Getting your house ready for the spooky season doesn’t have to break the bank or require a lot of hassle. You can conjure up a spooky craft or two in no time with simple items from dollar stores. The ideas are fun, festive and will delight anyone who visits your home! Swing by your nearest shop to pick up supplies for these low-cost DIY crafts and decorations.
Give gourds a makeover with gauze
No time to carve or paint a complicated jack-o’-lantern? A roll of gauze can make over a whole family of gourds in no time. Simply wrap strips of gauze (or cheesecloth) around each pumpkin, leaving some space in between and securing them in the back with strong glue or packing tape. Use a marker to add eyes or a mouth peeking through.
Dress up mini pumpkins with pins
The best way to decorate gourds in a hurry? Push dollar-store tacks, pins or other sticky items into the pumpkin in a pattern, suggests pro crafter Kathy Owen, of the DIY site PetticoatJunktion.com. In fact, she recently used a variety of upholstery tacks left over from a project. Spaced evenly, they make an eye-catching embellishment to any pumpkin display!
Make bloody candles with DIY drips
Turn a plain white candle into a blood-curdling accent with red wax. Here’s how: Place a white pillar candle on wax paper. Light 3 red tealights (save any extras for Christmas!) and wait until more than half the wax has melted. Blow out the first tealight and carefully drip red wax over the white candle; repeat with the remaining tealights, relighting as necessary. Like your décor super scary? Hammer a few nails into the candle for a final frightful flourish.
Create scary bats with a few strategic folds
One of 2025’s top Halloween decorations? Faux bats swirling above mantles! Usually made of metal or wood, they can cost up to $50 for three bats. But you can make as many as you like from black paper or cardstock. Start by drawing a bat shape lengthwise. Cut out and make two vertical folds where the wings meet the torso; gently lift the wings so they protrude. Affix to the wall with removable adhesive. For speedier snipping, download a template at PrettyTogether.com/easy-diy-paper-bats.
Greet passersby with a pair of googly eyes
For quickie curb appeal, decorate your front door with oversized eyeballs! You can buy a set of ready-made plastic googly eyes—about 6 inches in diameter—for $3 at dollar or craft stores. Or make your own peepers with appetizer-size white paper plates and “pupils” cut from black paper.
This story appears in the November 3, 2025, print issue of Woman’s World magazine.
