5 downright disturbing DIY Halloween decorations

Thinking of hosting a Halloween party this year? After curating the perfect playlist, making last minute adjustments to your costume, and planning a menu, decorating your home can seem overwhelming (and expensive). Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list of the best quick and budget-friendly DIY Halloween decorations that are sure to spook your guests and leave them feeling a little uneasy. It’s time to leave the cute pumpkins and dancing skeletons to your neighbours and get inspired by these downright disturbing DIY Halloween decorations.

Via countryliving.com

1) Cabinet of curiosities

Start by turning your kitchen or cupboard into a witch’s (or mad scientist’s) cabinet of curiosities. Stock it with bottles of potion ingredients, a pickled head or two, or a dead terrarium and you’ve got an inexpensive and spooky display for your guests.

The first step is to fill your cabinet with ingredients fit for any cauldron. The 36th Avenue blog recommends raiding the recycling bin for wine bottles, mason jars, or Perrier bottles to serve as the containers for your potions and ingredients. Clean and dry the containers and cover them with glass stain, mod podge and crackle paint, or chalkboard paint. Once dry, affix a label or simply paint an ingredient on the front (we recommend poison, eye of newt, root of hemlock, snake venom, scale of dragon, or tooth of wolf). Country Living has printable pdfs for excellent apothecary-inspired labels, or you can order these vintage-looking poison labels from Etsy.

Now that you’ve got your ingredients, it’s time to add something that will give your guests a fright. Instructables.com has a terrifying tutorial for a pickled head in a jar. Slip this amongst your cabinet of potions, sit back, and watch your guests react to this startling image.

Finally, add a ‘dead terrarium’ to the mix by filling a jar with moss, rocks, dead branches, and perhaps even a few bones (you can save the moss, rocks, jar for a real terrarium after the party!).

Via Pinterest

2) Paranormal portraits

Sometimes the best decorations are the most subtle. If you’re hosting a party, try replacing all of your photos with creepy Victorian portraits. Instructables has a great tutorial for creating your own horrifying photos. If you’re not tech savvy or short on time don’t worry, Pinterest is a goldmine for creepy Victorian images, disturbing clowns, nightmarish scenes, and eerie photographs. Put these in your existing frames, add a few cobwebs, and wait for your guests to stumble upon these unsettling images. You can also mix in these creepy diagrams or a certificate of insanity to set an eerie tone for your party.

Via marthastewart.com

3) Spooky silhouettes

Window silhouettes are an affordable and quick way to create a creepy atmosphere as your guests make their way to your front door. Pinterest has no shortage of silhouette ideas but Martha Stewart’s Silhouette Curtains are by far the creepiest. If you don’t have the time (or sewing skills) for Martha’s project, you can always use black paper to create your own silhouettes. We like this butcher’s window, this beheaded woman, and this simple yet creepy room of prisoners.

Via marthastewart.com

4) Creepy centrepieces

Pulling together a creepy centrepiece will create a terrifying dining table or spooky bar for your guests. You can get creative with Martha Stewart’s rotting centrepiece, or you can just scatter bones around to keep your guests on edge.

Martha Stewart has a simple tutorial for a Rotten Eggs and Centipede Centerpiece. The most realistic-looking critters can be found at any store that sells fishing lures or bait. Martha Stewart recommends the 8-inch centipede superbait.

If you’re running out of time and can’t pull Martha’s centrepiece together don’t worry, you can simply buy a skeleton from any party supply store and take it apart, scattering the bones across your table or bar area. To really set the mood, place several bones in mason jars or under glass domes to complement your cabinet of curiosities. If you’re working with a cheap plastic skeleton, try giving it a quick coat of ivory paint to make it look more realistic.

Via marthastewart.com

5) Terrifying finishing touches

Now it’s time to add some terrifying finishing touches to the home. Try hanging these surprisingly realistic origami bats in the hall or from a chandelier. All you need is some black construction paper and some string or tape to hang them in the corners of each room.

If you live near a wig shop or craft store and can get your hands on a styrofoam mannequin head, you can easily make Martha Stewart’s Cheesecloth Spirits and hang them in your front yard or at the end of a dark hallway.

Finally, if you’ve got a closet where guests will be hanging coats, make your own glow in the dark eyes to put your guests on edge right from the get-go. Just cut out varying eye shapes from empty toilet paper rolls and then place glow sticks inside (orange, red, and green are the creepiest), duct tape the sides of the roll closed, and hang inside your coat closet for maximum effect.

What’s your favourite way to scare guests at Halloween? Share your quick and spooky Halloween decor tips with us at @NewHomeBuyers or on Facebook!