One of the best parts about throwing a Halloween party is coming up with awesome decorations. The right decor will set the tone for the evening. Do you want something scary, something cute, or are you looking for something you can create yourself to impress your guests? Do you have a lot of time to decorate, or do you need quick and easy options? Get decoration ideas for your Halloween party that go beyond the basic black and orange streamers and jack-o'-lanterns.
Halloween Party Decoration Ideas
Your Halloween decorations don't have to be super scary to be effective. If you arrange them by hand, you can be sure no one will have the same exact decorations. Plus, it's always fun to use your creative brain to make something spooky or enchanting. Whether your Halloween party is for kids or adults, your guests will wonder how you pulled off such cool ideas for Halloween party decorations.
Don't Look Up!
To kick your decor up a notch, use the space above you to get in some extra scares. Go wild with the cobwebs (seriously, you can't overdo it), complete with dangling spiders threatening to drop into your guests' hair. Or hang some fake bats or ghosts from a ceiling fan and turn it on to watch them take flight.
Enchanted Lanterns
Mason jars have proven themselves to be quite versatile when it comes to DIY projects. Use mason jars as lights outside so your party guests can see after dark. Paint the jars various Halloween colors on the outside. Then add ghost, skull, or jack-o'-lantern faces using black paint. Once dry, fill the jars with LED fairy lights or flameless candles and set them around your landscape to keep your outdoor space well-lit, but still eerie.
Personalized Gravestone Signs
If you have time, patience, and someone who is handy with power tools, create your own personalized gravestones to set your Halloween party decor apart. Cut assorted gravestone shapes out of plywood, attaching wooden posts behind for support and to add stakes. Paint your gravestones whatever colors you want, or stick to a traditional stony look. Use them as signs for drink stations and bathroom directions, adding punny Halloween messages to make visitors chuckle - or run away screaming.
Somebody's Watching You
A haunted house wouldn't be complete without a hanging portrait with eyes that follow you around the room. Luckily, you don't need real ghosts to include this in your decor.
Print out a creepy portrait of your choice at an 8 x 11 size or larger, and paste it onto a piece of foam board of the same size. Using a craft knife, carefully cut the eyes out of the portrait through the foam board so there are two holes. Print out a 2nd version of the eyes (feel free to edit them to make them look extra spooky), and paste them behind the eye holes. Add your creation to a decorative frame, and watch as the eyes seem to follow you as you move. This DIY Halloween party decoration idea will bring the fear factor!
Cute and Spooky Yard Figurines
Your Halloween party decorations won't be complete without some spooky figures. Start with two 2x2 pieces of lumber, 3 and 4 feet long. Make a cross by nailing the 3-foot piece horizontally to the vertical 4-foot piece. Sharpen the bottom of the cross like a stake, or nail the bottom to a square piece of plywood for a flat stand. Paint the bottom portion of the cross and the stand black. On the top of the cross, use strong glue to attach a 5 or 6-inch styrofoam sphere as the head for your figure's "body".
Once the base of your figure is built and dry, put a plastic white tablecloth over the head to create the flowing white body of the ghost. Secure the tablecloth in place with white zip ties or pipe cleaners. Draw a friendly or spooky face using a black marker. You can also make a witch using a black tablecloth for the body, spray painting the head green, and then adding a face and hat. Or, make a pumpkin head using a fake pumpkin instead of styrofoam, securing the head on top of the black cloth instead of underneath it. Make a few of these enchanting Halloween creatures to decorate your yard or home.
Quick and Easy Halloween Party Decor Ideas
If you're throwing a last-minute spooky soiree, you'll need some Halloween party decorating ideas that are easy to throw together. Transform your space from pleasant to petrifying to prepare for your ghostly guests.
Too Much Candy
Grab a carved pumpkin (real or fake) and arrange a trail of candy coming out of its mouth. You can add green crinkle-cut paper shred for extra effect. It should look like the pumpkin is throwing up all the candy it ate. Yummy!
Colored Light Bulbs
One tried-and-true but perhaps underutilized decor idea is to switch out a few of your light bulbs. Your ambiance will instantly be more spooky! Black, green, orange, or red colors will make your guests uneasy in the best way possible.
Everyone's Entitled to One Good Scare
Your decor doesn't have to be big and elaborate to be effective. Find small ways to get big scares in your home. Hide a fake rat behind the toilet. Position a creepy head or mask so it's peaking out from behind something, like a curtain or window. Set up a spider booby trap to startle everyone who walks in your front door. See? It's not that hard to scare the daylights out of your guests.
Dress Down Your Space
Living space looking a bit too cheerful for your Halloween party? Pick up some cheesecloth (black or white) from the dollar store and hang it over your curtains, couches and other surfaces to take the room from fab to drab.
A Grand Entrance
Put your guests in the mood for a spooky celebration from the moment they walk through the door - literally! Decorate your main entrance door to set the mood. Try something like a cute wreath and Halloween-colored streamers and pompoms, or make it scary with fake blood and caution tape. You can even turn the door into a scary face that hopefully won't frighten your guests away.
Halloween Party Decoration Ideas for Adults
When it comes to Halloween party ideas for adults, your decorations can be a little more mature and much scarier. From gruesome heads to alcoholic beverage displays, the right decorations will complete your grown-up-ghouls-only event.
Don't Lose Your Head
This Halloween party decoration idea will be sure to get some laughs. Find a realistic-looking humanoid mask, whether you buy a new one or it's an oldie-but-goodie you've had for a while. Fill it with crumpled paper towels to give it some shape, adding fake eyeballs in the eye holes. Add the head to a large jar filled with water. Put food coloring to the water to make it look extra murky - as if it has been housing a head. If you are a little more tech-savvy and have the time to dedicate, you can also use photos of a person's head for another uncanny option. Display it near the drinks or on the dinner table so your guests know what will happen if they choose to skip one of your awesome parties.
Chillin' in a Coffin
Get creative with your beverage displays by using a coffin as your drink cooler. If you have the skills and tools, you can hand make a life-size coffin out of wood for a realistic touch - that's a decoration that will last you for years. Line the coffin with plastic on the inside to prevent leakage, though you should put the coffin outdoors just in case. If a wooden one isn't in the cards, there are also inflatable options you can buy. Fill the cooler with lots of ice to store cold beer, seltzers, and sodas. Stick a fake skeleton in the coffin and pose him as if he is relaxing in a bathtub for a "humerus" effect.
Halloween Photo Booth
Set up a spooky DIY photo booth to snap some Instagram-worthy photos. The backdrop can be anything from fake cobwebs to something a little more bedazzled, depending on your group. You can even make it really scary by hanging fake body parts and splattering blood on a white sheet. It should work as a fun vignette even when it's not in use, so it fits in with the rest of your party decor. Provide Halloween props like wigs, costumes, and fake weapons - perfect for any adults who choose to dress "as themselves" for your party. You and your guests will have a blast commemorating the evening with a photoshoot!
Potions and Poisons Bar
One Halloween party decoration idea that adults will appreciate is turning your basic alcohol bar into a witch's supply cabinet. Make fun apothecary labels to temporarily add to your various bottles, hand-drawn or printed out. They should indicate things like eye of newt, rat poison, love potion, wolfsbane, etc. - get as creative as you want! You may want to indicate somewhere on the bottle what's actually in it for practical purposes if it's not obvious by the bottle.
Fireplace Mantel of Misery
A fireplace is meant for holiday decorations, and Halloween is no exception. Use this spot to display your scariest decorations, like ghouls, skulls and jack-o'-lanterns. If the fire won't be lit, use flameless candles or orange fairy lights to give it a fiery glow. Your guests will love the cozy, spooky scene.
Decorating Ideas for Any Halloween Party
Coming up with ideas to decorate for a Halloween party can be really fun if you're creative, or it might feel overwhelming if you're short on time. But sometimes, you just need the spark of one idea to inspire your entire decorative plan. Regardless, eye-catching decor will make the event memorable for your guests, along with a Halloween-themed table, spooky foods and fun Halloween activities. Adults and children alike will love a well-decorated Halloween party and get a kick out of your thoughtful, spooky touches.
