Do you thrift? Shop garage sales or flea markets? If so, chances are you are always finding things to repurpose! In today’s post we are going to do some super easy Halloween DIY decor projects with things you may already have!
Pumpkin Head Dolls on Spikes
For this idea I took some headless dolls and gave them a unique head for Halloween!!
I found these dolls in a suitcase I picked up at a flea market. I only wanted the suitcase, but the contents were included. Of course it was fun digging through all the random bits in the suitcase! There was just something about the dolls I found! While I loved them, they had no head! So for Halloween I decided to hot glue on some pumpkins I had laying around.
While one of the dolls would stand on her own, the other would not. I decided to use some old vintage receipt spikes to hold them up and give them the appearance of floating! The cost of this project was zero dollars because I had everything I needed! If you struggle to find little pumpkins, I suggest buying faux stems with pumpkins like THIS or THIS.
Don’t want to use a pumpkin? Try a skull or even a witches hat and broom!
Oil Lamp Chimney Turned Ghost
I had a handful of oil lamp chimney’s leftover from THIS project. I decided to hang on to them because I figured I would be able to come up with some way to reuse them and I did! Simple use an expo marker to draw on a ghost face!
My expo marker has been around for awhile, so it didn’t mark quite as dark as I had hoped. So, I took a sheet of black labels I had and cut out eyes and a mouth. You could also just cut out a ghost face from card stock and attach with hot glue or some poster putty. Don’t worry, if you use hot glue it will pop off easily when you are ready to do something else with your chimney!
I think the faces are easier to see with something white in them. It also helps create the illusion of a ghost!! I tried some pillow stuffing, some lace and candles. If you buy a bunch of skulls for your doll heads I could see a bunch of skulls inside looking good too!
Repurposed Jack-o-Lantern Sippy Cup
I gathered these plastic jack-o-lantern sippy cups years ago. At first I bought them so I could make the little concrete pumpkins that were trending, but it never happened!! I’m sure I’m not the only one who is slow on getting projects accomplished! Tell me in the comments what you have in your “to do” pile!
Anyway, I decided I wanted to do something else instead. I thought about a totem pole like I’ve seen done with the larger jack-o-lantern trick or treat pails. Then, I thought it would be neat to assemble them like they do the stacked planters. But, ultimately I decided that I needed something more seasonal.
On Instagram I asked my followers for suggestions for things I could put in them! Candy was a popular answer! I had also thought candy, but these things are tiny, so they’d probably only hold about one piece per sippy cup! However someone suggested pixie sticks and I thought those would work, maybe with some suckers!!
The other popular suggestion was to have bugs and spiders coming out of them! That was probably my favorite idea as I don’t like candy sitting around tempting me!!
Another idea is just to put some little lights in them and let them glow at night! That seemed like a fun thing to do as well!
What else could you do? Give me some ideas in the comments.
Directions
This project requires a little bit of explanation. First I laid out my pumpkins. I had wooden skewers in the house that seemed to be about the right length, IF I put the pumpkins pretty close together. I first started by using a bit the size of the skewers and putting a hole directly in the bottom of the sippy cup.
Next, I ran the skewer through the hole. It was a very tight fit. That was both good and bad. Good because it held the sippy cup in place, but bad because I couldn’t angle the sippy cup like I wanted.
I tried to drill a hole beside the first hole to make a larger hole that would allow me to assemble the pumpkins at an angle. I think if they had something inside of them, the weight would have kept them at an angle, but empty they wanted to stand straight up.
Next I tried drilling from one side of the pumpkin to the other at an angle. Having a hole at both sides kept the pumpkin in place.
I felt that we need a little stability at the bottom of the pumpkin stack, so I first used a piece from old wooden building blocks. I just glued that to the bottom of the sippy cup. For the next stack I used the sippy cup lid. Both work well to provide extra support. I think the wider base that the lid provided gives more stability. I might suggest using both! Attach the lid because it’s wide and then under the lid glue a block for some added weight.
I then used my hot glue gun to secure the skewer in the pumpkin at all levels. Time will tell if it holds!
Cloche Ghosts
Just like with the old oil lamp lanterns I used a cloche to make ghosts. Ideally you should get or paint a pumpkin white, but I used a couple others that I already had to give you the idea. Simply repeat the process of creating a ghost face with either the expo marker, stickers, or black card stock.
Not only can you put a pumpkin under the cloche but you could also fill it with fairy lights!
Interested in some non Halloween ideas? Here are other ideas for things to put under a cloche!
Skeletons
Skeletons can come in ALL shapes and sizes!! Jumbo to real life, those are fun to pose around your porch and yard. But you can also find much smaller educational models. A lot of times these are missing the stand that holds the skeleton up. These smaller and older models will not hold a position like the newer ones, therefore you must lean them, prop them up, or make a new stand!!
I like to use the old receipt spikes again for this! That way you can have them dangle over your open shelving or mantel easily. If you want to ut it somewhere he can hang, then use fishing line so it looks like he is floating!
Jack-o-Lantern Pail Stack
Old and new jack-o-lantern pails are everywhere! You can also find a witches hat pretty easily at the thrift shop! Put the two together for a cute Halloween look!
I would suggest you glue them together if you are keeping them outside. You can add a brick or rocks to the bottom to help hold it in place when it’s windy. You can also add some battery operated lights to make them glow at night!!
Ghost Jars
Yet another idea using the expo markers and glass you have in your home!
Do you store your flour or sugar in glass containers? Maybe you have cotton balls or rolled up wash cloths in a glass container in the bathroom? Well, draw a face on them!
Scrabble Tiles
I sell a lot of scrabble tiles! Why? Because it’s easy to swap out sayings each season!! And because they are so small, they can literally be tucked anywhere!!
Add A Witches Hat To A Picture
This you’ve probably seen everywhere, but it really is such an easy project. Simply use an expo marker to draw a hat on a picture. Using an expo marker on glass allows you the ability to wipe off your work after Halloween. It also allows you to make a mistake and try again! You can also cut out hats with construction paper and adhere them temporarily with poster putty.
Keep your eye out when you go thrifting! Some pictures really lend themselves to spooky vibes!
Add A Ghost To A Picture
This is another popular Halloween DIY that you may not realize is SO SIMPLE! I used a chalk marker for this. It works just like an expo marker! You can erase it if you mess up OR erase it after Halloween! For my example, I did a couple different sizes of ghosts and even tried to make one look like he was running quickly over water!
Add A Pumpkin To A Shoe
Collecting old baby shoes is popular! And you can decorate seasonally with them too! Like putting a pumpkin, skull, or jack-o-lantern in them for fall! At Christmas you can fill them with bottle brush trees! See my ideas HERE.
Make A Ghost with Scraps
I tend to have scrap wood everywhere! I think you are either the person who saves wood every time you cut or your don’t! I seem to be more the keeper, because I might use that some day!! So, that’s what I used for these little mummies! On one of them I wrapped him with cheese cloth and for the other I used some tulle I had on hand!!
For the eyes I just cut out circles with white paper and used a black marker to do the rest!!
Even MORE Halloween DIY Ideas
Ghosts from cheese cloth, burlap, and even old T-shirts HERE.
THIS witches hat can be used for candy charcuterie!
Want to make your own pumpkin that you can use year after year? Try this DIY. I also have been making THESE for years!!
Pin It!!
