spread the webs from corners of book shelves, bed posts, fire places, picture frames and lamps.

Decorate your front door, wall space, kitchen area or windows with festive Halloween stickers. Stick, place and peel off later.

Can’t be inspired to carve a pumpkin? Kids to young to use knives? Make a pumpkin “tree” by stacking pumpkins in the shape of a tree on a book shelf and then paint or use a permanent marker to color in the silhouette of a tree on pumpkins from shelf to shelf. Another option is to spray pumpkins with metallic spray paint if you are knife adverse.

Usher in the smells of the Halloween fall season with scented black and orange candles.

Add an autumn centerpiece, store-bought or homemade, to your dining room table or breakfast nook.

Weatherproof Yard-tastic Inspiration

Hardware and craft stores sell Halloween or hearty, autumn wreaths that you can hang from your doors, chairs, lamp posts or porches.

Buy spooky signs, or make your own, and stake into your lawn, hang from trees or place on front porch steps.

Cover ordinary  yard lanterns with bed sheets or clear plastic material to make ghostly lanterns fit for Halloween.

Use fake cobwebs, stretchy white snow leftover from Christmas or white crepe paper to mummify rocking chairs, benches, swings or outdoor furniture.

Creative DIY Ideas for Crafty Creatures

String mini gourds onto a line or ribbon for a fresh, seasonal take on twinkle lights.

Carve out pumpkins and use them as flower pots with colorful, autumn arrangements placed inside the center.

Carve out, paint up or glue on Halloween inspired details to make creative jack-o’-lanterns.

Make that wheelbarrow work for you! Stake out a spot in your yard, fill the wheelbarrow with black dirt and place a few fake bones, skeletons or skulls amidst the soil.

On the Cheap for Frugal Frankensteins

Even if you don’t have a huge budget for Halloween, you can use common household items to Halloween-ify your home. White trash bags or white sheets can be hung from ceiling hooks or trees with a bit of rope to make ghosts.

Wrap white napkins around lollipops with orange or black ribbon to make a fun ghosty trick-or-treat handout.

Cardboard boxes or scrap cardboard can be cut into the shape of grave stones. Decorate the cardboard, if you have time, with paint or spray paint, write eulogies or poems, dust with some cobwebs or better yet, place the tombstones out in advance near to each other in time for real cobwebs to form!

Want to take your tombstone to the next level? Rake up some dried leaves into what looks to be a freshly dug mound in front of your tombstone. Place old shoes at the foot of the leaf grave and voila! Instant creep factor.

What about good old fashion toilet paper? Wrap around porch columns or mummify any lawn ornaments. Just watch out when it rains!