Best “Boo” on the Block: Fun Halloween Decorations and Crafts
Tempaper & Co.
Make your home the best spot for celebrating Halloween! These eerie-sistible party themes, decorations and crafts will make Halloween a smashing success.
Table of Contents
A Bat-iful Bash
Make the inside of your home just as eerie as the outdoors with removable wall decals from Tempaper & Co. Set a sinister scene with this colony of bats and a full moon decal, available in gold or silver.
Up the creep factor on chocolate cupcakes with this batty recipe from Betty Crocker. After baking and frosting cupcakes, you’ll need chocolate wafer cookies, mini sandwich cookies, white icing and candy eyes to top the dessert with a cute critter.
Glue Sticks & Gumdrops
Who knew bats could be so cute?! Create a colony of bats with your kids for indoor décor with No-Carve Bat Pumpkins from Glue Sticks & Gumdrops. You’ll need small- or medium-sized pumpkins, black acrylic paint, paintbrushes, googly eyes and black construction paper.
Display Haunted Hill Farm’s Rattan Bats for a creepy touch. These bats feature natural twigs around a wire frame with purple LED lights for different ways to hang them, whether they’re on your porch or in your front yard.
Chilled to the Bone
Go next-level with your outdoor decorations – start with poseable skeletons from your local craft or big box store and see where your imagination takes you. They could be relaxing on a hammock, sitting around a pretend campfire or even sailing the high seas in a pirate ship.
Decorate your mantel with the animated vampire and werewolf skeleton figurines from Target. Both have glowing eyes, sound and movement that will have kids giggling.
justaddconfetti.com
thefrugalnavywife.com
Scary-but-silly skeleton faces will tickle kids’ funny bones. Cut two notches from a paper plate, then cut across the bottom to make the lower jaw. Add eyes with a black marker and cut a nose from one of the extra pieces. Use a hole punch to make holes on the jaw and nose areas, and “lace” the pieces together with black yarn. Find instructions at thefrugalnavywife.com.
These bony “skeleton” treats make great party favors! Make the head with a marshmallow and draw a face with black candy melts or an edible marker. Push it into the end of a treat stick. Fill the stick with white chocolate-covered pretzels and hold them in place with a mini marshmallow. Find full directions and a printable tag at justaddconfetti.com.
Scary-but-silly skeleton faces will tickle kids’ funny bones. Cut two notches from a paper plate, then cut across the bottom to make the lower jaw. Add eyes with a black marker and cut a nose from one of the extra pieces. Use a hole punch to make holes on the jaw and nose areas as shown, and “lace” the pieces together with black yarn. Find instructions at thefrugalnavywife.com.
Home Depot
Witchy Wonders
To light up your walkway, buy Home Depot’s Pathway Lights with Black Broom.
Set up a witchy display for trick-or-treaters. Set up wicked witches with this décor idea from Chas’ Crazy Creations. You’ll need black trash bags, tomato cages, plastic pumpkins, twine, LED lights and witch’s hats. On Halloween night, fill a cauldron with candy for trick-or-treaters. Consider purchasing a fog machine for an extra creepy atmosphere.
Wilton
Serve these Halloween Witch Hat Cookies from Wilton for a sweet treat! First, prepare the cake mix following your recipe. Using a baking rack for cones, place them on a cookie sheet. Fill the cones with two tablespoons of the cake batter and bake according to instructions. After cooling, use black food coloring spray to spray the cones. Let dry for 10-15 minutes. Decorate the cones using chocolate sandwich cookies and icing to create the brims of the hat, ribbons and buckles.
Decorate and entertain your kids with this game idea from Skip to my Lou. Purchase or make witch hats. To play, place small, matching items or candy underneath each of the hats, and using their memory, kids have to match the items.
Thrift Diving
Ghost Spook-tacular
Illuminate your porch with these cute light-up ghosts – they’re made with upcycled materials! Attach a Styrofoam ball to the top of an old tomato cage. Wrap the cage with a string of white lights and drape with an old sheet. Use fabric paint to add some ghostly features.
Real Creative Real Organized
For more DIY ghostly décor, make these fun hanging ghosts. Draw a ghost shape on an empty can and punch holes around the outline. Paint the can white, then outline the ghost again in black marker. Glue lengths of ribbon around the bottom of the can and attach string for hanging. A battery powered tea light adds a glowing effect. Find directions at realcreativerealorganized.com.
For quick ghost-themed entertainment, play a game of tic-tac-BOO! Use the free card printable at aliceandlois.com, or draw a grid on cardstock and use candy pumpkins and corn as markers.
Kids can help make these frightfully easy ghost cookies. Dip peanut butter sandwich cookies in white candy melts and place on waxed paper. Add two mini chocolate chips and let the ghosts stand until set. Find more ideas at pillsbury.com.
Porch Daydreamer
Oh My Gourd-ness
Combine the beauty of autumn and the fun of Halloween with this no-carve idea from Porch Daydreamer. Using colored construction paper or preserved leaves, you’ll attach them to pumpkins with Mod Podge. Use plastic pumpkins for a craft you can display year after year, or paint a real pumpkin black or white to really make the leaves stand out.
Light the way for your visitors with these Black Metal Trick Or Treat Luminary LED Light Up Décor from World Market. Or try it for yourself. Make it a fun craft activity with your kids by decorating and cutting out paper bags and placing battery operated tea lights inside.
The Best Ideas for Kids
Involve your kids in decorating with this pretty pumpkin craft. You’ll need wax paper, cardstock, crayons, a sharpener or grater, hair dryer, glue and tape. This Melted Crayon Pumpkin Suncatcher is a cute decoration and allows your kids to show off their creativity. Find instructions at thebestideasforkids.com
Decorate mini bundt cakes to resemble pumpkins with help from Love From The Oven. These adorable desserts call for a mini bundt cake pan, spice cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, orange and green food coloring, chocolate chips and wafer cookies.
– Emily Webb and Mary Williams
