With Halloween coming around the corner, you're probably planning some festive or spooky fall get-together. Did you know that Halloween is quickly becoming one of the biggest, creatively inspired DIY holidays in America? Any real devotee of Halloween decorating already has their cobwebs hung outside and inside of the house. They might also have invested in plastic spiders to position crawling in and out of those cobwebs. Once you've gotten you cobwebs up, here are a few Halloween decorations you can put together to scare your friends. 

Scary Wreath

 

Greet your guests with a creepy wreath, covered in snakes, spiders and bugs, vampire teeth, body parts, eyeballs or whatever else matches your Halloween party theme.

 You'll need:

 A basic wreath base, which you can find at craft supply stores

Black spray paint

A glue gun

Black wire or twist ties

Plastic decorations, these are often snakes but they can also be whatever you can imagine

1. Spray paint the wreath black
2. Spray paint the decorative plastic snakes black
3. Once dry, twine the decorative snakes into the wreath
4. Twine them around each other, hot gluing them into place or use black wire to hold them

 Originally by Martha Stewart, this easy DIY decoration can be customized in an infinite number of ways according to your needs. Add in some eyeballs or blood drips and vampire teeth to personalize this door hanging in your own style.

 

Spooky Punchbowl

 

Whether you're serving seasonal apple cider, cranberry punch to get that bloody red color, or Harry Potter-inspired Butterbeer, opting to serve it in a spooky punchbowl will give your friends an enjoyable experience.

You'll need:

Dry ice

A thick pair of temperature-protective gloves, like oven mitts

A large bowl

A smaller bowl that fits into the larger one

Punch

Water

Ladle for serving

 Warning! Do not touch dry ice with your bare hands. For some tips on safely handling dry ice, check out this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIvMfW2vCk8

1. Fill the smaller bowl with the punch that you intend to serve.
2. Wearing gloves, put dry ice in the bottom of the larger bowl and set the smaller bowl with the punch on top of the dry ice.
3. Pour water over the dry ice to activate the fog effects.
4. Give your guests a ladle to serve the punch.
5. You can intensify the fog by adding more water to the dry ice in the bottom bowl.

 Up the ante by adding plastic eyeballs or frozen grapes into the punchbowl for guests to fish out.

 

Face in a Jar

 

This easy optical illusion can be created with any photograph. It uses the water and glass to refract the shape of the image.

 You'll need:

 A laminator with plastic sleeves

An empty jar

A photo of a face that is roughly the same height of the jar

Water

1. Laminate the photo and cut it to size to fit into the jar.
2. Place it into the jar.
3. Fill the jar with water.
4. Move the image around until from outside you see the image fill the shape of the whole jar.

 Place these heads near your food buffet or snack area, so that your guests will take it for granted as a jar of pickles or jam, only to be surprised to see a pickled head.

 

Bloody Handprints

 

What are Halloween decorations without bloody handprints on the windows? You can create your own fake blood with a few household ingredients. Plus, it's edible so it can double for your Halloween costume.

You'll need:

Red food coloring

1 cup Corn Syrup

2 Tbsp Chocolate Syrup

 Mix these three ingredients together, stirring in the red food coloring until you reach the perfect color. This will make a drippy thin blood, great for smearing onto windows and painting on mirrors. To make a thicker consistency, try substituting liquid Elmer's glue for the corn syrup.

 Try writing scary messages on the bathroom mirrors. If you really want to scare your friends, bloody the shower curtain, and set an electric fan inside the shower, to blow the curtain out.

 

Bloody Candles

 

The more these candles burn, the more they look like they're bleeding.

 You'll need:

White pillar candles

Red taper candles

1. Light the red taper candle until it starts melting and dripping its wax.
2. Drip the wax from the red taper candle on the top of and down the sides of the white pillar candle.
3. For best effect, try to cover the entire top of the pillar with red wax drips, and make sure to make many drips down the side of the candles.

 These will be sure to set a haunting ambiance for your Halloween party. Burn them in low light for the creepiest effects.

 

Eyes in the Bushes

 Scary Halloween decorations aren't just about the interior of the house. Adding some glowing eyes in the yard can set a fun mood.

You'll need:

A cardboard tube from a toilet paper or paper towel roll cut in half

Glowsticks

Scissors 

1. Draw a level line along the length of the cardboard tube
2. Cut two similar eye shapes along the line
3. Position the cardboard roll in a bush where it is partially hidden
4. As it gets dark, crack the glowsticks and place them in the cardboard rolls

Try to create different eye shapes and sizes. These eyes will have the best effect if you install a couple of them in the yard. 

Remember, when you throw that Halloween party, your friends know that you'll be trying to scare them, so you lose some of the element of surprise. The trick for making good, spooky Halloween decorations is putting together an ensemble of crafty gore and illusions that look just real enough to convince.

These are just a few DIY projects to get you started. What decorations are you planning for your Halloween festivities?