12 Fun Halloween Decorating Ideas
Whip up a happy holiday with pumpkin carving ideas, spooky plants, and tricks the neighborhood will love.
Sneaky jack-o'-lantern carving
Show off a traditional Halloween message in a highly unusual way. Jackie Ortega, owner of San Francisco's Craft Gym, says this project is easy to pull off once you know the secret.
Free pumpkin stencil
Artist Nikki McClure shares instructions for creating this unique jack-o'-lantern for Halloween.
Floating pumpkins
Foam pumpkins are thin enough to carve with a craft knife and light enough to hang with thin wire.
More fun ideas for pumpkins--no carving required!
Pumpkin house numbers
Pumpkin house numbers are a surprising twist on the traditional jack-o'-lantern.
Black cat o'lanterns
Create a spooky trio of glossy black cats to watch over trick-or-treaters at your door. All you need are a few pumpkins in feline shapes--long or pear-shaped for the body, small and round for the face.
Halloween globes
Invert a glass globe that normally goes over an electric ceiling light fixture, tuck a tea light inside, and you've got a glowing Halloween lantern.
Choose a globe that fits over the porch light and you can greet trick-or-treaters in an orange glow.
Glowing globes
String your Halloween lanterns along your entry for a proper greeting to the neighborhood goblins.
More spooky front-yard ideas
Beautiful, leafy pumpkins
Encircle a few pumpkins with slender carvings to add a subtle glow to your front porch.
Glowing vines
A Sunset favorite: meandering patterns add a whimsical storybook appeal to your arrangement.
Harlequin leaves
Repeat a single leaf shape for a quilted look on hollow pumpkins. (Tip: long, thin grooves at a 45° angle work best.)
Silhouettes
Create a centerpiece-worthy embossed effect with no candle or seed scooping required. Arrange multiple silhouetted pumpkins along the center of an outdoor table. We added stones and leaves to complete the setting.
Party pumpkins
Tiny pumpkins--or any small gourds--can be colored in minutes with acrylic paints or permanent markers. The secret to their jewel-like sparkle is a finishing glaze applied after the paint or ink has thoroughly dried.