18 Halloween Party Decorations for Families

By Amanda Kingloff, Suzonne Stirling, and Caylin Harris
Updated August 10, 2020
Heather Weston

Want to throw a spook-tacular Halloween party for all the ghouls and goblins in your neighborhood? Start by creating some of these 16 festive decorations.

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Spooky-Eyes Wreath

Credit: Sabrina Helas

What You'll Need: 

1 skein super bulky dark yarn, 12-inch foam wreath form, 11x18-inch sheets of black and yellow craft foam or felt, straight pins, faux moss, glue gun and glue

What To Do:

1. Pin the end of the yarn into the back of the wreath and wind the yarn around to completely cover, keeping the wraps tight and close together. Pin or tie yarn off in back to secure.

2. Stack the black foam on top of the yellow. Place the wreath on top. Trace the outside of the wreath onto the foam and cut out approximately ½ inch in from the traced circle. Set the yellow piece aside.

3. Draw two eyes in the center of the black foam piece with a pencil. Carefully cut out. Place black circle over the yellow circle, and pin through both layers to secure onto the back of the wreath. Position and glue on faux moss to finish.

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Spooky-Eyes Wreath How-To Video

Check out this video when making the "Spooky-Eyes Wreath" Halloween party decoration.

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Ghost-Face Frames

Credit: Sabrina Helas

What You'll Need: 

Foam heads, serrated knife, 11x14-inch or larger frames, hot glue, Mod Podge, foam brush, cheesecloth

What To Do:

1. Working over newspaper (because this step is messy!), cut the foam heads in half along the center line using a serrated knife.

2. Remove the glass from the frames. Hot glue each foam head to the frame backing.

3. Coat foam heads with Mod Podge and place a layer of cheesecloth over the top (it should be long enough to wrap around the back of the frame). Press to secure. Apply additional layers of Mod Podge and cheesecloth as desired. Let dry completely.

4. Put the frame back together, trim the cheesecloth, and hang.

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Ghost-Face Frames How-To Video

Check out this video when making the "Ghost-Face Frames" Halloween party decoration.

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Cat Decals

Credit: Sabrina Helas

What You'll Need:

Template, X-Acto knife or small sharp scissors, adhesive-backed vinyl or removable wallpaper

What To Do:

1. Print the template here; cut out. Trace onto the back of vinyl or wallpaper; cut out.

2. Peel and stick the shapes onto a mirror hung at kid-level. Then see which kid makes the most convincing kitty!

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Pop-Up Graveyard

Credit: Sabrina Helas

What You'll Need: 

1 sheet black poster board, templates, 6 sheets doublesided sparkly black scrapbook paper, 2 sheets purple scrapbook paper, 1 sheet yellow scrapbook paper, 1 sheet orange scrapbook paper, adhesive foam squares, 6 baby-doll arms, X-Acto knife, white spray paint, paper medical tape, faux moss

What To Do: 

1. Measure and mark a line 18 inches up from the bottom of the poster board. Cut on the line. Fold the 18-inch piece in half horizontally and cut a slight wave pattern along one edge (this will be the top).

2. Create the pop-up supports: Starting about 2¼ inches in from one side, make two cuts along the folded edge about 1½ inches apart. Create 3 more, varying the length of cuts (this will give the scene a 3-D effect). Open the poster board; push out supports so they stand at a 90-degree angle.

3. Using templates and sparkly black scrapbook paper, trace and cut out house and gravestones.

4. Add purple clouds, yellow moon, a fence, and pumpkins as desired. Use foam squares to attach shapes to supports.

5. Remove arms from dolls. Using X-Acto knife, cut the arms at the joint to create a flat edge. Apply two coats of white spray paint. Let dry completely. Wrap with thin strips of paper tape for mummy arms.

6. Position moss and arms with adhesive squares and display.

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Ceiling Spider

Credit: Heather Weston

What You'll Need:

Hot glue, black fringe, large and small black paper lanterns, monofilament, white painter's tape, white and black sticky-back felt, scissors.

What to Do:

Hot-glue eight lengths of black fringe, four on each side, evenly spaced, to large black paper lantern. Use monofilament and white painter's tape to suspend small lantern to the ceiling in front of large lantern and to create the bends in the spider's legs. Cut two large white ovals and two small black ovals from sticky-back felt; adhere to small lantern as eyes.

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Candy-Craft Spiders

Watch this video to learn how to make "Candy-Craft Spider" Halloween party decorations.

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Boo-ffet table

Credit: Heather Weston

Looking for creative buffet ideas? Decorate your sweet spread with a black-and-orange paper banner; stick Con-Tact paper letters on the wall.

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Ghost Pops

Credit: Heather Weston

These classic Halloween treats never go out of style.

What You'll Need:

White chenille stems, tissues, round lollipops, 1/8-inch ribbon, 7mm googly eyes, black fine-tip marker, glue, scissors.

What To Do:

Cut chenille stems into thirds and set aside. Gather one or two tissues around the lollipop and secure by twisting a chenille stem piece around the lollipop stick. Cover chenille stem with a piece of 1/8-inch ribbon and knot. Glue on two googly eyes and draw mouth with black marker.

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Hat Trick

Credit: Frances Janisch

Disguise a living room lamp as a witch with a simple shade craft. Click through to the next slide for an instructional video.

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Hat Trick How-To Video

Watch this video to learn how to transform a lamp into a witch. 

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Reflect on It

Credit: Heather Weston

Cling-vinyl ghosts stick to an entryway mirror easily. Tack plastic spiders to a lampshade with adhesive putty.

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Fright Light

Credit: Heather Weston

Wrap the inside of glass vases with colored vellum and attach cling-vinyl faces to the outside. For safety, replace candles with glow sticks.

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Step Aside

Credit: Heather Weston

Use men's dress shoes as a template for Con-Tact paper decorations.

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Pumpkin Hatch

Credit: Heather Weston

Fill egg-carton cups with candy and wrap with orange streamers for a sweet party favor.

What You'll Need:

Styrofoam or cardboard egg cartons, scissors, tape, double-sided tape, glue, orange crepe paper, green chenille stems, black Con-Tact paper, nail or pen.

What To Do:

Cut out individual compartments from an egg carton and trim neatly. Fill with candy, then place another inverted compartment on top and tape closed. Attach one end of the crepe-paper streamer to top with double-sided tape and wrap, top to bottom, around egg carton until it's covered with a ribbed design. Secure the loose end of the streamer to the bottom with glue and let dry. Cut a small piece, about 3/8 inch, from chenille stem to make a stem. Use a nail to poke a hole in top of pumpkin and tuck stem inside. Cut eyes, nose, and mouth from black Con-Tact paper and attach to each pumpkin.

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Yarn Spiders

This video will teach you how to make silly yarn spiders.

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Free Spirit

Credit: Heather Weston

This friendly ghost is made from stuff found around the house: a hat stand, yardstick, bike helmet, and white sheets.

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Eye See You

Credit: Heather Weston

Make this easy wreath from a feather boa and googly eyes.

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Who's Your Mummy?

Credit: Heather Weston

Have your little guests race to see who can wrap their friends in toilet paper the fastest.

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Spooky Specimens

Credit: Heather Weston

Fill jars with Spanish moss, fangs, eyeballs, and skeleton bones.

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