Decorating Your Yard at Halloween

Coming up with imaginative ways to decorate your yard for Halloween can be a challenge. However, ideas can be found in lots of different places. Old decorations can be used in fresh ways to come up with completely new scares for the neighbors.

Setting a spooky scene doesn't mean breaking the budget. Purchasing a few props while making some others will allow more imagination to be used and save on expenses. Here are some do-it-yourself ideas for making Halloween yard decorations.

Familiar faces

There are a variety of sources of inspiration when looking for a new way to set up a yard haunt for Halloween. To be truly original, do not rely solely on the tried and tested. A stuffed dummy with a famous movie monster mask will look creepy, but having it seem to rise out of a coffin while engulfed by fog produced from a machine, with a strobe light flashing, will really garner attention for the haunt.

Not so friendly

Ghosts are a staple at Halloween:

Use boards or PVC pipe to form a cross, which can imitate a body with its arms outstretched.
Find something round to place at the top to help form a head. The plastic pumpkins used for trick-or-treating work nicely when placed upside down.
Drape a white sheet over the form so it is completely covered. The sheet may need to be safety pinned at the back to keep it from coming off in a strong wind. When half a dozen or more are pounded into a yard, and a blue spotlight is used to illuminate them at night, the yard will truly look haunted.

Pumpkin patch

The traditional jack-o-lantern can add a spooky glow to any scene:

Purchase several of them and carve many different types of faces. A carving party can even be planned. After they are finished, line them up in two rows to make a path leading up to the door or to a particular ghoul that needs highlighting.
Combine smaller pumpkins with painted faces to those that are carved. These designs will be easier to see during the day but may still be visible at night if the proper lighting is used.

Witches

Witches are becoming a favorite in yard haunts. Use mason jars or other glass containers for potions. Fill with lightly colored water, insert fake eyeballs or other props and create fake labels. Place on old book shelves. Used cereal boxes can also be made to look like spell books.

With a little thought and imagination just about any Halloween party decorations can turn an ordinary yard haunt into a truly blood curdling experience.

To find more scary Halloween party ideas, including tips on costumes, games and props, please visit the author's website, HalloweenPartyIdeas.org.