10 Easy DIY Halloween Decor Ideas For Kids

Halloween is just around the corner now and it’s likely that you’ve seen your neighbours start to put out their Halloween decorations all ready for the big night. This year, in particular, the purse strings are a bit tight. so the thought of heading out to the shops to purchase spooky decorations that are likely to stay out for a night or two before being thrown away or stored in the loft until next year can seem a little over the top. 

But worry not, if you still want to celebrate Halloween (especially with the children), then here are some easy DIY Halloween decor ideas that you can craft together with your kids. These Halloween decorations are cheap and easy to make, and now’s the perfect time to get crafting – so let’s go! 

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1 Devilish Toilet Paper Eyes

When it comes to easy DIY Halloween decor, it doesn’t get better than this. These devilish toilet roll eyes look amazing when strategically hidden away in hedges and flower pots, creating the appearance of monstrous Halloween characters spying on your unsuspecting trick or treaters.

All you need to do is get your hands on a few glow sticks* and some empty toilet roll tubes. Using scissors, cut various eye shapes into your toilet roll tubes and position the glow sticks inside. You may want to use some sellotape to hold the glow sticks in place. Even if it rains, this cheap and easy DIY Halloween decoration should last the night, making it a great addition to your Halloween aesthetic. 

2 Creepy Crawly Soap

If you’re the type of Halloween decorator who likes to leave no stone unturned, and no corner untouched, you’ll love this super easy DIY Halloween decor idea! Pick up some small plastic creepy crawlies, such as plastic bugs or plastic spiders*, and squish them into your liquid soap container. You could even use small plastic eyeballs!

3 Bloody Candles

Is it even Halloween without the mention of blood? Don’t worry, this easy DIY Halloween decor idea isn’t gruesome or graphic, but it is a fun one to do with kids – providing they have adult supervision! All you need in order to create these atmospheric bloody candles is a few white candles, a red candle, and some props, such as nails. Simply light the red candle and wait for some of the wax to melt, then drip it down over the white candles until it looks like the white candles are dripping with blood. Allow the wax to dry before adding your nails, screws, or pins to the candle for some extra gory vibes. 

4 Mummy Jars

If you’re looking for an easy DIY Halloween decor item that looks great on your mantle or windowsill, mummy jars are simple and quick to make. Wrap some empty jam jars with bandage material and use some hot glue to hold the bandages in place. To finish it off, add some googly eyes, and voila – one mummy jar! Pop a battery operated tea light* inside and position it in groups of 3. Tip: use various sizes of jars to create a fun-looking display. 

5 Scary Bloodshot Eye Balloons

For this easy DIY Halloween decor hack, all you need is a few white balloons and some colourful marker pens*. Draw a big circle at the top of your balloon and place a smaller circle inside. Colour the outer circle with our marker pens the colour that you’d like your eyeball to be and colour the middle circle black (for the pupil). Finish it off with some red lines around the rest of the balloon all coming from the two circles in order to create a bloodshot appearance.

5 Chalk Outlines

Another one of the easiest and cheapest Halloween decorations that you can do yourself is the chalk outline. All you need is a flat surface to lie on, such as your path or driveway. Lie down and have someone draw around you using some white chalk* and then carefully get up. You’ll be left with a chalk outline very similar to those associated with murder scenes that you and your kids will have seen on the TV. 

6 DIY Bloody Signs

One of my favourite easy DIY Halloween decor ideas is the DIY sign. We love making these every year and they’re so easy to make, yet so effective. All you need is a big piece of cardboard, some poster paint and a paintbrush. Start off by using your paintbrush to write out your scary message, these phrases are particularly effective: “Beware!”, “Keep off!”, and “Knock if you dare!”. Once you’re done, crack open the red paint and put some on your hands. Make two red handprints on your sign and drag your hands down across the cardboard to give the appearance of two bloody hands being dragged away.

7 Cauliflower Brains

If you’ve got a jar or bowl big enough for a head of cauliflower, you’ve got the perfect opportunity to make some creepy cauliflower brain displays. Remove all the leaves from your cauliflower and place them into a big container of water. For bonus points, use some software such as Canva to create some old-fashioned labels to glue onto your jars. 

8 Toilet Paper Bats

I used to love making toilet paper bats with Luke when he was younger. They’re another easy DIY Halloween decor idea for kids that are simple to make but look great when strung up from the ceiling. If you want to know how to make them, check out this post: How To Make Toilet Roll Bats For Halloween.

9 Pumpkin Carvings

Halloween isn’t Halloween without pumpkin carvings, right?! Over in the USA, they call them jack-o-lanterns, and they’re just as popular (maybe even more so!). What I love about carving pumpkins with children is that you can literally do this and NOTHING ELSE and you still feel like you’ve done your bit when it comes to creating some easy DIY Halloween decor. If you don’t like carving pumpkins (although I do recommend it if nothing else but for our scrummy roasted pumpkin seeds recipe), there are dozens of pumpkin carving alternatives online, including washi tape* pumpkins and melting crayons over pumpkins to create colourful centrepieces. 

10 Poison Apple Bucket

If you are a fruit-loving family or you’ve found yourself inundated with apples this autumn, a great way to display them for Halloween is to create a poison apple bucket. Yes, this plays into Snow White’s poison apple predicament and paired with a homemade sign (like the ones mentioned above), you’ve got yourself a very quick and simple Halloween decoration. Simply pop this on your porch or outside of your front door on the evening of Halloween for an easy DIY Halloween decor piece.

Looking for more…?

If you’re looking for more Halloween ideas, or you’re interested in autumn themed content, check out these posts. 

Printable DIY Halloween Decorations

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Autumn Self Care Tips

Homemade Chocolate Apples Recipe

5 Of The Best Autumn Puddings

30 Things To Do With Kids In Autumn

Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 2 Ways

Fireworks Process Art

Autumn Leaves Suncatcher Art

Autumn Bucketlist