My Halloween Yard Decorations

Last week, when I was hanging smiley-faced ghosted across two trees in my yard, I couldn’t help but think, “there must be something in the air.”

I’ve never done *this* before. Meaning, I’ve never put out yard decorations, made them myself, or really embraced Halloween this much (outside of dressing up in costumes).

Nowadays, though, I want to take some pride in our home and our yard and give the neighborhood kiddos a little something to look at. (This year, it seems more important than ever for kids to have opportunities to be just that—kids.) I want to do my part, however small it seems.

Here’s how I went about my non-spooky , mostly DIY, Halloween transformation.

Ghost Garland

This fun DIY project was a little effort-intensive, with a hugely fun finished product.

Making the bats involved golf-ball whiffle balls, two bags of cheesecloth (I should’ve gone with three), and black twine. I twisted the twine through the holes of the balls, then covered them with three small (5-inch or so) squares of layered cheesecloth. I also drew some happy faces on the ghosts for a Casper effect.

After they were completed, I hung them across some trees and shrubs in my yard and prayed that they’d withstand any wind.

It’s Freaking Bats*

This was easy! I ordered some bats from Amazon to stick on my front door. (You can also grab them here.)

Note: the assembly requires cutting the adhesive and there’s lots of peeling involved. It takes a while, but it’s worth it! Tedious, but beautiful.

*Please watch this old Vine video that I’m referencing.

Trash Bag Spider Webs

This was probably my least favorite DIY project, just because trash bags are flimsy and I wasn’t graceful with scissors. However, it’s pretty simple!

You fold the trash bag up into triangles, tape down the open sides, cut off some edges, and draw a pattern to cut. The best part: you get two webs from a single trash bag. I taped the finish project to my porch.

Here’s the tutorial that guided me through the process (thank you, Pinterest!): http://www.fastforwardfun.com/easy-diy-trash-bag-spiderwebs/

Floating Witch Hats

I DIY’d this creation using fishing line and a set of witch hats from Amazon. I hung them using Command light holders.

String Lights

For a final glowing effect, I used some leftover string lights to light up our front porch a bit more. I used copper indoor lights (whoops), but ended up saving some money by recycling what I already owned.

Finishing Touches

For those final, small details, I went and grabbed some fake spider webs. It looks great covering my political yard sign. 🙂

And: that’s all, folks! I’m excited for Halloween and that I was able to exercise some creativity for this project. Spook on!