10 Simple DIY Halloween Decorations Using Things from the Garden

I like Halloween decorations that look as though they belong in an old cottage. Give me a wonky broom and a jar of something glowing on the windowsill and I’m happy.

You can do a lot with what’s already lying around the garden. Fallen leaves make good little ghosts, bare twigs look suitably spooky without much help.

You will need a few things from indoors too: string, glue, scissors, perhaps some paint and a bit of old packaging. There’s no need to make all ten. Pick whichever suits what you’ve found and the time you’ve got.

Most of these are small enough to make at the kitchen table, although I would put some newspaper down first. Autumn leaves have a habit of bringing half the garden in with them.

Before You Start

Gather a small handful of fallen leaves, loose twigs, pine cones and fallen bark, along with any suitable loose stones. Use sound, dry pieces and leave damp, mouldy or occupied bits outside. An empty cardboard box is useful for collecting everything.

Brush off loose dirt and give anything wet time to dry. Rinse muddy stones and let them dry completely before painting. Leaves are easier to work with if you press them between sheets of scrap paper under a heavy book overnight.

These decorations are mostly intended for indoors or a sheltered porch. Paper, cardboard and ordinary craft glue won’t last long in autumn rain.

For anything that lights up, use an LED tealight. Keep dried garden materials away from candles and other heat sources.

1. Make Little Ghosts from Fallen Leaves

Broad leaves with a pointed bottom make lovely ghosts. Each one ends up with a different shape, which is part of the appeal.

You’ll need: Dry, pressed leaves, white craft paint, a black marker, thread and a little tape.

How to make them:

1. Lay the leaves on scrap paper and paint one side white. Let them dry, then add another thin coat if needed.

2. Draw two black eyes and an open mouth on each leaf. Keep the faces simple.

3. Tape a loop of thread to the back and hang them from a branch, cupboard knob or length of string.

Choose leaves that still feel flexible enough to handle. Very crisp ones tend to crumble just as you’re giving the ghost its second eye.

A row of five or six in a window looks especially good, with the daylight showing through the thinner patches of paint.

2. Tie a Miniature Witch’s Broom

This is one of the easiest decorations on the list, and it suits a cottage doorway particularly well.

You’ll need: One straight stick, a small bundle of thin fallen twigs and some garden twine.

How to make it:

1. Gather the thin twigs into a bundle, with their cut or broken ends roughly level.

2. Push the thicker stick into the middle of that end of the bundle. It should overlap the twigs by several centimetres.

3. Wrap twine tightly around the overlap several times and tie firmly. Fan out the loose ends a little.

Make a tiny one for the mantelpiece or a larger one to lean beside the door. It doesn’t need to sweep anything, so there’s no reason to spend ages making the bristles even.

A scrap of black ribbon around the binding finishes it nicely if you have one.

3. Paint a Few Pebble Pumpkins

Useful if you fancy decorating pumpkins but don’t particularly fancy carving one.

You’ll need: Smooth, rounded stones, orange paint, a black marker or black paint, and a small paintbrush.

How to make them:

1. Paint the clean, dry stones orange, leaving the underside bare so they can sit on the paper while drying.

2. Once dry, add eyes, a nose and a mouth.

3. Draw a few curved lines down the sides if you want them to look more pumpkin-like.

Mix happy faces with cross ones. A small, furious pumpkin is quite funny sitting beside the tea bags.

Arrange them along a windowsill or put three together on a little plate.

4. Weave a Spiderweb Between Garden Sticks

This works well as a hanging decoration, and you can make it with a surprisingly small amount of string.

You’ll need: Three fairly straight sticks of a similar length, pale yarn or string, and a small cardboard spider.

How to make it:

1. Cross the three sticks at their centres to make six spokes. Bind the middle tightly with string.

2. Tie a fresh length of yarn near the centre. Work around the spokes in a widening spiral, looping the yarn once around each stick as you pass it.

3. Keep a little tension on the yarn and tie it off near an outer end.

4. Add a hanging loop and attach your cardboard spider to the web.

The loops around the sticks help stop the web slipping towards the middle. A slightly uneven web looks perfectly at home among crooked garden twigs.

Hang it against a dark door or wall so the pale thread shows up.

5. Turn Bare Branches into a Bat Display

A few branches in a vase can look rather elegant until you notice what’s hanging from them.

You’ll need: Small fallen branches, a sturdy vase or jar, black paper or painted cardboard, scissors and thread.

How to make it:

1. Arrange the branches in your container. Add a few stones at the bottom if it needs extra weight.

2. Fold a piece of paper in half and draw half a bat along the fold, with one wing extending outwards.

3. Cut it out and unfold it. Use it as a template for a few more.

4. Make a small hole in each bat and hang it from the branches with thread.

Vary the size of the bats and the length of the thread. It makes the display look less like they’re all queuing.

Keep the branches short enough that the container sits securely.

6. Make Pine Cone Spiders

Pine cones make wonderfully lumpy spider bodies. The legs take a little arranging, but the finished spiders don’t need to be especially realistic.

You’ll need: Dry pine cones, eight short, thin twigs per spider, scrap cardboard, glue and little paper eyes.

How to make them:

1. Cut a small cardboard oval, narrow enough to hide beneath your pine cone.

2. Arrange four twig legs on either side and glue their inner ends to the cardboard.

3. Glue the pine cone over the middle, covering the leg ends.

4. Add two paper eyes and leave everything lying flat until the glue has set.

A glue gun is quicker for the uneven surfaces; an adult should handle the hot glue. Thick craft glue can work too, but you’ll need to support the pieces while they dry.

Sit them on a shelf or beside your twig spiderweb.

7. Make Autumn Leaf Lanterns with Spooky Faces

These are particularly pretty in the early evening, when the leaf colours show through the light.

You’ll need: A clean, dry glass jar, thin pressed leaves, PVA glue, a brush, black paper and an LED tealight.

How to make them:

1. Brush a thin layer of glue onto the outside of the jar.

2. Press on a few leaves, leaving gaps between them for the light to shine through. Small, thin leaves are easiest to fit around the glass.

3. Brush a little more glue over the leaves and let it dry clear.

4. Glue black paper eyes and a jagged mouth onto the outside, then place the LED tealight inside.

If a leaf keeps lifting, choose a smaller one or use a few pieces of leaf instead. Thick, leathery leaves tend to fight back.

One jar looks lovely on its own.

8. Build a Wonky Skeleton from Twigs

This is a good use for all the short bits of twig left over from the other projects.

You’ll need: Thin twigs, a piece of cardboard, glue, white paint if you have it, and a pale leaf or scrap of paper for the skull.

How to make it:

1. Lay out one twig for the spine, a shorter one across the shoulders and another across the hips.

2. Add arms and legs, using two pieces for each limb so you can give it bent elbows and knees.

3. Place short twigs on either side of the upper spine for ribs.

4. Glue everything to the cardboard. Add a leaf or paper skull with dark eyes and a mouth.

Paint the twigs white before assembling if you want the bones to stand out, or leave them natural against dark cardboard.

Give your skeleton one raised arm so it looks as though it’s waving.

9. Make a Tiny Haunted House from Fallen Bark

Rough bark already looks a bit like the outside of an abandoned building, so you don’t have to do much to it.

You’ll need: A loose piece of dry fallen bark, cardboard, glue, two short twigs and scraps of yellow and black paper.

How to make it:

1. Glue the bark onto a cardboard backing, leaving space above it for a roof.

2. Arrange the two twigs in an upside-down V and glue them in place.

3. Cut out a little black door and a couple of yellow windows.

4. Add thin black paper strips across the windows and a small paper ghost peeping from one.

Let the glue dry with the house lying flat. You can then prop it against a wall on a shelf or add a string loop to the cardboard backing.

10. Make a Fallen-Leaf Halloween Wreath

A small wreath is a lovely way to use up the leaves you couldn’t quite bring yourself to leave outside.

You’ll need: A cereal box or other firm cardboard, dry pressed leaves, glue, string and a few black paper bats.

How to make it:

1. Draw around a plate on the cardboard, then use a smaller bowl to draw a circle inside it. Cut out the ring.

2. Tie a hanging loop around the top before adding the leaves.

3. Glue the leaves around the ring, overlapping them so the cardboard is covered.

4. Add two or three paper bats and leave the wreath flat until everything is dry.

It helps to use the larger leaves first and fill any gaps with smaller ones. Keep it fairly light so the cardboard holds its shape.

You Don’t Need to Decorate the Whole House

I’d start with the leaf ghosts or the little broom. Both are easy to make with very little, and you can stop there if that’s all you fancy doing.

Put your finished decorations somewhere you’ll actually see them: beside the kettle, on the kitchen windowsill or near the front door, mine will be in our porch.

Which would you make first: the leaf ghosts, the tiny broom or the pine cone spiders? Let me know in the comments.