DIY Halloween Decorations on a Budget

Every Halloween I get a little more crafty and the house looks just a bit more awesome as my outdoor Halloween decorations grow in number and size.

This year, I added the Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington garage, a large garbage bag spider for the porch, new garbage bag ghosts, a duct tape Ghostbusters logo ghost, a garbage bag grim reaper silhouette and tombstones made from political yard signs.

The only outdoor Halloween decorations actually purchased this year included two packs of candy corn lights from Home Depot and a foam skull from the 99 Cent Store at half off for about $9 total.

Here's the rundown of my decorations:

Michael Myers: Old Halloween costume stuffed with furniture foam.

Grim Reaper Silhouette: Black garbage bags. I looked at pictures and then free-handed it with scissors.

Ghostbusters Logo: Duck Tape, cardboard and furniture foam.

Window Lights: Repurposed Christmas lights passed down from Aaron's childhood Christmas decorations.

Spiders and Web Netting: Free from Aaron's old work, originally 99 Cent Store.

Marcus the Carcass: Originally on clearance from Target. After many years of use in the ground and sometimes drilled into a tree, he no longer lights up. I think he gained weight from hibernating in the garage since last Halloween season.

Tombstones: Free from Aaron's old work, originally purchased at 99 Cent Store.

On Halloween I will add candles and my two small pumpkins to light up the graveyard. I plan to just cut spooky eyes into the pumpkins.

Jack Skellington Garage: Duct tape and garbage bags.

Floating Glowing Goblin: 99 Cent Store mask and costume pants, bug zapper.

Lights: Candy corn Halloween lights from Home Depot. (Better deal than Walmart, by the way.)

Skull: 99 Cent Store in the buy one get free Halloween sale.

Flying Monster: 99 Cent Store Mask and gloves, plus college graduation robe and some rods and hangers.

Spiders and Web Netting: Free from Aaron's old work, originally 99 Cent Store.

We really don't like solicitors. They wake us up too early and make the dog bark. I made this no soliciting sign to coordinate with the Halloween decorations. Spray paint and Sharpie.

Tombstones: Upcycled political yard signs.

Skeleton arm: 99 Cent Store.

Skeletal Foot and Hand: Remnants from an old hanging skeleton that fell apart after years of use.

Lights: Repurposed white lights from my backyard.

Ghosts: Garbage bags and duct tape.

Bone Chime: Remnants from the old hanging skeleton.

Large Porch Spider: For the body, I stuffed a black garbage bag about three-quarters full with paper shreddings and secured with a twisty tie. For the face, I stuffed the remaining space full with paper, leaving room to gather the ends of the bag together with a twisty tie. Then I flipped the head back so the gathered end met the body. I hot glued and stapled the gathered end of the head up onto the body.

Finally, I used a combination of hot glue and duct tape to secure the legs. Fabric scraps glued on made the face and black widow markings. 

I wanted my garbage bag spider to really stand out, so I moved a tomato cage from the backyard to the porch. To keep the spider from slipping through the open top, I placed him on a pizza box lid that I covered with scraps of trash bags.


Bench: I used leftover spiderwebs from last year and a dead string of spider lights purchased nearly 10 years ago.

Morgue Door: I kept it simple for the front door to the "morgue" as the sign on the screen indicates. I hung this severed arm that years ago Gizmo decided was a dog toy.

Happy Halloween from my house to yours!