Tack Nails for the Cardboard Back of a Mirror

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71 Easy Halloween Crafts You Can DIY to Haunt Your Home This Season

They're easy, fun, and just a little bit spooky. 👻

Brian Woodcock

While you'll need an easy DIY Halloween costume to great trick-or-treaters on Halloween—your house can also use a little bling! These easy Halloween crafts, for adults and kids, will help you deck out your front door, porch, living room, and front steps just in time for the spookiest night of the year. In preparation for your Halloween party, we'll show you how to get in the spirit (Halloween pun fully intended) and how to make wickedly wonderful homemade decor ideas like decorative pillows, skull-shaped planters, Harry Potter-inspired crafts, and a spectral mirror that looks straight out of Snow White.

There's no need to go overboard with the fear factor though. Feel free to choose a "scare level" that feels right for you! If you've got kids, you'll be glad to know that we've got tons of tamer ideas for the younger trick-or-treating crowd. Pretty painted pumpkins, for instance, will keep everyone happy, while a black cat garland, simply made with paper, is a stunning Halloween mantel idea. There are also elegant pumpkin ideas, try bittersweet wrapped, that will look great as a Fall table centerpiece.

For the not-so-faint-of-heart though, it's time to get spooky! Turn framed family photos into ghostly displays by swapping everyone's eyes for creepy lights, or turn your door into a pair of "morgue doors." And don't forget about your porch: Extend the eerie ambience with outdoor Halloween decorations, easy DIY Halloween wreaths, paper lanterns, a swarm of felt bats, and spiderweb doormats. There's truly a project here for every room in the house—we've even got bug-infused bars of soap for the bathroom! Here's to creating a haunted home worthy of your local Halloween festival.

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Fern Covered Pumpkins

Super sweet, these ready-in-no-time pumpkins just require two materials to make—fern leaves and glue. Voila, almost instant crafts!

To make: Clip an assortment of fern fronds. Coat backs of fronds with adhesive spray, and attach to white or light-colored pumpkins as desired.

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Silvered Leaves Pumpkin

These DIY shimmering leaves look great on blue-hued or green pumpkins such as Jarrahdale, Blue Doll, Blue Moon, and Fairytale.

To make: Attach silver leaf with sizing to one side of fake or real leaves (alternatively, you can spray paint leaves silver). Once dry, spray adhesive spray on the back of the leaves and attach to pumpkins.

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Faux-Bois Pumpkin

Lightly sketch a faux-bois pattern on a pumpkin using a pencil. ("Faux bois" refers to the artistic interpretation of wood and wood grain.) Use a linoleum carving tool to etch out the pattern.

Once complete, paint the unetched part of the pumpkin with black acrylic paint, which will allow the intricate pattern to pop. Tip: Should you accidentally get any paint in the etched grain, you can remove it with the carving tool once dry.

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Wall of Clocks and Keys

Time's a ticking! Take a cue from the first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock, and deck the walls with new, vintage, and DIY'd clocks and keys. (Psst: Can you spot the ones made of paper?)

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Wreaths of Bittersweet

For a simple centerpiece, wrap pumpkins with bittersweet vines, holding in place with T-pins and hot-glue. If you can't find bittersweet, use lengths of grapevine and attach berries or wooden beads with hot-glue.

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Night Sky Pumpkins

Set a sweet scene with a trio of night sky themed pumpkins

To make:

Harvest Moon: Cut a hole in the bottom of a medium heirloom pumpkin; scoop out the pulp and seeds. Cut a round opening in the front of the pumpkin. Cut a piece of white vellum paper that is just larger than the hole and draw the craters of the moon on it with a gray paint pen. Center the vellum to the inside of the pumpkin and attach it with straight pins. Attach a few lengths of twine around the opening with hot glue. Wrap a bundle of dry wheat or grass with twine and attach to the pumpkin with hot glue.

Crescent Corn Moon: Cut out a crescent moon shape from a piece of cardboard. Remove the kernels from a few ears of flint corn and attach to cardboard with hot glue. Glue a piece of colorful twine around the edge of the moon to cover up the cardboard. Glue a loop of twine to the back of the cardboard and loop around the stem of a pumpkin to hang.

Stars and Constellations: Cut a hole in the bottom of a medium heirloom pumpkin; scoop out the pulp and seeds. Lightly draw constellation shapes with a pencil. Using an electric drill with a small drill bit or awl drill main points along the constellations. Thread orange waxed twine between the points with a large eye sewing needle. Use a large and medium drill bit to create single stars and a linoleum carving tool to create start bursts.

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Vintage Wrapper Pumpkins

Believe it or not, all you need to make these creative candy pumpkins is a bit of Mod Podge and a few printed vintage wrappers. They're just the thing to decorate your front porch and delight trick-or-treaters with.

Make the Pumpkins: Print copies of candy labels from Pinterest; cut into 1-inch strips. Attach to pumpkins using Mod Podge, working to line up the design as best as possible.

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Leafy Lantern Pumpkins

The icons of fall, leaves and pumpkins, come together in these projects that are sure to delight trick-or-treaters and guests this holiday season.

To make:

Stained Glass Leaf: Cut a hole in bottom of a pumpkin; scoop out pulp and seeds. Draw a leaf; etch veining, and cut out between veins using a pumpkin-carving knife. Attach glassine paper inside with push pins. Add a battery-operated candle.

Oversize Leaf: Draw an oversize leaf and cut out. Scoop out pulp and seeds. Place a pillar candle in opening.

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Natural Leaf Pumpkins

A trip to the yard and a few easy to find craft supplies are all you'll need to create these fall colored beauties.

Fall Lettering: Attach leaves, in a wreath shape, to a pumpkin with flat head push pins. Use a pencil to lightly draw the word fall on a small wood round. Attach thin leather cording or twine over the drawing with hot glue. Hot glue wood round to the pumpkin over the center of the leaves.

Cascading Leaves: Attach leaves, in a cascading pattern from top to bottom, with spray adhesive.

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Silhouette Party Buffet

Cawing crows, hooting owls, and creepy hands—all cut from black paper—flutter about this creepy silhouette-themed party.

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DIY Morgue Door Decorations

Morgue drawers or front doors? Here's an idea that's nearly as creepy as your post-trick-or-treating movie marathon.

Craft the Doors: Attach three precut 20- by 30-inch pieces of foam core together with spray adhesive. Attach a piece of black paper, cut to size, to the top piece of foam core using spray adhesive. Insert the rectangular piece of two 6-inch stainless steel T-hinges between the first and second pieces of foam core on one of the short sides; "screw" in place. Place a 6 1/2-inch handle on the opposite side; "screw" in place. Cover exposed edges of the foam core with silver duct tape, folding any excess to the back. Make two more doors. Adhere to house door with heavy-duty self-adhesive Velcro. Cut five coffin shapes from black and gray kraft paper. Paint letters on gray coffins with red acrylic paint to spell "morgue" and attach to black coffins with double-sided tape. Hang a plastic chain above the door and attach coffin cutouts with hot-glue.

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Book Page Covered Pumpkins

Pages from spooky books make spooky pumpkins!

Make the Pumpkins: Copy or tear pages from spooky books (we used Nancy Drew novels). Tear into 1-inch strips. Attach strips to pumpkins with Mod Podge; allow to dry completely.

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Black Ribbon Halloween Wreath

Witchy and welcoming all at once, this all-black wreath will be a hit at your annual Halloween party. And is there anything more sophisticated than monochrome accent?

Make the Wreath: Cut 150 6-inch-long strips of 2-inch-wide black grosgrain ribbon. Fold the strips in half and attach them to a 16-inch foam wreath form with straight pins, layering them on top of each other to create a ruffle effect. Cut out a silhouette of a witch from black kraft paper. Attach it to the center of a 16-inch round clear piece of acrylic with double-sided tape. Hot-glue the edges of the acrylic round to the back of the wreath form. Finish with a bow with long tails.

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DIY Book Doors

If you're a bookworm, you'll love this fun craft that doubles as a decor idea. Using construction paper, emblazon your front door with all the most haunting book jackets (think: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow). It's a great way to get kids excited about reading books, too.

Make the Books: Cut long, thin rectangular pieces of differing colored kraft paper or construction paper (we used red, gray, and black). Draw titles of books on the paper. Outline letters with gold paint pens. Fill in outline with paint pen or gold acrylic paint. Attach to door with double-sided tape.

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Spooky Spiderweb Embroidery Hoop Art

Weave an adorable web with this easy DIY that only takes some basic sewing skills and a little hot glue.

Get the tutorial at See Vanessa Craft.

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DIY Halloween Masks Wreath

Just because it's Halloween doesn't mean your crafting adventures need to be scary! This throwback mask wreath is anything but, and yet it's still perfectly on theme for any Halloween event.

Make the Wreath: Source colorful vintage paper masks from websites like Etsy and eBay—you'll need 10 to 15 total. Attach to an 18-inch craft ring with a dab of hot glue, layering and overlapping them as you go.

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Pumpkin Checkers

We love the idea of using pumpkins as game pieces in a classic game of checkers. What better way to kick off a new family game night tradition?

Make the Game: Paint 32 squares on a large (roughly 30-inch) wood board with burnt orange craft paint. Use mini white and orange pumpkins as game pieces.

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DIY Spiderweb Halloween Wreath

An all-white wreath is eerie enough—particularly when it's wrapped with mummy-like ribbon. But it's those tiny faux spiders and intricate twine web that'll really creep out the kids in your neighborhood (in the very best way possible, of course).

Make the Wreath: Tie six pieces of white string across a 14-inch foam wreath form, making sure to loop each one at the midway point of the first piece attached to create a central point. (This is the base of the web and should have 12 "spokes.") Tie a long piece of string to the center point; weave and loop from the center out to create the web. If you run out of string, tie another piece to the end and continue weaving. When you reach the wreath form, tie off at your ending point. Move the twine up and down to create uneven gaps in the web. Wrap the wreath form with white burlap ribbon and attach faux spiders with hot-glue. Loop a piece of white burlap ribbon around the form to hang.

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DIY Halloween Candy Wreath

We're all for any craft that involves candy. This one, which uses old-fashioned treats in autumn-appropriate shades, is particularly beautiful.

Make the Wreath: Gather an assortment of old-fashioned candies in autumnal shades such as yellow, orange, and magenta. Wrap a 14-inch foam wreath form in white ribbon. Attach candy with hot-glue, layering and overlapping as you go. Finish with a yellow burlap bow.

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Not-So-Warm Welcome Wreath

A festive door decoration is definitely something to crow about! Start by painting a grapevine wreath black. Use black wire to secure wood crows and hang on your door with gingham ribbon.

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Witch's Broom Chandelier

This spooky chandelier will bewitch everyone at your Halloween dinner party. To make, start with a broom, then fill mason jars with black sand and black battery-operated tea lights. Attach the jars to the broom with black twine. Finish by adding a sassy faux black cat.

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Bird Cake Toppers

Upgrade your gothic dessert with an extra all-black accessory—DIY cake toppers that resemble crows.

Get the tutorial at The House That Lars Built.

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Crochet Doily Spiderwebs

Spin a web fashioned from beautiful doilies with this easy idea.

Step 1: Loosen screw on embroidery hoop and insert toothpicks between inner and outer hoop, evenly spaced around the circle.

Step 2: Press in the picks until less than an inch is sticking out the front. Break off points in the back.

Step 3: Spray-paint the hoops and toothpicks black. Let dry.

Step 4: Stretch doily over toothpicks until taut. Glue a spider to the "web" or secure a dangling spider to the frame with string.

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Spooky Paper Cutouts

The classic garland graduates from cute craft to creepy decor with our templates for spiders, bones, and skulls.

Step 1: Cut a 5"W x 18"L strip from a 12"W x 18"L sheet of construction paper. Measure in three inches from one of the five-inch ends and mark. From there, measure and mark four more times.

Step 2: Fold paper at the first mark. Then flip over and fold again at the next mark. Keep flipping and folding, making an accordion shape.

Step 3: Print the template of your choice and cut as directed.

Step 4: Center it atop the folded paper, and trace around the shape with a pencil.

Step 5: Carefully cut out the shape, going through all the layers of folded paper, and unfold to reveal. To create a longer row, repeat steps and adhere garlands together with tacky glue.

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Book Bats

Trust us, guests will go batty for this creative book display.

Step 1: Find center of a 300- to 500-page book. Fold 50 pages on each side toward center to create body. Continue folding 50-page sections inward for wings. (Use hot-glue to secure.)

Step 2: Spray-paint black. Insert two long nails in wall, spaced the width of the "wingspan." Place outer folds over nails to display.

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Tissue Paper Ghosts

To bring forth this ghoulish gathering, use glue dots to stick construction-paper eyes and mouths onto white tissue-paper wedding bells, then drape them with cheesecloth.

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No-Carve Raven Pumpkin

A bell jar gives this no-carve specimen the star treatment. Download, print, and cut out our bird or feather template; then trace the out-line onto a pumpkin. Next, use a fine-tip brush to fill in with black flat acrylic paint. Let dry for one hour, then rest the pumpkin on a bed of moss inside a cloche.

Tip: Extend your creation's shelf life by using a faux pumpkin.

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Truly Fine Art

Just as Charlotte's webs attracted admirers, so too will these delicate displays. Using tape or tacks, secure vintage doilies to the open backs of black frames. The white crochet looks especially moody hung on a deep-hued wall.

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Masked Portrait

When prepping for the holiday, don't forget to costume everyone—even folks in paintings and photos. Black construction paper, scissors, and low-tack artists' tape were all it took to ready this blushing bride for a masquerade ball. (Other easy embellishments: red devil horns and white fangs.) Just resist the urge to disguise priceless artwork that's not protected by glass.

Charlyne Mattox Food and Crafts Director Charlyne Mattox is Food and Crafts Director for Country Living.

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Tack Nails for the Cardboard Back of a Mirror

Source: https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g1189/best-halloween-crafts-ever/

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