Better Homes And Gardens Large Melamine Bowls

halloween twig wreath with web

Credit: Marty Baldwin

These easy outdoor Halloween decor ideas are guaranteed to cast a spooky spell over the whole neighborhood. Each easy Halloween decoration is made for your front door, porch, sidewalk, or yard and can weather the cold or rain.

Raven Front Porch

front porch with tree and ravens

Credit: Adam Albright

Black birds and a classic monochromatic color scheme mean this eerie entrance is ready for Halloween. Hang artificial crows from fishing line and use removable adhesive hooks to attach them to the front door. Use our free template to cut a tree from flexible contact paper but be sure to check on the door's edge to make sure the paint doesn't peel off when you remove the contact paper. Finish your Halloween front porch with mums, faux pumpkins, and lanterns.

Stacked Pumpkin Tower

stacked pumpkins with string art

Credit: Carson Downing

Spell it out! This Halloween pumpkin decoration is made with string art, faux pumpkins, and glittery spiders. Create your string art and add faux spiders to a trio of pumpkins. Glue them together, place in a plain grapevine wreath ($6, Michaels), and fill in gaps with dried moss.

Cold Hands Wreath

silver skeleton hands wreath

Credit: Jacob Fox

You've heard of cold feet, but how about cold hands? This wreath is simple to make but stands out among other Halloween door decorations. Paint a collection of plastic skeleton hands with metallic spray paint ($7, Michaels), then mount to the edges of a chalkboard base. If desired, write a spooky message in the middle.

Black and White Pumpkins

black and white string art pumpkins

Credit: Scott Little

Black is the new orange! Make these pretty Halloween porch decorations by painting around a stencil on a real or faux pumpkin, then outline the stencil shape with crafts nails. Weave string in and around the nails to create a spiderweb effect.

Scary Spider Webs

front porch with spider webs and pumpkins

Credit: Carson Downing

Attack of the giant spiders! These Halloween yard decorations are oversized and perfect for decking out your front porch. Made with braided yarn, these large faux spiderwebs can be reused year after year. We can even show you how to make your own giant spider decorations to go with the webs.

Giant Halloween Spiders

white house with giant spiders on facade

Credit: Jay Wilde

These huge DIY spiders are bone-chilling when hung with twine, wire, and exterior adhesive hooks. Nearly seven feet across, these gargantuan creates will turn your home into a house of horrors. Make them with faux fur, black foam tubes, and half sphere wire forms from a florist's supply shop.

Daunting Garland

black painted leaf garland on column

Credit: Cameron Sadeghpour

Classic fall foliage looks less friendly when it's painted an unnatural shade. Black spray paint ($4, Target) transforms basic leaf garlands into eerie Halloween outdoor decorations. Wrap them around a banister, porch rail, or pillar.

Quoth the Raven

halloween pumpkins and raven skeleton

Credit: Brie Williams

Make a pile of pumpkins a little scarier with faux animal skeletons. This raven, for example, contrasts well with a pile of pretty painted pumpkins. Set up your display at the base of a planter or on a porch step.

Outdoor Paper Lanterns

Halloween Lanterns

These outdoor Halloween luminaries are so simple—and the kids will love helping with this project. Decorate an assortment of paper bags with stickers, paint, tape, and vinyl, then arrange them on the front porch or line them up your driveway to welcome trick-or-treaters. Choose battery-operated tea lights for worry-free lighting on Fright Night.

Talking Pumpkins

stacked black pumpkins with silver letters

Credit: Scott Little

Let your Halloween outdoor decorations talk back. These stylish pumpkins were painted a sleek black, then lettered with metallic sheets and decorative tacks. Stack pumpkins horizontally or vertically to spell out spooky sayings.

Halloween Doormat

diy doormat with boo stenciled letters

Credit: Carson Downing

Use our free printable stencils to create a DIY Halloween doormat that's perfect for greeting trick-or-treaters. Halloween pumpkin decorations go way beyond carving with this boo-tiful fall porch decoration.

Halloween Farmhouse Porch

farmhouse porch with mice and sign

Credit: Adam Albright

Typically inviting farmhouse style takes an unnerving turn with a mass of mischievous mice and a ghostly greeting that says it all. Don't let the natural country charm fool you; this particular porch screams, "Beware!" A few metallic elements add a touch of chic to this country scene.

Editor's Tip: Keep the ladder, corn stalks, and pumpkins but replace letters and mice with pretty fall decor so this setting can greet guests when Thanksgiving rolls around.

Batty Wreath

chevron burlap halloween bat wreath

Credit: Jacob Fox

This festive Halloween wreath is the perfect blend of spooky and stylish. Orange chevron ribbon dresses up a basic straw wreath (from $3, Michaels), but the real star is a trio of glittery bats perched on the bottom. Hang using patterned burlap ribbon.

Wooden Spider Wreath

twig wreath with bead spider decor

Credit: Carson Downing

This creepy-crawly Halloween spider wreath is made with plain wooden beads. A quick coat of black spray paint transforms it into a scary spider. Add the spooky creature to your fall front door and prepare for the screams!

Bird-Theme Entry

gated entryway with faux ravens

Credit: Adam Albright

One bird: Not a big deal. A whole flock of them? Well, that's a scary Halloween yard decoration. Assemble a collection of faux ravens arranged in a variety of poses on your fence, porch banister, deck railing—even your roofline! Secure with cable ties and black duct tape.

Rat Silhouettes

house entrance with rat silhouettes

Credit: Adam Albright

Think of the spooked responses from passersby when a crowd of whiskered pests marches up your front walk. Trace an oversized rat outline on a large piece of paper, then transfer to plywood. Cut out the rats, sand, and paint them black. Screw vertically aligned U-brackets ($2, Lowe's) to the back of each rat. Prop up each rat by slipping the U-bracket over a plant stake pushed into the ground.

Spiderweb Doormat

diy spiderweb doormat near door

Credit: Jay Wilde

Ensnare trick-or-treaters with this crafty Halloween porch decoration that resembles a spiderweb. To make, cut a 3x4-foot lightweight black mat into a 36-inch-diameter circle using heavy shears. With chalk, draw a spiderweb design onto the mat. Cut clothesline into pieces to fit your design, and singe the ends of each piece to prevent fraying. Use heavy-duty white glue to attach the clothesline pieces over the chalk lines.

Pumpkin-Decorated Arrival

rustic doorway with wreath and pumpkins

Credit: Edmund Barr

You can display outside Halloween decorations without going to great lengths to be scary. Pumpkins—the most treasured symbol of the season—used to be bland and basic, but new types and shapes add visual and graphic texture. Stack several pumpkins on top of each other to create a no-carve pumpkin display; accent with potted seasonal flowers and tall dried cornstalks. For a little bit of an eerie vibe, add a faux raven or large spider.

Oversize Bat Decorations

bat decorated home exterior with pumpkins on steps

Credit: Jason Donnelly

These larger-than-life DIY outdoor Halloween bats are a fun and easy way to decorate your home for the season—and the winged creatures are actually easier to make than they look! They're made from plastic hangers, pipe foam insulation, and black trash bags, which also makes them a budget-friendly craft.

Flying Bat Display

foam-core bats assembled on limbs

Credit: Adam Albright

Ominously animate your Halloween yard with colonies of airborne bats. Enlarge and trace our bat patterns onto black foam-core board and cut out; poke two holes into each bat for black cable ties to hold it onto a branch. Stick tall limbs into the ground or into sand-filled buckets. Place the largest bats high on the branches and smaller ones toward the bottom, making sure each cable tie is tight. Keep the Halloween theme going throughout the house with more fun DIY bat crafts.

Spooky Candle Urn

foam painted tapers craft with battery candles

Credit: Jason Donnelly

Turn the spook factor up a notch on your Halloween front porch decor with this DIY black candle urn. Made with foam pipe tubes and battery-operated tea light candles, they're easy to assemble. Plus, since they use battery-operated candles, you don't have to worry about the candles sparking a flame.

Upside-Down Witch Halloween Urn

upside-down witch's legs in urn

Credit: Bob Greenspan

This easy-to-make Halloween porch decoration looks like a wayward witch landed headfirst in a moss-filled urn. To recreate this DIY witch decor, dress bendable mannequin legs in striped hose and buckled shoes. Place upside down in a tall urn filled with reindeer moss ($8, Michaels) by your front door.

Skeleton-Adorned Porch

front porch with posed skeletons

Credit: Jason Donnelly

Give your visitors a frightful hello with a welcome from these bare-boned greeters. Pose several Halloween skeleton decorations on the porch and on the roof, securing them with fishing line. Add props as appropriate to your Halloween aesthetic—scary or whimsical.

Toxic Spill and Insects

bottle with spilled glue and insects

Credit: Adam Albright

Poisonous it is not: This "puddle"—meant to look like a toxic spill—is actually hardened white glue ($2, Walmart). Outline a desired shape on a melamine sheet; fill in with glue and let dry. Using a font of your choice, create a "poison" label and attach to an empty bottle. Remove the dried glue puddle from the melamine, place it and the bottle where desired. Attach plastic insects with more glue. Add this scary Halloween decoration to your front porch, deck, or stairs.

Spooky Garage Door Decor

garage door with black vinyl silhouettes

Scary Halloween decorations should start with your garage door! The key to creating this scary scene is a combination of black vinyl ($2, Michaels) and card stock. Turn on your Halloween lights so the zombies glow during the night.

Mummy Hands Wreath

mummy hands wreath with webbing

Credit: Carson Downing

Halloween wreaths don't have to be complicated to make! A simple masking tape technique is all it takes to create a pair of spooky mummy hands. Add them to a plain grapevine wreath and finish with faux spiders and webbing.

Candy Corn Front Porch

candy corn wreaths on front door

Credit: Adam Albright

A fun color palette and playful vibe suggest a handful of yum is most certainly just a knock away. Greet trick-or-treaters with this bright Halloween front door. Make your own wreaths by wrapping foam forms with yarn. Add our free printed message to set the scene.

Editor's Tip: Make the stacked candy corn displays! Simply remove the stems from three faux pumpkins, then drill holes in the bottom and top of two and the bottom of the third. Paint then slide onto a dowel set in floral foam.

Carved Craft Pumpkin

How to Carve a Craft Pumpkin

Credit: Matthew Clark

Use one of our free pumpkin carving patterns to carve a craft pumpkin to add to your Halloween decor. It's just as easy (maybe even easier!) as carving a real pumpkin, but you don't have to worry about these pumpkins rotting—so you can display it year after year.

Monster Garland

Colorful paper lantern monster garland on wood wall

Credit: Matthew Clark

Whether you're throwing a Halloween party or just decorating your home for the season, this colorful monster garland is easy enough that anyone can make it. Assemble a garland of paper lanterns ($11, Michaels) and use hot glue to attach oversize eyes and paper monster mouths.

Snakes Under the Doormat

doormat with creepy rubber snacks

Credit: Adam Albright

Guests will step back in fear, thanks to a slithering mass of snakes. Spray-paint rubber snakes ($3, Party City) glossy black. Create various lengths of snakes by cutting them in two; arrange at the edge of thick plastic-foam board and glue to the edges. Set the board underneath a doormat.

Spiderweb Wreath

diy embroidery hoop spiderweb wreath

Credit: Cameron Sadeghpour

Easy-to-find supplies and a few minutes are all it takes to create this elegant, holiday-theme wreath. Cut enough spiderweb fabric to cover an embroidery hoop; secure with hot glue. Attach a plastic spider with another dab of hot glue; tie a bow made from black ribbon and hang.

Bat-and-Cat Garage Door Design

bat, cat, and fence garage door decor

Credit: Jason Wilde

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

Yarn-Ball Wreath

halloween spider wreath with yarn

Credit: Jay Wilde

Kids can help create this whimsical, colorful wreath with a hidden surprise—spiders! Start by assembling materials: 40 to 50 plastic-foam balls (1 inch, 1½ inches, and 2 inches wide); fuzzy black and plain black, green, purple, and orange yarn; a 12-inch medium-density fiberboard (MDF) wreath form; seven 12-inch-long black chenille stems; and googly eyes. Wrap and cover one large, two medium, and two small plastic-foam balls with fuzzy black yarn, using hot glue to secure. (These will be your spiders.) Wrap the remaining plastic-foam balls with the black, green, purple, and orange yarn. Tie four lengths of black yarn to the wreath, spaced evenly, to create eight spokes. Weave a continuous spiral with a long length of black yarn to create a spiderweb. Hot-glue the yarn-covered balls to the wreath, then attach the fuzzy yarn balls. Cut the chenille to create legs (eight 3-inch pieces for the large spider, sixteen 2-inch pieces for the medium spiders, and sixteen 1-½-inch pieces for the small spiders); insert into the yarn balls and bend to form legs and feet. Hot-glue the spiders to the yarn balls and hot-glue eyes to the spiders.

Ghoulish Glaring Eyes

plastic-foam eyeballs on bench

Credit: Matthew Mead

These unblinking eyes are sure to make guests do a double take. Select plastic foam balls ($4, Michaels) in varying sizes and draw large pupils using a permanent marker. Use a toothpick or stick to hold pairs together. Attach the pairs of eyes to a dark bench or fence so they pop.

Pumpkin Message

painted trick-or-treat pumpkins on display

Credit: Greg Scheidemann

Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween, Boo: Whatever your Halloween sentiments, use pretty pumpkins to spell it out. Use painters tape to mark off stripes; paint with black acrylic paint. Trace letters or words with stencils; use a small brush to paint them with more black paint; let dry. Using a large drill bit, cut out evenly spaced holes.

Night Sky Porch

front door with cat cutouts and moon decor

Credit: Adam Albright

A vivid yellow moon, fall mums, and a pillow balance the striking black cat silhouettes on this fall front porch. Create your own Halloween wreath using two wire wreath forms and yellow electrical tape. Simply set the smaller wreath inside the larger one, offsetting so the hoops almost touch on one side. Wrap with electrical tape until the crescent shape is finished.

Editor's Tip: Make the cat patterns using our free pattern, medium-density fiberboard, spray paint, and wood glue.

Flame Pumpkin Display

pumpkin fire pit log frame

Credit: Blaine Moats

A pile of pumpkins transforms into a campfire-inspired display with our free pattern and a simple carving technique. Finish the Halloween front yard decoration with a few logs and a cozy blanket. Use battery-powered lights to give the "fire" a realistic flicker.

Trick-or-Treater Silhouettes

ghost and witch trick-or-treat silhouettes

Credit: Blaine Moats

For less scary Halloween yard decorations, cut out some costumed trick-or-treaters. This ghost and witch fit right into the Halloween scene with their candy-filled buckets. This is also a great way to leave candy out for real trick-or-treaters who may stop by when you're not home.

Owl-in-Tree Door Silhouette

front door with owl and tree silhouettes

Credit: Jason Wilde

Simplify the window silhouette concept by crafting just one shape and placing it in a prominent spot: your front door. All who ring your doorbell will be greeted by this chilling display, perfect for trick-or-treat night.

Crow and Pumpkin Display

Outdoor Halloween decor with crows and carved pumpkins

Credit: Adam Albright

Pay homage to the spooky bird mascot of the season with this easy weekend DIY project. Carve a few Halloween pumpkins and stack them outside. Finish the pumpkin display with an assortment of faux crows ($20, Oriental Trading).

Witches and More Window Silhouettes

house with halloween silhouettes in windows

Credit: Cameron Sadeghpour

Show the neighborhood your Halloween spirit with a facade of sinister decor. Copy, enlarge, print, and cut out our silhouette patterns. Trace onto black paper. Cut out the silhouettes and tape onto the inside of indoor windowpanes. Illuminate your display from the inside with a few strategically placed lamps.

Hanging Jack-o'-Lanterns

small carved jack-o-lanterns hanging from hooks

Credit: Andy Lyons

Light your sidewalk with a lineup of Halloween pumpkin decorations. Hang carved jack-o'-lanterns from shepherds hooks using hangers crafted from heavy-gauge wire. Battery-powered candles keep the pumpkin Halloween lights illuminated without risk of fire.

Window Webs

black webs and spiders decorating windows

Credit: Jason Wilde

Give giant spiders (created from plastic-foam balls) a place to call home with window webs spun from a few crafts store supplies. These Halloween window decorations are sure to spook even the bravest of visitors.

Cat and Jack-O'-Lantern Silhouettes

spooky outdoor silhouette cutout halloween scene

Credit: Blaine Moats

Skip the standard jack-o'-lantern and step it up a Halloween notch with pumpkin-face silhouettes. The scary Halloween yard decoration gets some company from a pack of black cats.

Outdoor Skeleton Crew

skeletons in hats sitting on retaining wall

Credit: Jason Donnelly

Gather a group of Halloween skeletons to act as spooky yard greeters. Perch the gang on a bench or ledge and add top hats and bow ties. These guys are sure to create a bone-chilling Halloween.

Hanging Ghost Gourds

gourds painted like ghosts at entrance

Credit: Steven Randazzo

Adorn your front stoop with a tangle of lifeless branches and vines hung from porch rafters. Paint gourds white and add ghostly expressions with black paint. Suspend gourds from the rafters so they hang down among the vines. When darkness comes, the apparitions will be illuminated by shifting shadows, a scene guaranteed to frighten and chill.

Mummy Statues

front yard with mummy decor

Credit: Greg Scheidemann

These Halloween lawn decorations take spooky to a new level. You'll scare the pants off passersby with a front yard featuring mummies that eerily rise and pose to haunt the twilight landscape. Look for mummies at Halloween supply stores, or make your own with old mannequins and bandage wraps.

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