A milk jug can haunt your porch, while a cereal box can become a graveyard. Before you toss those empty containers, check what you can make with a little paint, paper and imagination. These seven Halloween decorations start with household items you might otherwise recycle or throw away. You will need a few craft supplies, but the main pieces may already be sitting in your kitchen.
Mummy Jars
Save a clean glass jar and wrap the outside in gauze, securing the ends with glue. Add googly eyes to give it a face. The Mason jar mummy tutorial from Oriental Trading finishes the project with a battery-operated flameless candle inside. You can tear small openings in the gauze for a ragged look. Keep the light battery-powered rather than putting a flame near the fabric.
Milk Jug Ghost Lantern
That empty white gallon jug is almost ready for its Halloween debut. Wash and dry it, then draw a ghostly face with a waterproof black marker. Cut a hole in the side and slide in a battery-operated votive or fairy lights. House Digest’s ghost lantern instructions use the same basic supplies. Adults should handle the cutting when younger children help decorate.
Tin Can Lanterns
Clean out an empty food can, fill it with water and freeze it solid. According to Earth911’s tin can lantern guide, the ice helps stop the metal from denting while you punch a pattern with a hammer and nail. Wrap the can in a towel first. After the ice melts, dry it and place an LED candle inside. Sharp edges and tools make this an adult project.
Cereal Box Headstones
Flatten a cereal box and turn its cardboard into a little graveyard. Cut headstone shapes, paint them gray and add names or playful messages once the paint dries. The U.S. PIRG Education Fund recommends cereal boxes, paint and glue for this Halloween decoration. Stand the finished pieces against a wall or attach a folded cardboard support behind each one for an indoor display.
Egg Carton Spiders
Cut an individual cup from a cardboard egg carton and paint it black. Add googly eyes, then poke eight holes around the sides and thread pipe cleaners through them for legs. All Kids Network’s egg carton spider craft includes these steps and notes that an adult should make holes when scissors are used. Bend the pipe cleaners so your spider can perch on a shelf.
Newspaper Spiderweb
A sheet of old newspaper can become a window or wall web. Cut it into a square, fold it and snip shapes along the folded edges before carefully opening it. FirstPalette’s paper spiderweb tutorial shows the fold-and-cut method and explains how to display the finished web with tape or string. Try a smaller square first to practice your cuts before making a larger decoration.
Potion Bottles
Rinse an empty glass bottle and turn it into a prop for a pretend witch’s shelf. Paint the outside, add an aged-looking printed potion label and finish with twine if you like. Press Print Party’s Halloween potion bottle tutorial uses paint, labels, Mod Podge and decorative details to create the look. Let the paint and adhesive dry according to their product directions, and keep these bottles decorative rather than using them for drinks.
See the Possibilities Before You Toss It
A good Halloween display doesn’t have to begin in a store aisle. Once you start looking at packaging as craft material, you give yourself more room to experiment without needing everything to look perfect. Make what you can, keep the pieces you enjoy and remember that the most memorable decorations often have a story behind how they were made.