Top 8 Affordable DIY Halloween Crafts
by James Coulter
Halloween is right around the corner, and you still haven’tdecorated your house. Even worse, you don’t have the spare change to go on a Spirit Halloween shopping spree.
What do you do?
Fear not. You can still get your house decorated for spooky season with some simple crafts. Best of all, they can be made with cheap dollar store items, so you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank.
From mummy-wrapped pumpkins to floating sheet ghosts, here are 8 affordable DIY Halloween crafts:
1. Floating Sheet Ghosts
Time: 5-10 minutes each
Cost: $0-$3 each
What’s a haunted house without ghosts? You don’t even need a seance to summon any. You can make your own with old sheets and string. Just drape an old white sheet or trash bag over a small ball or balled-up piece of plastic or paper. Tie the “neck” tight with twine, string, or yarn. Draw eyes and a mouth with a black marker. Then hang from a porch or tree using a fishing line.
2. Gauze-Wrapped Mummy Pumpkins
Time: 10–15 minutes each
Cost: $1–3 per pumpkin (pumpkin costs may vary)
Jack o-Lanterns are scary. Mummies are scary. So what can be scarier than mummy jack o-lanterns? All you need to do is wrap a small pumpkin with strips of gauze, attach the gauze with glue or tape, then draw faces using a black marker or even googly eyes. Voila! Place them on your front porch, and you have a spooky mummified jack o-lantern to delight any mommy or mummy.
3. Giant Spider and Egg Sacs
Time: 15–30 minutes
Cost: $1–$6
Spiders are scary. Giant spiders are scarier. But a giant spider that laid eggs? Now that’s the scariest. Fortunately, this spider is made from yarn. Make the spider from a ball painted black with black pipe cleaners for legs. Then make the egg sacs by wrapping cotton balls with yarn and adding small plastic spiders. Place them around your yard, especially among bushes, and you have a real fake spider infestation.
4. Ghostly mason jar luminarias
Time: 10–20 minutes for several
Cost: $0.50–$3 per jar
A glass jar might not be able to trap a real ghost, but it can certainly contain fake glowing ghosts. Either paint ghosts on jars with white paint and black marker or drape white tissues inside. Add some cheap tea lights (solar-powered are ideal). Then set them around your front porch and steps.
5. Spider Web Table Runner
Time: 20–40 minutes
Cost: $1–6
If you want to decorate the inside of your house with webs, you can choose not to dust and wait for a spider to weave real cobwebs. Or you can make your own from white yarn. Simply lay the yarn on black poster board in concentric circles and connect the spokes with glue or tape. Then glue on plastic spiders. Try lightly misting the yarn with diluted glue for a firmer web that stays put.
6. PVC Pipe Tombstones
Time: 20–40 minutes
Cost: $1–$8 total
If you want to make your front yard look like a graveyard, you could “borrow” some tombstones from the local cemetery. However, if you’re looking for a simpler (and more legal) decorating tip, try making your own tombstones. Cut some tombstones from poster board, foam, or cardboard. Paint them gray and draw some epithets with a black marker. Then use wooden stakes or PVC pipe to push into the ground. Weatherproof with a quick coat of clear spray or lean tombstones against heavier objects for wind resistance.
7. Monster-Covered Candy Jars
Time: 15–20 minutes each
Cost: $1–4 per jar
What do you do with all of the candy your little monsters collect trick-or-treating? Why not store them in monster-covered candy jars? Cut up monster shapes with colored felt or craft foam. Then draw or glue on shapes to make the faces. Don’t forget to add some googly eyes. Now you have a monster-covered jar to protect your Halloween candy.
8. Bleeding Candles
Time: 15 minutes for several candles
Cost: $1–5 for supplies
Candles can melt, but have you ever seen one bleed? You can when you make your own bleeding candles. Melt red wax (preferably from old crayons) and drizzle it over white candles to make bloody drips. For a gory effect, add a few nail heads pressed into the candle. Set them in candle holders, and be sure to use precaution when lighting them.
