31 DIY Outdoor Halloween Decoration Ideas for a Spooky Display

Ready to transform your outdoor space into a spine-chilling spectacle? Whether you prefer eerie skeletons lurking in the shadows or friendly ghosts greeting your guests, these 31 DIY Halloween decorations have you covered. Let’s start by weaving a truly spooky foundation with a creepy crawly web that sets the perfect tone for your haunted display.

A Creepy Crawly Web

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For some folks, the most haunting scenario of all is having gigantic spiders commandeer their homes. You can create this nightmarish scene on your own house with webs made of yard and by DIYing or buying giant fuzzy spiders. Even those terrified of these eight-legged creatures will appreciate the effort and surreality of this Halloween scene.

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Witchy Potion Offerings

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This isn't your average household—at least, that's what you can say with a DIY sign such as this. Get creative and think about the offerings you would take on if you were a witch, wizard, or warlock. Potions are a no-fail choice and make for a fun and colorful sign. Other ideas could be a broom repair service or mummy bandage mending.

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Dazzling Disco Pumpkins

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Swap out the jack-o'-lanterns for disco-themed pumpkins that will make you want to boogie to "Monster Mash. " With black and silver paint and masking tape, you can transform orange gourds into these shiny orbs that'll look great on top fence railings, sat on porch stairs, or dotted around your back deck.

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A Witch's Touch

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The easiest way to show that witches live here? Leave a broom and hat on your front door bench or on a seating area in your backyard. Bonus points for bedazzling your witch hat and adding extra special touches like painted pumpkins and glowing lanterns.

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A Haunted Playhouse

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This is a winning DIY for homes with little ones who want to get in on the magic of Halloween. Make ghosts, spiders, spider webs, and a wreath to turn your everyday playhouse into one that's suddenly haunted. This can also be done with sheds, outdoor offices, and pergolas.

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A Trio of Brewing Witches

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Let your neighbors know that witches have moved into your place for the season with a trio of glowing green gals. Elizabeth Rishel made these magically come to life with tomato cages, garbage bags, and tulle. Add a smoke machine inside of a cauldron or basket for a seriously cool brewing effect.

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A Glowing, Ghoulish Scene

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Use film to frost your windows and add a few bat stickers to add an air of mystery to your interiors. With the help of glowing lights and a witch's broom, trick-or-treaters can only wonder what spells are being cast behind closed doors.

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Ghoulishly Good Pumpkin Ghosts

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Make yourself do a double take each time you look out to your patio with these floating pumpkin ghosts. Add faux (or real) pumpkins to the tops of ragged shirts and hang them on your fence or on top of a pole to make them look like they're floating. Creepy, sure, but after awhile they'll feel like fun guests when you hang out around the fireplace outside.

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Enchanting Floating Hats

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This is an easy DIY that adds so much to a front porch or covered deck. Use transparent fishing line or wire to hang a handful of witches' hats at different levels from the ceiling. It's not too difficult of a project but it instantly infuses magic into your outdoor areas.

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A Spine-Chilling Set of Bones

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Yes, it's possible to create a scene that causes terror and laughter all at once—that's the power of Halloween. Fill a wheelbarrow with dirt and set up one skeleton to push it from behind. Inside, drop a few femurs, skulls, and metacarpals. Friends who stop by won't know whether to cackle or cry.

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An Attention-Grabbing Skeleton Hand

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Give your traditional Halloween a haunted twist with this scary-chic DIY. Gather up branches from around your home and spray paint them black and tie them into a downward-facing bouquet. Then glue or wrap with wire a skeleton hand to the top of the arrangement for an extra-creepy twist.

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A Creepy-Chic Black Ivy Wreath

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Holiday wreaths can be quite beautiful with the right colors and plants. For this outdoor Halloween DIY, you can buy fake black ivy vines or spray paint faux plants and stick a few sprigs into a twig wreath. Hang it by a satin black bow and you'll have a wreath that the eternally stylish Addams family would find sophisticated.

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A Spider-Tinged Feature Wall

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To really frighten your family and friends, it might be time to create a creepy-crawly accent wall. You can make your own spiders from foam balls and pipe cleaners or find some unbearably realistic faux versions from costume stores. Then you can hang them from yarn webs or stick them to your walls with tape. It's likely no one will take a seat in this area for the foreseeable.

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The Halloween Spirit Captured

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Eerie but elegant, you can encapsulate Halloween's spirit with this DIY. Source lanterns and cages from thrift stores and antique shops and spray paint them black if they're not already a midnight shade. Then add painted miniature trees, pumpkins, mini skeletons, candles, or faux crows within their bars. It's slightly haunting but surprisingly chic, too. You can keep it simple or go all out with a mini scene taking place on an outdoor table.

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A Haunting Outdoor Dining Set

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One way to really set the mood for a bone-chilling dinner outdoors is with a little DIY. Try cutting out fuzzy spiders from material or paper and hang them on fishing line from a covered patio ceiling or an outdoor chandelier. You can also purchase carve-able craft pumpkins that are made to be designed, painted, and scooped out. These types of jack-o'-lanterns last for many seasons if they're sealed with a weatherproof coat or kept out of the rain.

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A Skeleton Making a Scene

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What better way to say hello to friends, family, and frightening faces than with a skeleton scene? This DIY is rife with opportunities, as there are so many different ways you can arrange a skeletal figure among your decor. If you already have a fall set-up on your porch or driveway, see if you can work in a skeleton stealing a pumpkin or waving at passers-by. It's also a great chance to dress them up in their own costume.

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A Friendly Ghost Wreath

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This sweet wreath makes ghosts feel less frightening and far more friendly. Spray paint a vine wreath base black and wrap a ribbon around one side of it. Then, you can use a Cricut machine or another type of tool to create these gentle-looking ghosts in various sizes and attach them to your wreath. Hang it in a place where these tiny ghouls will make you feel most welcome.

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A Cut-Out Skeleton to Creep It Real

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Whether you spend a lot of time outside or have an upcoming Halloween party on the horizon, a cut-out paper skeleton is a fun way to dress up the walls outside of your house. In fact, there are numerous shadow creatures and monsters you can think up, just use black craft paper and craft split pins to make them come to life. These outlines can also serve as the perfect backdrop for party games, too.

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A Mini Skeleton Wreath

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If you're enjoying the skeleton theme or want another example of a bone-inspired wreath, try this one out. Fashion a wreath out of vividly-colored flowers, faux or real, and then add a tiny skeleton to the center. It's bold and eye-catching as well as a little bit scary.

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A Batty Front Door

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While you can buy a bag of faux bats, they're also pretty easy to make. Using glossy vinyl or black paper, you can trace out several sizes of bats and cut them out. Then, apply them with double-sided tape or tack putty to create a cauldron of bats on your door, windows, or exterior walls.

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A Spidery Ring Wreath

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Can Halloween crafts be elegant? Absolutely, with a baby’s-breath-adorned ring wreath. Attach a spider web motif to a golden craft ring and wrap sprigs of these white flowers around one side of it. Add a few on-theme words and a spider, too, and it will feel equal parts pretty and chilling.

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A Kooky and Colorful Display

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You don't have to leave your skeletons white and pumpkins orange. Instead, grab spray paint and brushes to turn these classic Halloween staples into chromatic masterpieces. It gives a much more vibrant touch to objects that are normally seen as unsettling.

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The Scariest Sign Post

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If you have a list of scary movies, shows, and books you love working your way through when Halloween rolls around, you can turn those fictional places into a fantastic decoration. Find various sizes of wooden planks and pieces and paint on the names of cities, towns, and eerie places that make an appearance. Then, lean it against a shed or shove it into the ground to give you and your guests directions to locations that'll make your heart race.

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A Dinner Spread Fit for a Witch

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Give your outdoor dining area an especially witchy twist with the help of floating hats and a DIY tree, which can be wrapped in shredded paper. Keep the atmosphere going with a black tablecloth and taper candles for the perfect supper—or seance.

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Overthrown By Critters

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Outside of spiders, see what other critters you can add to your outdoor area to make a frightening (but still stylish) scene. Once the webs and arachnids have taken their place, see if you can sprinkle butterflies or another insect of choice across your door and onto the exterior walls of your home. A wreath is also a great place for a crow's nest or another eerie animal.

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A Guest Who's Outstayed Their Welcome

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Here's another fun skeleton scene to bookmark for this Halloween or next. Take one or two full-size skeletons and prop them up in places you wouldn't expect. It could be curled up with a blanket on a favorite lounge chair, sitting on a porch swing with a book, or chilling by the grill with an apron on.

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A Theme to Signal Witches Live Here

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On top of floating witch hats, there are a few other DIYs you can do to turn your home into a witch's cottage for October. Add a witch's legs to a planter next to your door and string your plants in cobwebs. It's also relatively easy to create an on-theme doormat with stencils and spray paint. As a final touch, a broom leaning against the wall can also go a long way.

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A Skeleton "Frond"

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If minimalist Halloween decor is more your forte, this DIY has your name written all over it. Sneakily place a skeleton within the planters that frame your front porch or patio. It's a fun little surprise that fits into your everyday surroundings eerily well. For an extra pop of color, try painting the skeletons.

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A Glam Black and Gold Display

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Who said Halloween can't be glamorous, too? Start by spray painting an array of palm leaves, pumpkins, and boxes in shades of black and gold. Then set up an arch to frame your front door. As added special touches, string the area with small fairy lights, add some mums, and style in a skeleton or two.

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Painted Pumpkin Faces

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Instead of carving, you can bring scary faces to life with a little paint and a pinch of creativity. This pumpkin DIY can be less messy and often longer-lasting than pumpkins that have been hollowed out. Draw out your designs with a pencil or permanent marker then get painting. You can create a collection of familiar faces from movies or books or let your imagination run wild and create a sinister group of ghouls.

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A Boo-tiful Welcome Sign

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If you'd like to get your guests to stay awhile rather than frighten them away, nothing does it better than a friendly DIY sign. Spray paint a wooden plank and letters in a friendly, punny phrase like "Hey Boo" that'll bring smiles rather than screams to your front door. For outdoor signs, choose a paint that won't get ruined by rain (or errant ghosts).