Halloween DIY Decorations

Halloween DIY Decorations

Lydia Treat

Lydia Treat and Zoe Wejko
October 26, 2015

Ah yes, it’s that time of year again. The time when the haunted houses open up and everybody rushes to stock up on candy. The biggest pain, however, is not finding any cheap decorations that are fun and original! Well we found some easy DIY decorations and tried them out! (They are pretty amazing.)
 
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Boo Lanterns: 
What you need- 3 mason jars of similar sizes, Frosted Finish spray paint, black paint, paint brushes, and ribbon.
  1. Spray paint your mason jars on the outside. (Do this outdoors, the paint will stink and burn your nose if done indoors). Hold jars at a distance to ensure an even coat. You may need to do 3-5 coats.
  2. Once dried, bring your jars inside and begin painting on the letters with the black paint. Put one letter on each jar. Make sure they are centered and around the same size.
  3. Tie some ribbon on the top to make it more decorative.

​Ghost Light:
What you need- A milk/water jug, black paint, a paint brush, scissors, and white/yellow Christmas lights.
  1. Paint a face on the flat side of the jug using the black paint and a small paint brush. (You may need to do a second coat to make sure the black is solid.)
  2. Cut a slot into the side of the jug using your scissors.
  3. Put the Christmas lights in through the top and feed them out through the slot.
  4. Plug it in and your ghost is lit up!

​Pumpkin Cans:
What you need- 3 soup cans of different sizes, orange and black paint, paint brushes, tape, and green ribbon.
  1. Strip your cans of any paper that may be on the outside.
  2. Using a bigger paint brush, coat the outside of your can in orange paint. (You may need several coats.)
  3. Once the orange is dried, paint a jack-o-lantern face on one (or however many you want) of the cans.
  4. For a big top, loop pieces of ribbon like you’re going to fold it in half, then tape the ends to the top. Do this until you reach the center. Then pinch the bottom of a piece of ribbon and tape down both ends. For simpler tops, pinch the bottom of a small piece of ribbon and tape both ends down.
  5. Paint over any visible paint.

​Black Pumpkin:
What you need- A pumpkin of any size, black paint (and orange if you plan to do a design), and paint brushes.
  1. Make sure your pumpkin is clear of any dirt or dust.
  2. Using a large brush, cover the entire pumpkin (including the stem) in black paint.
  3. Once the black is dry, paint a design over the black with a small brush if wanted. (We did a Z for Zoe.)
 
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Monster Candle Holders:
What you need- Medium sized mason jars, black/orange paint, paint brushes, and ribbon.
  1. If doing one like the orange jar, cover your entire jar in ONE coat of orange paint. (You want an opaque look.) Leave an oval clear towards the middle.
  2. Paint a face in the center of the jar using black paint. (You do not want this to be opaque! Do several coats if needed!)
  3. Tie some ribbon around the top.
There you go! Now your house can be festive and your bank account can remain full! Together, all of these projects took us a little over an hour to do. Try them out and see for yourself how adorable these things are!