Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, the eve of All Saints' Day: a good moment to put together homemade Halloween decorations with what you already have at home. A few empty jars, an old sheet, black card, some branches picked up on a walk and a good pumpkin are enough to transform the hallway and the living room, without buying a pile of plastic that will end up in the bin on 1 November. Here are 8 simple ideas, step by step, plus the precautions to take if you have children or pets at home.
The keys to homemade Halloween decorations that look good
- Three colours, no more: orange, black and a touch of white or gold. That is what gives a polished result instead of a jumble.
- Recycling: jam jars, toilet roll tubes, cardboard boxes, gauze, fabric scraps.
- Soft light: LED candles and fairy lights create all the atmosphere once night falls.
8 easy Halloween decoration ideas
1. The carved Halloween pumpkin
Choose a bright orange, firm pumpkin with its stalk. Cut the lid at an angle so it does not fall inside, scoop out the pumpkin with a spoon, scraping the walls well, draw the face with a marker and cut it out with a small serrated knife. Keep the flesh for a soup and the seeds for roasting in the oven. A carved pumpkin only lasts a few days: wait until 28 or 29 October to hollow it out.
2. The painted pumpkin, no knife needed
This is the ideal option with young children, and it lasts much longer because it has not been cut open. Black or white acrylic paint, a bat stencil or a face drawn with a marker: small ornamental pumpkins work too.
3. Mummy jars
Wrap strips of gauze, or of an old sheet, around a glass jar, leaving a slit in the middle. Stick two googly eyes in the gap and put an LED candle inside. Line up three or four on the windowsill: the effect is guaranteed.
4. Paper bats
Draw a template on thick black card, cut out about twenty bats and bend the wings slightly to give them volume. Stick them to the wall with adhesive putty, in a flock, as if they were flying out of a corner. They store flat for next year.
5. Hanging ghosts
Drape a square of light white fabric (gauze, muslin, an old sheet) over a ball of newspaper, tie it under the “head” with a piece of thread and draw the eyes with a black marker. Hang them from a curtain rail, from a branch or in front of the front door.
6. The black branch bouquet
Gather a few dry branches, spray-paint them black, outdoors or in a well-ventilated room, and arrange them in a vase or a bottle. Hang little ghosts, paper bats or autumn leaves from them: a very elegant Halloween tree for the hallway.
7. The wool spider web
With a ball of black or white wool, stretch four threads in a star shape across the corner of a window or a door and weave a spiral, knotting the wool at each crossing. It is sturdier than synthetic cobweb, which frays everywhere and attracts cats.
8. The Halloween table
A black or hessian table runner, mini pumpkins, autumn leaves, LED candles of different heights and a big bowl for the sweets. Add “potion” labels to the juice bottles for the children's snack.
Children and pets: the precautions
- Use LED candles in the pumpkins and jars, especially near fabrics or curtains, or within reach of a cat's tail.
- Keep the sweets out of their reach: chocolate is toxic to dogs and cats, and the wrappers can be swallowed.
- Run the fairy light cables along the wall so they do not get chewed and nobody trips over them.
- Think about the doorbell: if your dog gets worked up every time someone rings, on the night of the 31st leave them in a quiet room with their bed and a toy.
And after 31 October?
Homemade Halloween decorations last for several years: store the bats, ghosts and jars in a box. Uncarved pumpkins still make a lovely autumn decoration until November, and the carved one goes on the compost. To keep your home cosy once Halloween is over, our cocooning decor ideas take over.
And to complete your home, take a look at our selection of home, pet and gift ideas.