Halloween is no longer just about candy and costumes—it’s become a full-blown decorating season. It seems that in 2025 in addition to Halloween being fun, cheap and personality-filled, it is the tendency toward DIY Halloween decorations and the more people do it, the better. Make the outdoors inviting with decoration of backyard yards, decoration of your indoor party room, or decoration with the kids in the bedroom/family room, this list tabulates some smart ideas that are simple as well. Others are charming, some are beautiful and a few are charming creepy. The best part? You do not require a budget of a designer at all just pieces of paper, some pool noodles, or even toilet paper rolls. Let’s get spooky.
1. Outdoor Pallet Graveyard with a Rustic Twist
If you’ve got access to old wooden pallets, you’re halfway to building a spooky outdoor pallet graveyard. All you have to do, I suppose, is cut the boards in the shape of a gravestone, paint on names like I.M. Gone in white and set them up in your front porches or outdoor yards. It is an easy project that provides both rustic appeal and spookiness in the same amount at a wicked low price. Scatter some dried leaves and hang a few battery-operated lanterns for nighttime effect.
2. Ghost Garland from Toilet Paper Rolls
For something quick and easy inside, upcycle toilet paper rolls into a floating ghost garland. Paint them white, and put funny or skeletal candy like ghost faces on them, then hang them with twine across a mantel or in a kids bedroom. It’s a great way to get the kids involved, and the results are surprisingly cute for such a budget craft.
3. Pool Noodle Witch Legs for Outdoor Lawns
Here’s a fun and cheap outdoor project that always makes guests smile—create crashed witch legs using striped pool noodles and old shoes. Plant them upside down in the garden beds or pots in your outdoor yards. The quirky legs poking up from bushes add humor and fit perfectly with 2025’s love for playful decor.
4. Beetlejuice-Inspired Mantel for Indoor Party Vibes
If you’re hosting an indoor party, take cues from Tim Burton. A mantel decorated with the motives of Beetlejuice will be marked by stripes in black and white colors, green moss, and frightening figurines. And then add plastic pumpkins painted to the color palette of the movie to get that ghoulish touch. It’s a pop-culture twist that feels both nostalgic and fresh.
5. Drawing Your Own Window Silhouettes
Nothing sets the tone like creepy windows. Steal black paper, sketch and cut out witchy shapes, ghosts, or cats and stick them on your inside windows using blue tape. At night when the light is on they bring creepy shadows that are dramatic as well as aesthetic. It’s theatrical, but easy and budget-friendly.
6. Plastic Pumpkins Tower for Front Porches
Stacking plastic pumpkins into a totem is a classic outdoor yards front porches easy idea. Punch out the holes, put rebar to hold it and garnish each pumpkin face differently. You can paint some white or metallic to match your home’s style—it’s cute, customizable, and makes a great first impression.
7. Floating Ghosts with Cheesecloth and Balloons
For a haunting look inside dollar tree level pricing, try floating ghosts made from white balloons, cheesecloth, and a bit of glue. It is recommended to hang them on the ceiling across the dining table or entrance. They resemble the living dead when they move a bit in the air. Bonus: it’s one of the most easy indoor Halloween crafts to pull off.
8. Outdoor Giant Spider Made from Trash Bags
Ready to give trick-or-treaters a scare? Make an outdoor over-sized spider out of stuffed black trash bags, and PVC pipe legs. Set it on your front porches or roof edge. Use white paint or chalk to add some drawing detail to resemble anything like eyes and fangs. It’s low-cost terror that gets attention every time.
9. Aesthetic Paper Bats Wall Swarm
For a cute and aesthetic touch indoors, cut dozens of bats from black paper and tape them in a swirling formation along the walls or mirrors. It’s a simple project, but when clustered creatively, the result feels like a designer install—perfect for inside parties or bedrooms.
10. Glow-in-the-Dark Ghosts for Kids Bedroom
Tap into glow paint and cotton for a ghostly kids bedroom idea. Make small hanging ghosts using foam balls, and cheesecloth, paint with glow-in-the-dark paint, so they light up in the dark. It’s equal parts fun and gentle spook—ideal for younger kids who love Halloween but not the nightmares.
11. Dollar Tree Witch Hat Chandelier for Indoor Parties
Turn your next indoor party into a Halloween spectacle with a hanging witch hat chandelier made from lightweight hats and LED tealights—yes, all from Dollar Tree. Follow or weave fishing line through the glowing hats on varying heights. It’s cheap, theatrical, and casts a magical glow over any room.
12. Outdoor Yard Mummy Made with Toilet Paper Rolls
Wrap old tomato cages or yard stakes in layers of gauze or toilet paper rolls to build a towering mummy for your outdoor yards. Top it off with glowing eyes, which consists of ping pong balls and flashlight. It’s a cute but creepy figure that holds up surprisingly well in fall weather.
13. Paper Lantern Pathways for Front Porches
Create safe and spooky walkways using DIY paper lanterns. Steal black lunch bags, paper jack-o lantern faces, and put LED tea lights inside. Line your front porches or sidewalks with these to welcome guests with aesthetic, flickering light.
14. Ghost Balloons Ceiling for Kids Bedroom
Blow up white balloons, draw ghost faces with drawing pens, and attach long tissue paper streamers underneath. They can be attached on the ceiling in a children room or corridor. They sway with air and look like flying spirits—fun, harmless, and so easy.
15. Indoor Pumpkin Archway Using Plastic Pumpkins
Use a wire frame or even a hula hoop to create an arch, then zip-tie plastic pumpkins all over it. Placing this arch in the entrance to your indoor party room or door. It makes for a perfect photo opp and adds dramatic Halloween energy to any room.
16. Drawing Chalk Tombstones for Sidewalk or Garage
For a cheap and interactive idea, grab black chalkboard paint and draw tombstones directly onto the sidewalk or a garage door. Use your best drawing skills and add pun-filled names. It turns your outdoor yards front porches into a temporary haunted cemetery—no digging required.
17. Witch’s Cauldron Smoke Pot Using Dry Ice
Set up a plastic cauldron on your front porch, drop in some dry ice and warm water, and you’ve got bubbling, foggy magic. Put up a couple of colored LED lights to make it creepy. This outdoor yards setup is a crowd favorite and elevates any DIY scene.
18. Cute Halloween Drawing Station for Kids
Set up a drawing table for the little ones with Halloween coloring pages, black and orange crayons, and paper cutouts they can decorate. Great for indoor parties or rainy weekends, it’s a crafty corner that keeps them busy—and proud of their creations.
19. Pool Noodle Skeleton Arms for Garden Beds
Bend pool noodles into bony arms, wrap in white duct tape, and use garden stakes to pose them as if something is crawling from the earth. Add gloves or fake hands for realism. It’s a quirky and easy way to haunt your outdoor yards this year.
20. Haunted Mirror Frame with Ghost Reflections
Take an old mirror, spray it lightly with matte gray paint, and use transparent ghost decals to create the illusion of a haunted reflection. Hang in an entryway or above the fireplace. It’s dramatic, aesthetic, and surprisingly easy inside decor.
21. Bat Mobile for Indoor Party Ceilings
Create a hanging bat mobile using black paper, invisible thread, and a circular wire frame. Use hundreds of dancing bats by hanging it off the ceiling of the indoor area where the party is. Since they are slightly mobile with the air they create illusion of flight. It’s aesthetic, easy, and fills vertical space with spooky charm.
22. Outdoor Giant Ghost Using White Sheet and Tomato Cage
For a standout outdoor yards front porches look, turn a tomato cage upside down, drape a white sheet over it, and add a foam ball head with black felt eyes. When placed in your walkway or bushes the motion of this outdoor giant ghost can be lifted up by the breeze to sway back and forth. It’s cheap, impactful, and a neighborhood favorite.
Whether you’re into dollar tree hacks, crafting with paper, or building with pallets, the magic of DIY Halloween decorations lies in the charm of homemade spook. We have got it all including that inner party feel to the outdoor yards and front porches quick set ups. Got a favorite? Or maybe your own unexpected take? Share your thoughts, tips, and ghost stories in the comments—we’re all ears (and cobwebs).
