Seven DIY Halloween Decorating Ideas for Your Home

Traditional jack-o-lanterns are painstakingly hard to create, so instead of going the difficult route, you can opt to paint your pumpkin instead. Just draw some eyes, a little button nose, a mouth, and you’re done! It’s quick, clean, and easy to do. You can use poster paints for a pigmented look or opt for markers you have on hand.

Where to buy: For the pumpkin, you can visit your local market or grocery store. For the paint or the markers, you can visit National Bookstore.

If you’re planning to throw a Halloween party, one easy way to increase the creepy vibe inside your home is through an eerie table centerpiece. Place a couple of pumpkins with candles and voila! You’ve just created a Halloween centerpiece. You can place it on your living room coffee table or on your dining table. Dim the lights or turn them off completely for a scarier vibe.

Where to buy: You can buy candles at your nearest grocery store like SM Hypermarket or inside SM Department Store.

We’re pretty sure some of your dolls growing up now give you the creeps, and that’s perfect for this next project. Instead of throwing them out, turn them into small zombies. Paint over their faces, create fake blood splatters, and whiten their pupils. After drying, you can place them around your house or condo to make your place scarier and creepier. If you have a tree outside, you can also choose to hang them there. Just make sure you’ll still be able to sleep at night with these dolls lying around.

Where to buy: If you do not have dolls, you can buy cheap ones at your nearest market. For brushes and paint, you can visit Ace Hardware.

Check out our list of art stores in Metro Manila or in Cebu, or browse the Yoorekka Directory for more options.

If the scary dolls are too much and you have kids who would rather not see them, you can opt for cute cut-outs like the ones above. Download vector images of popular villains, print them on cardboard, cut them out, and use them as designs all over your home! You can stick them on your walls, windows, or doors for a creepy effect without reaching the pee-in-your-pants-scary level. You can also print them on white cardboard and use them as masks.

Where to buy: You can get the cardboard at National Book Store.

Another easy DIY project is to trace silhouettes of bats, witches, tombstones, or other scary monsters on cardboard or black heavy cartolina and then cut them out. You can stick them on your window or tie them on a string to hang them from your ceiling. For added fear factor, make them as life-sized as possible. You’ll be giving your neighbors a fright with this one for sure.

Where to buy: You can get your art supplies at National Book Store.

Leftover candles around your house are great for this project. Melt them together to create a bigger and dirtier candle. To start, place the candles on cardboard. Put them together one by one by melting one side of a candle and sticking it to another one. The thicker and bigger the candles, the better so they won’t melt immediately.

Where to buy: No need to buy anything! Just scour your house for old candles you have around and you’re good to go.

Do you have mason jars lying around your home? You can actually use them at your next Halloween party to increase the horror. Paint them black on the outside and label them with scary concoctions using white pen to horrify your guests! Aside from painting the jars, you can also fill them with dark-colored water. For the labels, how about “tears of 100 zombies” or “blood of two witches?” Let your imagination run and stun your guests.

Where to buy: You can get the mason jars at Divisoria in Manila or Dapitan Arcade in Quezon City for a much cheaper price. For the black paint, you can get them at Ace Hardware or at your nearby craft store.

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