12 Easy DIY Halloween Decorations You Can Make on a Budget

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I think are useful and relevant to the ideas shared here. Thanks for supporting My Budget Space!

Halloween decor has a funny way of going from “I’ll just get a few little things” to “Why did I spend $87 on plastic skeletons?” very quickly.

The good news? You really don’t need a house-sized inflatable ghost or a shopping cart full of orange-and-black everything to make your home feel Halloween-ready. A few inexpensive supplies, some things you probably already have lying around, and a willingness to make your home look slightly haunted can go surprisingly far.

And no, you don’t need to be the Martha Stewart of Halloween. Many of these ideas are basically cut, glue, drape, paint, and admire your own genius. So if you’re decorating on a budget, renting your home, or simply don’t want to spend the next three weeks explaining why there is a $60 skeleton sitting in your living room, here are 12 easy DIY Halloween decorations you can actually make and use.

Make a Haunted Portrait Wall

You know those slightly-too-serious framed portraits that look like they belong in an old mansion? Give them a Halloween job. Take inexpensive thrift-store frames, old family-style portraits, vintage-looking prints, or even printed public-domain artwork and turn them into a little haunted gallery.

You can darken the frames with black or brown paint, add tiny paper bats around the artwork, or place creepy eyes over the portraits for an intentionally strange effect. For an especially Addams Family-style mood, keep everything else simple: dark frames, old-looking artwork, candles, books, and one suspiciously creepy object.

For inspiration, Martha Stewart’s haunted framed-art idea shows how ordinary artwork can be transformed into spooky seasonal decor.

What you’ll need:

• Old or inexpensive picture frames
• Printed artwork or portraits
• Black or dark brown paint
• Paintbrush
• Optional paper bats or faux cobwebs

Budget trick: Check a thrift store before buying new frames. Halloween is the perfect excuse to give an ugly old frame a second life.

Create Floating Witch Hats

This one is wonderfully dramatic for something that requires almost no crafting ability. Buy a few inexpensive black witch hats, or make simple cone-shaped hats from black cardstock, and hang them from the ceiling using clear fishing line or thin string.

Place them at different heights above an entryway, dining table, reading corner, or staircase. Suddenly, your house looks like a witches’ convention is about to begin—and if you’re going for Harry Potter vibes, you can make the whole thing even better with warm fairy lights, old books, dark glass bottles, and battery-powered candles.

What you’ll need:

• Black witch hats
• Clear fishing line or thin string
• Removable hooks or painter’s tape
• Optional fairy lights

Rental-friendly tip: Use removable hooks rather than drilling into the ceiling. Your landlord does not need to discover that Halloween apparently became a structural renovation.

Turn Glass Jars Into Creepy Lanterns

Before throwing another pasta sauce jar into the recycling, give it a Halloween career. Clean a few glass jars and decorate them with black paper silhouettes, spiders, bats, moons, or creepy little faces. Add a battery-operated LED tea light inside and line several together on a shelf, windowsill, or table.

You can also loosely wrap the outside with gauze or tissue paper for a cloudy, ghostly effect. The result is atmospheric rather than aggressively spooky, which means you can leave these out without making your living room look like the set of a low-budget horror movie.

Good Housekeeping’s Halloween decorating ideas include plenty of similar ways to turn everyday materials into inexpensive seasonal decorations.

What you’ll need:

• Empty glass jars
• Black paper
• Scissors
• Tape or glue
• LED tea lights
• Optional gauze, tissue paper, or faux spiders

Important: Stick with LED lights rather than putting an actual flame inside a decorated jar.

Make a Giant Paper Bat Swarm

One bat is cute. Twenty bats flying across your wall? Now we’re getting somewhere. Cut bat silhouettes from black cardstock or construction paper in several different sizes, then fold the wings slightly so they aren’t completely flat.

Arrange them across a wall as though they’re flying toward a doorway or window. Don’t line them up too neatly; let some fly higher, some lower, and a few appear to disappear around a corner. That little bit of randomness makes the swarm look much more natural.

You can find a similar approach in Martha Stewart’s hanging-bat project, which uses paper bats to create a dramatic Halloween display.

What you’ll need:

• Black cardstock
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Painter’s tape or removable adhesive

Make it look better: Use at least three different bat sizes. The variation makes the swarm look more natural and gives your wall a little movement.

Give Your Bookshelf a Haunted-Library Makeover

If you’re a reader, congratulations: your bookshelf was already halfway to Halloween. Start with the books you already own and rearrange a few into horizontal stacks, turn some covers outward, and add small pumpkins, faux spiders, dried branches, black candles, or tiny skulls between the stacks.

You can even make simple faux spellbooks from old cardboard boxes by wrapping them in brown or black paper and adding handwritten labels such as Potions & Poisons, Forbidden Things, or Things I Probably Shouldn’t Have Opened. Very Hogwarts, slightly Addams Family, and extremely inexpensive.

As Martha Stewart’s budget Halloween decorating advice points out, shopping your own home and repurposing things you already have can be an easy way to decorate without spending much.

Budget trick: You don’t need Halloween-specific accessories. A stack of old books, a candle, and one creepy object can already look like a deliberate little Halloween vignette.

Make Ghosts From Old Fabric

These little ghosts are practically the Halloween equivalent of throwing a sheet over yourself and calling it a costume—except they actually look cute. Take scraps of white fabric, an old white pillowcase, cheesecloth, or lightweight cotton and drape it over a small lightweight object to create the ghost’s shape.

Secure the fabric underneath and add a simple face with a black marker or small pieces of black felt. For a more sophisticated look, skip the cartoon face altogether and leave the ghosts completely blank. A group of pale, faceless figures floating around a shelf or doorway can look surprisingly eerie.

What you’ll need:

• White fabric
• String or twine
• Small lightweight objects for shaping
• Black marker or felt

Style tip: Make some ghosts tiny and some larger. A group of mismatched ghosts looks much more charming than twelve identical ones.

Turn an Old Mirror Into a Haunted Mirror

This one is for anyone who wants their Halloween decor to whisper “something is definitely wrong here” instead of screaming “Halloween section at the store.” Take an old mirror and create a temporary haunted effect around it with removable black paper lettering, faux cobwebs, paper fingerprints, or a creepy silhouette positioned nearby.

Keep the actual reflective surface clear so the mirror remains useful. Because frankly, Halloween is fun until you can’t see whether your eyeliner is even.

What you’ll need:

• Existing mirror
• Black cardstock
• Faux cobwebs
• Removable adhesive
• Optional printed spooky silhouette

Best placement: A hallway or entryway mirror can make the entire area feel more atmospheric without requiring much additional decor.

Create a Creepy Candleholder From Thrifted Finds

This is one of those DIYs where the finished result can look significantly more expensive than the materials. Look for inexpensive candlestick holders, vases, bowls, or mismatched decorative pieces at a thrift store, then paint them matte black, deep burgundy, or dark green—or leave metallic pieces as they are.

Group several together on a tray and add battery-powered taper candles. Suddenly: haunted mansion. Martha Stewart’s thrift-store Halloween ideas also highlight old candleholders and candelabras as useful pieces for creating a dramatic, old-world look.

What you’ll need:

• Thrifted candleholders
• Paint, if desired
• Battery-operated taper candles
• Tray or shallow dish

The secret: Imperfect pieces are actually better here. Halloween decor doesn’t need to look factory-produced, and mismatched candleholders can make the display feel like it came straight out of an old haunted house.

Make a No-Carve Pumpkin Display

Pumpkin carving is fun until you’re standing over a kitchen counter covered in pumpkin guts wondering why you did this to yourself. Enter the no-carve pumpkin.

Use small pumpkins or faux pumpkins and decorate them with paint, ribbon, black paper, dried flowers, pressed leaves, or simple patterns. Try matte black pumpkins, white pumpkins with tiny black bats, black-and-white stripes, or pumpkins decorated with dried flowers for something that feels festive without looking like a children's Halloween aisle.

Good Housekeeping’s Halloween decorating collection includes several no-carve and painted pumpkin approaches if you want more inspiration.

Budget trick: Don’t feel obligated to buy six pumpkins. Two or three grouped together can look much more intentional than a pumpkin on every available surface.

Make a Halloween Window Silhouette

Your windows are basically free advertising for your Halloween decor. Cut silhouettes from black paper or cardstock—bats, cats, crooked trees, witches, ghosts, or even a suspiciously tall person standing in a doorway—and tape them to the inside of your windows so they're visible from outside.

For an eerie evening effect, position a warm lamp behind the window. You can make the scene as elaborate or simple as you want, but a crooked tree with a few bats can look surprisingly atmospheric without requiring any artistic talent.

What you’ll need:

• Black cardstock or construction paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Removable tape
• Optional lamp or warm LED lighting

Extra creepy idea: Create a tiny silhouette scene rather than covering the entire window. Sometimes one strange little figure is scarier than an entire army of skeletons.

DIY a Halloween Garland From Paper

Garlands are the workhorses of seasonal decorating. They fill an empty wall, shelf, mantel, or window without demanding much money—or much storage space afterward.

Cut triangles, circles, ghosts, bats, pumpkins, or letters from cardstock and string them together with twine. But you don’t have to make the traditional BOO banner. Try something more playful like “Eek,” “Beware,” “Stay Spooky,” or even “No One Leaves.”

If you’re leaning into Beetlejuice energy, keep the palette mostly black and white with a little purple or green. For a more grown-up version, use black, cream, and deep burgundy paper and skip the lettering altogether.

Better Homes & Gardens has several easy Halloween craft ideas using accessible materials such as paper and cardboard that can inspire your own version.

Make a Tiny Haunted House Display

You don’t need a full-size haunted house. Make one tiny enough to fit on a bookshelf.

Use a cardboard box, small wooden house, or even an old shoebox to create a miniature haunted house. Paint it black or dark gray, cut out tiny windows and doors, and add details such as crooked shutters, paper bats, tiny pumpkins, or a miniature graveyard. Then place a small LED light behind it so the windows glow after dark.

That’s it. You now have a miniature haunted property that requires approximately zero lawn space and absolutely no municipal permits.

What you’ll need:

• Shoebox or cardboard box
• Black or gray paint, or dark paper
• Cardstock
• Glue
• Scissors or craft knife
• LED tea light
• Optional moss, twigs, or tiny pumpkins

Safety note: If you’re making this with children, an adult should handle any craft knife or sharp cutting tools.

How to Make DIY Halloween Decor Look Less DIY

Here’s the secret nobody tells you: the craft itself isn’t what makes Halloween decor look good. The styling does. You can make the simplest paper bats in the world and have them look surprisingly sophisticated if you think about the colors, placement, and surrounding decor.

Pick a Color Palette

You don’t have to use bright orange for everything. Try combinations such as:

• Black + cream + warm white
• Black + burgundy + brass
• Deep green + black + brown
• Black + white + a tiny amount of purple
• Rust + brown + charcoal

A limited palette immediately makes homemade decor feel more intentional, especially when you’re mixing several different DIY projects in the same room.

Group Things Instead of Scattering Them Everywhere

Three pumpkins together usually look better than one pumpkin sitting randomly on every available surface. Create little decor moments: a haunted bookshelf, a spooky coffee-table tray, a creepy entryway corner, or a small Halloween display on a sideboard.

Your home doesn’t need to look like Halloween exploded in it. A few well-styled areas can make the whole room feel festive without taking over your everyday living space.

Mix Creepy With Ordinary

This is one of my favorite tricks because it makes Halloween decor feel much less forced. Put a little ghost beside your everyday books, add a black bat swarm above your normal artwork, or place a tiny skeleton beside a houseplant.

That contrast makes the Halloween pieces more interesting—and means you don’t have to completely redecorate your home every October.

The Best Part? Most of This Can Be Packed Away

One reason I love DIY Halloween decor is that you don’t necessarily need to buy things you’ll hate storing for the other eleven months of the year. Paper bats fold flat, garlands take almost no room, fabric ghosts can be folded into a drawer, and cardboard haunted houses can be flattened or recycled.

Even better, many of the basic supplies—black paper, twine, jars, cardboard, paint, old frames, fabric, and battery lights—can be reused for other seasonal projects. If you’re decorating on a budget, that makes DIY Halloween decor a lot more appealing than buying a giant novelty decoration that spends most of the year taking up half your closet.

And if you need even more inspiration, Good Housekeeping’s Halloween decorating collection has plenty of ideas ranging from creepy-crawly lanterns to wreaths, pumpkins, garlands, and outdoor displays.

Continue Reading

If you’re giving your home the full spooky-season treatment, don’t stop at one DIY project. Keep the Halloween decorating going with more MyBudgetSpace ideas for creating a festive home without blowing the budget.

Fall Decor Under $25: What I’d Actually Buy

10 DIY Fall Decor Ideas Using Things You Already Have

Layered Lighting Explained: The Secret to a Cozy Apartment

Halloween Outdoor Decoration Ideas for Your Porch, Lawn, Patio & More

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I decorate my house for Halloween on a budget?

Start with items you already own and add inexpensive materials such as cardstock, jars, fabric, cardboard, twine, and LED lights. You can also repurpose thrifted frames, candleholders, books, and other household objects instead of buying brand-new Halloween decorations.

What are some easy DIY Halloween decorations for beginners?

Paper bats, Halloween garlands, fabric ghosts, decorated jars, no-carve pumpkins, and window silhouettes are all beginner-friendly options. Most require only basic supplies and simple cutting, painting, gluing, or arranging, so you don’t need advanced crafting skills to get a good result.

How can I make Halloween decorations look classy instead of tacky?

Use a limited color palette, avoid covering every surface, and mix Halloween pieces with your existing decor. Black, cream, burgundy, dark green, and metallic accents can create a more sophisticated Halloween look than using bright orange and novelty decorations everywhere.

What are the best DIY Halloween decorations for renters?

Choose decorations that don’t require permanent changes to the home, such as paper bats, hanging garlands, removable window silhouettes, decorated shelves, tabletop displays, and fabric ghosts. Painter’s tape and removable hooks can also help minimize damage to walls and other surfaces.

What can I use instead of expensive Halloween decorations?

Look around your home first. Old jars, cardboard boxes, books, picture frames, fabric scraps, thrifted candleholders, paper, and unused craft supplies can all become Halloween decor with a little creativity. Shopping your own home before buying new pieces is one of the easiest ways to keep seasonal decorating affordable.