30May

Life Hacks

Easy DIY Halloween Ideas For A Spooktacular Celebration

The cost of decorating your home or planning a party for Halloween definitely doesn’t have to be terrifying. You can have a truly spooky night with some DIY tricks and treats, great for crafting as a family. Creating decorations and yummy snacks by hand is not only great fun but really rewarding too and you can even keep some of your DIY pieces for next year to use again! Try out some of these easy DIY Halloween ideas at the kitchen table, ready for the party you’re hosting or just as a fun seasonal activity for October 31st.

DIY Halloween food and drink

Sweet tooth

You will need:

  • Red apples
  • Mini marshmallows
  • Peanut butter

For a healthy Halloween snack – for kids and adults alike – slice up red apples and spread a little peanut butter to one side of a slice. Grab some mini marshmallows and line these up in the peanut butter to create the effect of teeth, then place two slices together for a spooky mouth to munch on. These look great grouped together on a Halloween themed plate, perhaps with some chocolate eyeballs dotted in between.

Pretend pumpkin juice

You will need:

  • Orange juice
  • Orange food colouring
  • Mason jar
  • Sharpie pen
  • Green straw

While Harry Potter may have enjoyed pumpkin juice every day in the Great Hall, making it yourself can feel like hard work. Instead, swap the pumpkin out for orange juice and mix with a little orange food colouring to achieve that squash inspired colour. Take a mason jar and a Sharpie and draw a cute Jack-O-Lantern face onto this – it can be smiley, mean looking or as scary as you like. Pour in your juice, add a green straw and enjoy!

Sugar skeletons

You will need:

  • Gingerbread men – homemade or shop bought
  • White and black icing – homemade or shop bought
  • Piping bag
  • Black edible food marker

Dress up usually cute Gingerbread men for Halloween with a spooky skeleton design. It doesn’t matter whether you make them yourself or pick them up from the supermarket – Mary Berry won’t be around to judge you.

Coat them in a thin layer of black icing and leave this to dry, then fill a piping bag with white icing and carefully pipe bone shapes onto their limbs. Add a rib cage and fill in the face with white icing. Leave to dry then draw on some faces with your edible food marker. If you don’t have one of these take a toothpick and dip this into the black icing then carefully draw onto the white face.

DIY Halloween party decorations

Creepy candles

You will need:

  • Toilet roll tubes
  • Tissue paper
  • PVA glue
  • White and yellow paint
  • LED tealight candle
  • Sticky tape

Creating your own spooky candles is easy. Simply take a bowl and pour in some PVA glue and a little water then take strips of tissue paper and dip these in. Use the wet tissue to create a dripping candle effect on the side of the toilet roll tube, working around the edge, then leave to dry.

Once dry grab your white paint and apply a coat, then finally apply a layer of yellow paint. Your candle is now ready to go. Simply push an LED tea light candle into the top of the tube – you may need to secure this in place with some sticky tape – then place around your home for some fun creepy vibes.

Eyes on you

You will need:

  • Ping pong balls
  • Large plastic plate
  • Twine
  • White paint
  • Glue – super glue or a hot glue gun is best
  • Googly eyes

A Halloween wreath is a great addition to any front door – and lets guests know where the party is happening. This wreath features lots and lots of eyeballs to create that creepy effect. Simply cut out the middle of your plastic plate, then wrap the twine around this. Secure in place, paint white and leave to dry.

Once it is dry start to stick your ping pong balls all over this until it is completely covered then apply a googly eye to each one. It creates a strong but spooky effect. Hang on your front door with a long piece of black ribbon and wait for the screams (of delight and awe).

Sparkly spiders

You will need:

  • Plastic spiders
  • Different coloured spray paint or acrylic paint
  • Glitter

Want to add a cute twist to your party, or decorate to a colour scheme? Pick up some plastic decorative spiders – you’ll find these in your local supermarket at this time of year – and paint them lots of fun colours. They make for great party bag gifts or can be spread throughout your house for a twist on the theme.

Use different coloured spray paints – ensure you do this in a well ventilated area – or grab a paint brush and some metallic acrylic paint. Add a pinch of glitter while the paint is still wet for a fun shimmer effect.

Cute creepers

You will need:

  • Large Styrofoam balls
  • White voile or cheesecloth material
  • String
  • Black card
  • Fishing wire
  • Scissors

Create cute but creepy ghosts to hang in your home with this easy DIY Halloween decor. Simply take a large styrofoam ball and drape your chosen material over this, then thread  fishing wire through the top to hold it in place and hang later.

Take your black card and cut out two eyes and an open mouth to stick on for the ghost’s face than hang in place. While suspended grab some scissors and cut the bottom of the voile into ragged strips to create that ghostly effect. Make two or three and hang in the entrance of your home to greet guests when they arrive.

Get that party in full swing with these easy Halloween DIY ideas to try out at home and have a truly spooky October 31st.