Halloween Outdoor Makeover…Spooky

Window Webs

Black ribbon, yarn, and a little strategic weaving are all it takes to add shadowy webs to your front windows.

Simple Spiders

Some of the easiest crafting projects are the most effective. These magnificently monstrous spiders are easily created from foam balls, black spray paint, and chenille stems.

Happily Haunting Entry

The walk to the front door takes on a pumpkin-patch look when pumpkins are stacked and displayed in towering arrangements lining the walkway.

Potted Pumpkins

Summer blooms may have faded, but don’t winterize the decorative planters yet. Urns and planters make a perfect base for pumpkin topiaries; embellish the towers with bits of garden moss tucked around the pumpkins.

Sensational Stacks

Use wooden dowels (in Halloween colors, of course) to securely stack pumpkins into formation. Opt for artificial pumpkins if you plan to reuse your towering masterpieces next year.

Raven Roost

Kick the live birds out for a few days and transform your rustic birdbath into a perch for pumpkins. Tufts of garden moss help keep the pumpkin stable. Although we’ve chosen to paint a raven here, you could choose any number of eerie silhouettes for your outdoor display: black cat, bat, witch, or spider (to name a few).

Ghostly Garage

Think of your  garage door as a gigantic canvas upon which you can place a multitude of Halloween images. This temporary artwork is made from removable black cloth tape in 2-inch and 3-inch widths, and black crafts-foam sheets cut into the desired spooky shapes. Simply use loops of tape to press the silhouettes into place on the garage door.

Window Spooky

Cover your front windows in black paper that’s been cut with a spooky design. When the lights are on inside, the designs will show in spooky splendor.

Carved Up

A few days before Halloween, plan an evening of pumpkin carving. If you have a lot of pumpkins, consider leaving some uncarved to use as decorations until Thanksgiving.

Honey, Who’s that Guy on the Porch?

Our pumpkin-head person was created with old clothes stuffed with fiberfill (or hay). The pumpkin head should be elevated on a pole or shelf so that the creature remains upright.

Words to Scare By

Setting these cautionary pumpkins on your front steps or along a walkway ensures that only the bravest trick-or-treaters will make their way to your door. Use a battery-powered light to produce a glowing orb.

Come In and Sit a Spell

Guests will feel right at home with this friendly invitation — until they realize they’ve been bewitched! Use a spooky Halloween font like “Chiller” or “Jokerman” to stencil the words on wood-patterned paper. To decorate concrete steps, affix the phrase with double-stick removable poster tape. (NOTE: be sure to use outdoor paints for this project.)

The Witch Is In

No self-respecting witch goes anywhere without her broom. Let trick-or-treaters know she’s home with a sign make from a precut wood plaque and a gold glitter paint pen. Create a ghoulish broom by adding green raffia or dried grasses to one end of a weathered stick. Cinch an old leather belt around the end and this witch’s broom is ready to take flight.

Hay, Anybody Home?

Bales of hay and plenty of pumpkins add just the right seasonal touch to a large front porch. Vary the pumpkin colors, sizes, and shapes to add interest, and don’t forget to include a few pots of colorful mums.

Scary Fun Details

Add a scary ghost cutout to nearly any fall wreath to turn it into a spooky Halloween decoration. A family of white ghosts perch on painted black twigs, while over the door a pair of blackbirds wait for unsuspecting trick-or-treaters.

Ghostly Halloween Greeters

This cheerful ghost family will greet trick-or-treaters at your door.

Colorful Halloween Wreath

A grapevine wreath accented with spray-painted glass balls and a spying crow guards the front door. Traditional Halloween colors — black and orange with a touch of gold — would work just as well.

Pumpkin Rug

Transform a jute rug into a seasonally appropriate doormat by transferring freehand-drawn shapes from newsprint templates to create stencils and then applying interior-exterior spray paint, which won’t fade.

Enter If You Dare

A grapevine wreath with spray-painted glass balls and a spying crow guards the front door. Traditional Halloween colors — black and orange — would work just as well.

Cemetery Markers

Though you could create wood or foam grave markers, these pumpkin versions are infinitely more creative. Create a design on a computer, then print out and enlarge as needed before carving into a fresh or faux pumpkin.

Kid-Friendly Vignette

Perfect for a children’s party, these non-frightening pumpkins stack up to create a fanciful look with masks, hats, ears, and a cape.

Bucket Luminarias

Illuminate your Halloween path with these rustic tin pails that will spook and delight all trick-or-treaters.

Eerie Luminarias

Light the path to your haunted mansion with these clever milk jug luminarias.

Haunted House Ghosts

Silky fabric ghosts hung at different heights with fishing line wave eerily in the breeze, and a scattering of white pumpkins lines the porch steps.