SQUASH IT
It’s hard to imagine Halloween without pumpkins.
Like Halloween revelers, squashes large and small are quick-change artists, able to take on sweet or sinister personalities. There are hundreds of ways to transform the humble squash into a thing of beauty or fearsome monstrosity:
You can carve it, paint it, drill it, or embellish it.
One of my favorite decorative techniques requiring no practice and very little time is marbleizing, which is a fancy term for squirting and swirling paint, mixed with marbling medium, on a pumpkin or gourd. Gravity is your muse. No toil, no trouble!
If you’re really pressed for time, scare up spooky adhesive silhouettes of spiders and bats (oh, my!). These peel-and-stick embellishments are a freakishly fast way to creep up an ordinary pumpkin, no cutting or carving requiring.
Need more ideas to get gourd-eous? Here are 30 ways to bring a pumpkin delightfully (or petrifyingly) to life.
DRIVE ‘EM OUT OF THEIR SKULLS
If you’re looking to incorporate the morbid into your daily décor and keep your den of iniquity organized, how about a ghoulishly gilded pair of skull bookends?
For this devilishly darling craft, you’ll need these ghastly supplies: (plaster) skull, hand saw, hot-glue gun, and gold metallic craft paint.
Learn more about how to make your bare-bones shelves shimmer here.
CREATURES OF THE NIGHT
Ready-made (and reusable) dastardly décor can make over your swamp shanty in the blink of a newt’s eye. Want to give neighbors or trick-or-treaters a taste of practical magic?
They will know your coven means business when you display a large illuminated witch window cling.
Or, if you’re looking for a way to romance the ladies (or gents) this Halloween, nothing says ‘I have room in my cave for one more’ than these glowing bat silhouettes.
Looking to impress rather than distress your monstrous guests? Revamp(ire) your dining room into a scene from a scary movie.
With holographic bats, black beads, and battery-operated tea lights, this chandelier is must-have for the spooky season.
When not haunted by dirty dishes, the kitchen can be a lonely, dreary place. A grinning Jack o’Lantern cookie jar – filled to the brim with treats! – will brighten up your surfaces.