Don't waste money on inflatable Halloween decorations for your front yard. Use our ideas and your crafty skills to make one-of-a-kind decorations. You'll be the envy of the neighborhood and save a lot of money. Photo By: Lindsay Raymondjack Photo By: Joanne Palmisano and Susan Teare Photo By: Susan Teare Greet trick-or-treaters with a scarecrow mascot. Give it a personality to match your style: scary or friendly, male or female, casual or formal. Use lumber to create the body: a 2x4 for the main post, a 1x4 for the shoulders and four more 1x4s for the arms. Use wood glue and fasteners to secure the elbow joints. A dried or plastic gourd will last longer than a fresh one and a scarf is the perfect accessory to cover up any unsightly handiwork. Fill your trees or front porch with free-flying ghosts. Made inexpensively from balloons and gauze fabric, these little Caspers catch the wind to add movement to your outdoor decor. Get the step-by-step instructions >>

Don’t want to be bothered with a real bonfire because it's too dangerous for kids and too much of a pain to keep lit? Create a low-maintenance fire pit with faux pumpkins, battery-operated candles and a few logs. Add a little Cruella Deville style to your front door by wrapping a black feather boa around a wreath form then adorning it with some bloodshot eyeballs. ways to decorate your baby's room Keep away unexpected guests by making your home look like a haunted bed and breakfast. house decorations for guysGo to a salvage yard to get an old post and corbel — they’ll already be aged and weathered. outdoor christmas decorations no lightsThen add your personal welcome sign.

This fabric wreath is simple to make and can be used for many occasions by changing the embellishments. The mini black-glitter spider clips contrast perfectly with the bright white fabric. With just a few basic materials and tools from the craft store, you can dress up your front door for Halloween. Learn how to make this >> Add a some elegance to your entry by creating a nature-inspired topiary. Get more ideas for making a topiary >> Lead trick-or-treaters to your door with a trail of bloody footprints. Simply step into washable red paint with bare feet, then carefully walk towards the front door. Make sure to carry your paint supply with you, should you need to redo your feet, and don't forget to have a towel waiting for you at the end of your walk for easy cleanup. Be diiferent this year by decorating a Christmas tree for Halloween. Use black and orange ornaments or make little jack o'lantern faces from paper honeycomb balls. If you're giving trick-or-treaters non-food items, place a teal pumpkin on your doorstep.

This signifies to kids with food allergies that your treats are safe for them. Get more ideas for decorating teal pumpkins >> This is more of an indoor/outdoor decoration. Cut out popular Halloween shapes in black paper and adhere them to your windows. When the indoor lights are lit, the shapes will come to life. Set up a fun and spooky graveyard. Get the instructions to make simple plywood tombstones then download a template of one of our pun-filled names or epitaphs. Build a few of these creepy skeletons to place in front of your tombstones.  These spooky eyes are reminiscent of every Scooby Doo episode ever made. They're extremely easy to make, simply cut the eye shapes out of paper towel rolls then place a plastic glow stick inside. Tuck a few sets of eyes in bushes around your front walkway to give the trick-or-treaters a little fright. Turn an old carpet remnant into a Halloween doormat with a little paint and creativity. This doormat project uses stencils to create the batty design.

This project can be done any time of the year with any design. It’s an inexpensive way to customize your front entry. Make a bunch of these scary eyeballs and scatter them all over your front yard. Kids are sure to get a kick out of them. Gather fall favorites – acorns, pinecones and leaves – to make a decorative addition to your entry. Guide your guests to the front door with illuminated picture lanterns. To make these, four inexpensive picture frames are nailed together to make a square. Halloween drawings are printed on vellum paper then inserted into the frames, then a candle is set inside the frames. Hang garland around your doorway or entry columns to celebrate the autumn season. They take very little time and money to make, and you can leave them up until it's time to switch them with holiday lights. This Halloween eve, greet trick-or-treaters with illuminated paper mache lights that you can hang from the trees or your porch. Get the step-by-step instructions >>

Halloween has come and gone, which means bye-bye jack-o’-lanterns, helloooo holidays. If you are already in the mood to start Pinning holiday decor ideas, your outdoor space should be the starting point for all things jolly. Go ahead and hop on the decorate-before-Thanksgiving bandwagon with these amazing holiday DIYs. And get ready to cue up the competition between you and your neighbors, because these Christmas yard decorations will take your front lawn or porch to a whole new level. 1. A Tree for Your Tree: DIY some ornaments to put on the tree you already have in front of your home. Add some lights to have a Christmas tree inside your house *and* outside. The more the merrier. (via The Lovely Drawer) 2. Glitter Mason Jar Luminary: We’re sure you have a few extra mason jars laying around the house. Paint them red and use white glitter to make them look snowy. Line your steps with these and add a candle to make them that much more festive. (via A Pumpkin and a Princess)

3. Gold Lights: On a budget? Go for minimal decorations like simple lights. Snag a pack of string lights at the store and spray paint them gold. 4. Joy Sign: If you’re totally bored of the traditional wreath you’ve been using since 2010, upcycle it with this DIY. Grab a couple wood letters at your local craft store to complete this sign. 5. Pine Cone Garland: TBH, our love affair with gold is not stopping any time soon. Use gold foil or spray paint to gild pinecones and string onto twine to make garland you can hang inside or out. (via The Sweetest Occasion) 6. Potted Christmas Tree: This mini Christmas tree is just too cute. Find your fave potted tree at the Christmas tree farm (okay, or Home Depot) and pop it on your front porch for an instant holiday look.  7. PVC Pipe Wreath: Head to the hardware store to pick up a few PVC pipes in different sizes, spray paint them gold and attach in a wreath-like figure. Bonus points for little extras like birds or ornaments.

(via A Beautiful Mess) 8. Upcycled Bike Basket: Biking season may be behind us, but you’re going to want to break it back out for this idea. Pop a mini Christmas tree in the basket of your bike and set it on your front porch. (via A Beach Cottage) 9. Snowflake Marquee: Are wreaths not your thing? Add this DIY snowflake marquee to your front door, fence or house. It’s uber chic and *uber* festive. 10. Pallet Christmas Tree: This looks complicated, but it’s actually a super simple DIY. Nail scrap wood in a Christmas tree shape and glue on a few ornaments. 11. Pom Pom Wreath: How fun is this red and green wreath? Follow this tutorial to create a wreath you can use on your front door year after year. Be sure to keep it out of the elements for longevity. 12. Antler Ornaments: Not only are these antler ornaments totally adorable, but they also smell amazing. Yep, the background is made of cinnamon sticks. Hang ’em on you door, fence or plants. (via The Chic Site)

13. Happy Holidays Marquee Sign: Marquee signs are such an easy way to amp up your decorations, and this one is no exception. You can even paint the natural wood red and use green paint to write the letters to make it Christmas AF. (via Idle Hands Awake) 14. Natural Wreath: Opt for a boho-chic vibe with a wreath like this. You could definitely leave this one up year round. (via La Buena Vida) 15. Glitter Reindeer: Okay, so these glitter reindeer may be made out of paper, but you could also make them out of wood and sit them in your front yard. When your neighbors ask where you bought them, you get to tell them you *made* them. (via One Krieger Chick) 16. Nail-Head Christmas Tree: Brace yourselves, because this DIY is going to take a little dedication, but it’s so worth it. Nail art has never looked so Christmasy. 17. Five-Minute Holiday Garland: Say hello to the easiest and most budget-friendly Christmas decoration around. All you need is string in your favorite color and wood beads to make holiday garland you can hang anywhere.