Modern Home Dsgn

Traditionally carved pumpkins wide grins, seasonal words are a welcome sight on a Halloween theme front entry. This trio focuses on the eyes googly eyes, a Cyclops as well as a swoopy script for the Halloween message. Get our free designs below.

Editor's Tip: Rub petroleum jelly on the cut areas of the pumpkins to preserve them for even longer, and use battery-operated candles for ease and safety.

Dress up your Halloween porch with these easy to make painted pumpkins. Mask off the areas you want to remain unpainted, spray paint the pumpkins black, and remove the tape to reveal your design. Draw the outlines of block letters onto your pumpkins and fill in with black crafts paint; add polka dots to your pumpkins by carefully drilling holes with a cup drill bit. Make a black-and-white dotted pumpkin by applying black circle stickers to a white pumpkin. Use metal laundry tubs, barrels, or old chairs to give your fun pumpkin display varying height.

Add jack-o'-lantern faces to a cute wreath for your Halloween theme door. Paint about a dozen floral pods with black acrylic paint. Adhere stickers or use a liner brush to paint cheerful (or scary) faces on several of the pods. Once dry, use double stick tape or a T-pin to adhere to a floral wreath. Settle the wreath in between pumpkins or hang with a thick silk ribbon.

Set a spooky tone this season with decoupaged plates displayed by the front door. Use computer printed house numbers embellished with copyright free skeleton illustrations. Search for the art online under "human anatomy" or "anatomy."

It's easy to transform foam pumpkins into one of a kind accents for your outdoor Halloween decorating. Spray one pumpkin with glossy black paint and the other with matte black paint; cover a few pumpkins with discarded book pages. Cut a few additional book pages and silver crepe paper into leaf shapes for contrast. Group several pumpkins into an oversize cauldron or pot.

Ever wondered what to do with those cute, inexpensive urns from the crafts store? With a simple coat of spray paint they become spooky Halloween decorations. Stuff cotton batting and blocks of crafts foam inside. Stick white branches into the foam as desired. Cut-out black bats, fabric leaves, black webbing, and a few creepy crawly spider accents complete the look.

If classic, not creepy, is your autumn decorating style, than use an elegant display of pumpkins to send a welcoming holiday message. Here, three pumpkins each one a bit smaller than the one below it rest on each other. Use a favorite font and stencil a message with spray paint or a paint pen. Trail some moss or other accent from the base of a tall planter or urn. If you stack the pumpkins away from a wall, insert a piece of rebar or a dowel from top to bottom to prevent toppling.

Add a Halloween theme window covering to your front door to welcome the spooky season. Print two copies of our spider and web pattern, available below, onto white paper and enlarge to fit your window. Cut out the spider and web in two separate pieces to use as patterns. Trace the pattern pieces onto black construction paper, flipping the web pattern to use for the bottom of the window covering. Cut out the pieces, including the webbing indicated by the white within the web. Cut two rectangles from black construction paper to use as side pieces that join the top and bottom pieces, and cut yellow cellophane to fit inside the window. Tape the two web pieces, the two side pieces, and the spider to the cellophane, referring to the photo for placement. Tape the finished cellophane panel inside the window frame.

Skip the pricey holiday mats and make your own spider theme welcome mat for just a few dollars. Start with a lightweight black mat cut into a circle. Hot glue lengths of clothesline to the mat in a spiderweb pattern.

A supersize felt spider waits for Halloween guests in this wreath, making a spooky decoration for your front door. Wrap one skein of thick orange yarn (or two skeins of thin orange yarn) around a 12-inch straw wreath form so the threads lay neatly. Hot-glue one end of black rickrack trim to the back of the wreath form; wrap the rickrack around the form, evenly spacing the wraps and securing the trim to the back of the wreath with hot glue. Trace our spider pattern, available below, onto white paper and cut out. Trace the pattern onto black felt using a chalk pencil; cut out with a crafts knife. Position the felt spider in the center of the wreath, using straight pins to fasten the ends of the legs to the back side of the wreath. Hang the wreath with a wide black ribbon.

Infuse plain white lanterns with spooky spirit in minutes. Run lengths of black ribbon along the surface of an open paper lantern (we made one lantern with ribbon and one without). Print basic jack-o'-lantern clip art (a quick online search offers lots of options) onto white paper. Trim and tape to the front of the lantern. Hang it on your porch for a delightful welcome.

With a little witchcraft you can set the stage for a spooky evening at your front door. Light a warm path to your door with luminarias and a lighted grapevine garland framing the doorway. Dangle a few faux bats and spiders near porch lights. Add black witch, cat, bat, and ghost silhouettes made of heavy paper to windows to increase the spooky ambiance.

Simple steps and easy to find materials transform planters, lanterns, and pumpkins into a scary-fun Halloween doorstep arrangement. Adhere cat eyes (search online for copyright-free images) with crafts glue to urn planters or other pots. Tuck twigs, leaves, or flowers into sand or plastic foam-filled planters. Cut pieces of orange cardstock to fit lantern panels and tape jack-o'-lantern face pieces (cut from black cardstock) to the orange pieces. Place them behind the glass panels to protect from wind and rain. Add a few pumpkins and voila: Doorstep masterpiece accomplished!

Embrace the spirit of Halloween in your front yard with this spider filled bonanza. Secure a skeleton to the ground with rebar; use monofilament to pose the arms. Create a swarm of spiders with inexpensive plastic foam balls and chenille stems; secure to the ground with wired florist's picks.

Turn a front door window into a spider's clever trap with black crafts tape. Start with three long strips of tape, creating an off center X shape with two pieces and using the third to cut across the middle of the X, dividing your glass window into six sections. Starting at the center, add tape strips to each section until a web starts to take shape.

Symmetry is a wonderfully simple decorating tool to guide you in creating a seasonally beautiful entryway at Halloween or any holiday time. Here, two black feather wreaths, accented with long lengths of shimmery silver ribbon, dress up the towering front doors. Whimsical and not too spooky faux ravens beckon their own sort of welcome.

Go all-out on your outdoor Halloween decorating. On the stairs, welcome guests with tall lanterns wrapped in cardstock cut with faces, and situate among small pumpkins and gourds. Accent pillars with spooky planters, hang ghosts from the porch, and use tape to create black spiderwebs on your doors. As a final touch, wrap spare brooms with electrical tape for a cheap door side accent.

Part frightful, part formal, this skull-adorned wreath gets its stripes from overlapping strips of felt. You'll need about 50 each of 10x1/2 inch pieces of black and white felt. Use straight pins to secure to a 14 inch straw wreath form. Print the free skeleton image, below, and coat with decoupage medium; let dry. Use skewers to attach it to the wreath and tie a bow with upholstery fabric for dramatic effect.

Create your own spooky outdoor spiderweb planters from stretched and pulled cotton balls fitted over plants. Spell out a Halloween message with black foam letters attached to small dowels using adhesive before sticking them into the plant.

You don't need a lot of crafting skills, fancy tools, or even pricey supplies to add unique, fun Halloween accents to your front entry. Here, inexpensive spider rub ons, stickers, and trims decorate white kraft bags. Fill the bottoms of the bags with sand and stagger on the stairs or along your front walkway. Light with battery operated votive candles and accent with a variety of pumpkins.