30 Halloween Decorating Ideas
Webby welcome [1]
Itsy-bitsy spiders and and sparkly webs add easy, spooky style to an entry way or party buffet.
Quick netting To give containers a weblike covering, crisscross strips of black yarn. Adhere with hot glue or glue dots.
Creepy crawlers Spray-paint plastic spiders so they show up against dark surfaces; affix with temporary adhesive.
DIY decals Homemade spider and web decals stuck to mirrors or draped over pumpkins scare with flair. Click here [2] for more details on this project, including free decal templates.
Prop pumpkins [5]
Various-size pumpkins stacked inside lanterns make easy but clever vignettes to place around the house.
Pose some plates [8]
Use a glue stick to secure decorative paper to the center of old plates. Display on existing shelves for a seasonal look.
Lace works [11]
Doilies used as stencils give a lacy look to orange gourds positioned in the entry.
Subtle scene [14]
This serene scene still says halloween with three plastic spiders and ghostly lanterns.
Matte black [17]
Black place settings displayed on the mantel under a black wreath sets an appropriately somber tone.
Orange-and-white centerpiece [20]
White pumpkins encircled by bittersweet vine and set along an orange table runner create a striking table arrangement.
Shining stars [23]
Embellish pumpkins with silver and black items: stickers, fake birds and spiders, pins, paint pens ... . Let your imagination whirl across these living canvases.
Get crafty [26]
Acknowledge the crafter in you by fashioning a dispay of tiny black-and-orange quilts, papier-mâché cats and other knickknacks.
60-Second Video: Halloween decorating inspirations [29]
A few fake spider webs go a long way to “creep-ify” your home, but there are endless ways to take the haunts to the next level. These ideas transform living areas into spooky spaces.
Ribbon wreaths [32]
Sunlight glints off of two foam wreaths wrapped in black ribbon. Hang them from large buttons glued to a valance created from newspaper.
Circle of orange [35]
Attach tiny pumpkins to a moss-covered form for a simple-to-make wreath. A glossy black bow is the finishing touch.
Mummy-look [38]
Fashion a spooky tabletop display that starts with easy-to-make plaster-cloth spheres.
Wrap plaster-cloth strips (from a crafts store) around a balloon, following the directions on the plaster-cloth package. Leave open spaces as you wrap. When dry, remove the balloon and use a crafts knife to cut an opening for inserting the light. Place sphere over an orange or white battery-operated votive. Set your spheres on clear glass cake stands or similar displays.
Set the stage [41]
As master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe makes a natural Halloween muse. Books feature the celebrated author's tales, setting the tone of our party. A vintage typewriter puts an exclamation point on the literary theme.
Clearly classic [44]
Glass vessels and an antique urn take a turn toward the theme of the season with a few touches of black.
Welcome pumpkin [47]
Put together a Halloween outdoor display like this one—featured on the October 2009 cover of Midwest Living®—using a weathered wheelbarrow as a base.
Stuff the bottom of the wheelbarrow with newspaper. Add a mix of pumpkins, gourds, fall leaf branches and bittersweet vines. Paint a friendly message on your pumpkins, if you like.
Get a little corny [50]
White foam painted the colors of candy corn holds dried naturals and artifical crows for a door hanging.
Cast a web [53]
Run a row of paper doilies down the center of the table for the look of webs. Black pumpkins sit below a black-painted chandelier.
Candlelit scene [56]
Candles cast diffused light from lanterns with cutouts or stickers on the glass.
Halloween greeting [59]
Perch an artifical crow on a Spanish moss-wrapped wreath. A pick of orange berries adds a dash of color. Hang it with an appropriately somber ribbon.
Pumpkin table runner [62]
Create a fresh-from-the-patch table runner in just a couple of minutes.
Arrange a line of miniature pumpkins or gourds down the center of the table and weave a ribbon around them. Top this fall decoration with a bittersweet stem.
Flush of orange [65]
A centerpeice of a hat box covered in orange felt and ribbons and filled with orange blooms sets the tone for this holiday table.
Spin a web [68]
Wrapping a foam wreath in orange yarn then black rickrack makes a web for a spider.
A murder of crows [71]
Fake crows crown an elaborate mirror marked with a spooky poem. Their feathers make up a wreath.
Clear message [74]
Black and orange whisper Halloween. The message on the lettered cards spells it out. Black feathers and dried leaves adorn the wreaths. Print out letters on cardstock, then string them together with black ribbon.
Graphic statement [77]
Hang white-painted letters on a vintage ladder in front of a strip of fabric for a season-specific greeting.
Put a spotlight on the decor [80]
Holes cut from a pumpkin shine light on a felt table runner decorated with black cutouts.
Shelving style [83]
A collection of Halloween-theme hat boxes fills shelves while other Halloween accents hang off a curtain rod, decorate a chair and fill a corner.
Flickering fantasy [86]
Cut out a hauting scene from black paper; attach it to foam core for stability. Flickering votives cast an eerie glow. Set the display out on the mantle, in the entry or as a centerpiece.
Candles with a message [89]
White-ball pins transform plain pillar candles into Halloween messages.
Where black cats roam [92]
Long thought of as bad luck, black cats inject good fortune into this living room.
Eerie feel [95]
A homemade bat (made from black poster board) gives Halloween flair to this wall sconce. The mirror reflects a black candlestick and candle, while books wrapped in decorative paper add contrast.
