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19 Scary DIY Halloween Decorations

By Nick Gerhardt

Updated Sep. 02, 2024

A great idea for a Halloween creation or decoration is one thing, but making it on your own is often the fun part. Check out these 20 Halloween projects to inspire your own creation.

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Build a Graveyard
Fright Nights

Build a Graveyard

Lay to rest any doubts about who can put together the best Halloween decorations with this DIY graveyard project. It’ll take some time to put together the headstones and skulls but with some PVC pipe, stakes and woods, you can have a creepy addition to your yard.
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Flying Objects
Fright Nights

Flying Objects

Have the neighbors believing in UFOs with this Halloween creation. A plastic punch bowl atop a round piece of plywood can form the perfect flying object — once you place a foam alien head inside the punch bowl and a gray plastic tarp on the plywood. Add some green lights to the plywood and inside the punch bowl to create an effect people won’t soon forget. Hang it outside your door for an inviting Halloween entryway. You’ll need some duct tape for this UFO project, which could come in handy if you need a last-minute duct tape costume.
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Build a DIY Halloween Coffin
Fright Nights

Build a DIY Halloween Coffin

Build a full-sized coffin for an interactive yard ornament. This creepy Halloween decoration can fit in the yard easily and requires just a little assembly with some plywood. Have your drill, hammer, saw and staple gun handy to put this coffin together.
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DIY Halloween Fence
Sew Woodsy

DIY Halloween Fence

This wood pallet Halloween creation can be done on the cheap if you can find a wood pallet or two and have the equipment to cut them around. The distressed wood gives it a rustic look and when cut in sections, it’s easy to store.
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DIY Halloween Crypt
Tumblr

DIY Halloween Crypt

If you’ve got an eyesore spot in your yard then putting in this frightening feature might be easier because it involves digging a hole. Once the hole is dug, add in a light, a pallet and some fake hands and you’ve got one of the spookiest yards on the block. After Halloween, reuse the pallet to create a side table.

By the way, these Home Depot smart holiday lights will make your home stand out for Halloween, Christmas and beyond.

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PVC Zombie
Halloween Forum

PVC Zombie

PVC is so versatile it can bring zombies to life. Well, in this case at least, maybe not so much anywhere else. This DIY zombie decoration has heated legs and runs on a 5-volt wiper motor to get him swaying. The power pack is cleverly hidden in his shoe. Or opt for an inflatable Halloween decoration for more lifelike, festive designs.
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Tin Can Luminaries
Photo: Courtesy of Jolly Mom

Tin Can Luminaries

Hammer out tin can luminaries in just a few steps to place on your doorstep for Halloween. Mark what you want on the tin can with a marker and freeze water in it before hammering the design out. After you’ve got the design done paint. Once the paint dries place a candle inside and enjoy. Tin can luminaries can reduce the chance of any pratfalls that you may experience with a paper bag luminary.
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Halloween Cauldron Embers
Instructables

Halloween Cauldron Embers

Keep your cauldron cooking with these faux burning embers. Grab some spray foam insulation, orange string lights, plastic bottles, rubberized undercoating, plastic floor liner and some spray paint to get going.

Check out these halloween lights to add glowing ambiance to your holiday decor.

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Scariest Monster in a Box
Dan Dance

Scariest Monster in a Box

This DIY monster in a box falls on the elaborate side, considering it uses pneumatics to spring the monster from the box. This project used an air compressor for the pneumatic air supply. The electrical design might take some additional work but it’s spelled out pretty well.
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Concrete Mummy Halloween Creations
via instructables.com

Concrete Mummy Halloween Creations

These Halloween creations take a detour from the usual ware and make the project fun. Get your hands dirty by mixing up concrete to create mummies. Grab a balloon, some ping pong balls and plastic wrap to bring your DIY concrete mummies to life.
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Giant Eyeballs for Shrubs
Instructables

Giant Eyeballs for Shrubs

If you feel like you’re being watched, that might just be the case — if someone has put these giant eyeballs somewhere. Celebrate Halloween with these light-hearted creations. They're perfect for a neighborhood of kids less inclined to handle scarier stuff. This giant eyeball project takes about 30 minutes to paint and two-to-four hours to have the paint dry.
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Spooky LED Halloween Sign
Instructables

Spooky LED Halloween Sign

Halloween window decorations are great because you don't have to worry about rain or wind ruining them. This clever creation fits perfectly in a window near the door to spook trick-or-treaters on their way to the stoop. It takes just a few supplies to put this LED Halloween sign together. The tricky part might be finding an old photo that’s just haunting enough.
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Welding Helmet
Instructables

Welding Helmet

If there’s an old welder’s helmet near you, the possibilities are endless. It can be the right fit for a video game character or a science fiction movie character. This DIY Halloween welding helmet project is one spooky option.
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Lighted Haunted House Portable Decoration
Kris Sovers

Lighted Haunted House Portable Decoration

This haunted house design will dress up your front door easily. Made with a little plywood, lights, hardware and paint, this light-up haunted house decoration uses batteries to stay portable.
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R2D2 Beer Cooler/Ice Box
Dan Lazzari

R2D2 Beer Cooler/Ice Box

There are a number of novelty Star Wars-related objects available on the market but there aren’t as many as refreshing to see as this R2D2 beer cooler. While this cooler is stylish year-round, it makes the perfect decoration for a sci-fi themed Halloween party.
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Hoverboard
Travis Nelson

Hoverboard

Today’s hoverboards still aren’t as cool as what we saw in Back to the Future II so why not create your own DIY hoverboard that looks like the model? If you’ve got leftover foam insulation from finishing a basement or something, then this is a no brainer. Once you finish your Back to the Future Halloween costume, set up an outdoor projector for a backyard movie night.
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Chairformer Halloween Creation Idea
Instructables

Chairformer Halloween Creation Idea

Transformers might be robots in disguise but the chairformer might as well be dad in disguise. This genius DIY chairformer design is sure to put a scare into someone unsuspectingly trying to sit down. Any type of transformer is a popular Halloween costume for kids.
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Mouse Trap Decoration
Alan Perkins

Mouse Trap Decoration

If you want to see a jump out of someone, this giant mouse trap is sure to do the trick. Don’t worry, it isn’t actually spring-loaded but those who get close enough might think otherwise. The wood from this project came from a bathroom remodel. You never know what you can make out of a pile of old wood.
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Bottle Cap Arm Protector
Max King

Bottle Cap Arm Protector

Zombies still roam the streets on Halloween night but you can ward them off with a bottle cap armored bracer. Armor might be tough to find while scavenging through a wasteland so don’t let bottle caps go to waste. If you have trouble getting finding a bottle opener to get bottle caps off, learn ways to open a beer bottle.

Originally Published: October 11, 2019