3 DIYs for Whimsical Halloween Decorations

Skeletons are the stars of these whimsical Halloween decorations, but with the added DIY projects, this front yard becomes a Halloween show stopper.

Katie Compton of Helpful Homemade styled this skeleton-themed front yard and porch for our Halloween Style Challenge series here on The Home Depot Blog.

Check out Katie’s DIY Halloween bunting, distressed display shelf and cool DIY sign board– and her skeletons! You’re sure to be inspired for your own fun Halloween display.

Whimsical Halloween Decorations

If you know me, then you know how much my husband and I love Halloween. From scary movies, to costume parties, to decorating our home, my husband and I love to celebrate the season! In the past, we’ve had some fun setting up our yard with fun skeleton-related decor but this year it was time to step it up a notch, Home Depot Style Challenge style!

Right away, we knew skeletons had to be one of the main attractions for the front of our home. We have had a pair of skeletons that have made an appearance in our yard in funny poses in past years, but it was time to add to our collection! Thankfully, The Home Depot has SO many skeletons available. From bags of bones, to full sized poseable skeletons, to animal skeletons – we were set! In the end, we decided it would be great for our group to be ready for trick or treating this year! Aren’t they great?!?!

DIY Halloween Bunting Sign

I wanted our skeletons to be holding a festive Halloween sign, so it was decided that a bunting sign would be fun, colorful, and simple to assemble!

We made the bunting flags out of 5.2mm sanded plywood (2 ft. x 4 ft. We measured and cut triangles that were 8 in. wide and 8 in. tall.

After the triangles were cut, holes were drilled into the top corners of each flag. I used spray paint in orange, yellow, and white to base out the flags. I applied two thin coats to each side.

When the flags were dry, I used a 4 in. Stencil Kit to paint black letters with acrylic paint on each triangle to spell “Happy Halloween.” I left one blank triangle between “Happy” and “Halloween” to distinguish between the two words. To finish the sign, I strung a yellow paracord through the holes to connect the triangles.

To pose our skeletons, we used 6 ft. Heavy-Duty Plastic Coated garden stakes. Each of the skeletons was tied to the stake with twine. In order to get their skeletons’ arms to stay lifted and to hold the sign, we strung monofilament line from our gutter down to the arms/hands and sign and tied them up for support. Of course, they needed to be dressed for the Halloween season, so we gathered some fun costumes and dressed each of the skeletons up!

We also placed a fog machine behind the crates that the skeleton wolf is sitting on to add to the ambiance!

DIY Distressed Display Table

Our doorway is pretty plain, so we decided to give it some added interest (and places to display spooky items) by constructing a small table to place by the door.

We used two pieces of 2 in. x 8 in. x 8 ft. wood to create a simple, thin 32-in.-tall table for the front doorway.

The legs and top were cut at a 45-degree angle so they would fit like puzzle pieces. We added a bottom shelf to the table as well using a straight cut of the wood. The pieces were screwed together and glued with wood glue, then clamped together to allow them to dry.

To create the distressed look on the table, we started with three layers of spray paint. The first coat was a very light coat of matte black.

Next, a coat of grey.

Finally, a thicker coat of flat white.

After all three coats were applied (and allowed to dry between coats), it was time to distress! We used steel wool to lightly brush across the surface of the table to allow portions of all three colors to come through on the table. Shabby/scary chic!

Spooky Extras

Once the table was in place, it was time to add all of the spooky extras! I hung three ghost heads (made out of Styrofoam heads and cheesecloth) from the ceiling with monofilament line.

The front doorstep definitely needed a doormat, and mat with candy corn bunting seemed to tie in perfectly with our theme!

I filled our entryway table with an assortment of spooky objects, like eyeball flowers in pots, a lantern, and a pumpkin with bats!

DIY Signboard

The area to the side of our front entryway had a lot of potential for another interest piece, so I thought a fun sign would be perfect to fill the space!

After walking the aisles of my local Home Depot store, I was drawn to some grey barn wood (1 in. x 4 in. x 8 ft.) – it was already the perfect color, and the distressed look of the wood was just what I was going for.

I utilized the cutting station in the store to have four boards cut in half so I could create a 4 ft. tall sign.

Once the pieces were home, we flipped the boards upside down and used two 1 in. x 2 in. pieces of wood to screw/glue them together. One piece was applied towards the top of the board, and one towards the bottom.

It just seemed right to be a little silly with the saying on the sign. How many times did you say the rhyme, “trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!!!” as a kid? I know I chanted it quite often. I used stencils to apply the letters across the front of the board.

(I left a portion of blank space towards the bottom of the sign because I knew it was going to be placed in the ivy bed in front of my house, and a chunk of the board would be covered up by it), and used acrylic paints in orange, white, and green.

I thought the sign was just screaming for some footprints, so I even painted the bottoms of my feet and stepped on the sign to create them!

But we weren’t done there! Once the sign was placed in front of the house, it seemed like the right thing to do to add some witch feet poking out of the ivy!

The ivy bed was also a great location for another skeleton!

Finally, we didn’t want to forget about the ambiance at night! We placed two green fire and ice spotlights in the bed in front of our skeletons and aimed the lights to our house. The effect is amazing!

Now that our front entry is decorated for the season, I think it’s time to break out some horror movies and get into the scary spirit!

Katie Compton is a full time blogger in the Tampa Bay area. By day, she has a blast teaching Pure Barre classes. By night, you can find her working on her little piece of the internet, Helpful Homemade. Katie and her husband are in the process of decorating, remodeling and DIYing their house to make it into their perfect little space.

For more Halloween and harvest decorating ideas, see other articles in our Halloween Style Challenge series, and follow our Halloween Style Challenge pinboard on Pinterest.

Visit The Home Depot’s online Halloween Decorations Department for everything you need to decorate your home for Halloween and fall.

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