Easy Halloween Crafts for a Spooktacular Display

Need a break from the rake? Collect a few freshly-fallen maple leaves from your yard and cut loose with this kid-friendly craft — no paper required! First, paint the leaves white. Once the paint has dried, round off the central leaf spike with scissors to make the head, then add eyes and a mouth with a black permanent marker. You'll "fall" in love with the results.

These gauzy ghosts are so cheap and simple to make, it's scary. Blow up a small balloon, then grab some cheesecloth from the grocery store; soak it in a mixture of half glue, half water and drape it over the balloon. Let it dry for a day, then pop the balloon. The cheesecloth will be frozen in a permanent drapey ghost shape. Add felt eyes and mouth, then set it over a battery-powered tea light to make your ghost glow in the night.

Don’t you think your seasonal decorative produce deserves the Midas touch? Just few coats of metallic paint in copper, bronze, soft gold, antique gold, or rose gold will add a bit of sparkle to any spooky centerpiece. Either stick to one shade, or mix it up to create a luxe cornucopia.

This is a great way to make use of those beautiful broken crayons you can never bring yourself to throw in the trash bin. First, remove the paper wrapping. Paint a pumpkin white, then glue your naked crayons around the stem so they look like rays coming out of the sun. Finally, grab your hairdryer and aim it downwards over the crayons. The melting wax will run down the ridges of a pumpkin and blend together in a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors.

Have any extra toilet paper rolls lying around? Sure you do. This is the perfect way to put them to good use, and best of all, chances you already have everything you need around your house. Dig out some colorful construction paper, a few markers, and some scissors. Let your imagination run wild. The creatures you construct are entirely up to you.

In case you hadn’t noticed, painted rocks are everywhere these days, and there’s no better way to spread a little Halloween spirit than leaving spooky stones around town for people to discover. All you need are smooth, flat pebbles and acrylic paint pens for precise detail. Not sure where to begin? Here are a few rockin' ideas:

• Jack o’ lantern
• Ghost
• Jack Skellington face
• Mummy face
• Witch flying on her broomstick
• Eyeball with veins
• Bubbling cauldron
• Haunted house silhouette
• Bat silhouettes against the moon
• Arched back cat silhouette with glowing green eyes
• Candy corn (perfect for a triangular rock)

Strip off the wrapper of an open tin can, give it a good scrub, then paint with a few coats of opaque neon green matte paint. When the paint is dry, add giant googly eyes, a strip of cut black felt or foam for the hair, then draw on a mouth and a few stitches with a black permanent marker. Finally, with a hot glue gun, add two halves of a wine cork to either side for neck bolts. When you’ve completed your creation, put candles inside for an eerie glow, or even better, fill it up with treats for the taking.

Even the world's biggest arachnophobe would find this eight-legged doorstep decoration adorable. All you need is a small pumpkin, eight black pipe cleaners, and some black and white paper for the features. Drill four holes on either side of the pumpkin with a sharpened pencil or dowel to secure the pipe cleaner legs in place. For extra durability, spray with enamel or paint with water-based sealer.

Why leave the tree decorating to December? Spooky trees with ghosts floating from them are the perfect statement Halloween decoration for any home. Gather some snaggly dead branches, “plant” them in a pot, then make ghostly ornaments by wrapping tissue paper around some cotton balls and hanging them up with invisible fishing line.

This easy DIY Halloween decoration is "tomb" much fun to make. Paint an empty glass jar with white glue, then raid your first aid kit for some gauze tape and wrap it around the jar mummy-style. For the finishing touch, add a pair of googly or hand drawn eyes. All you need now is a flickering flameless candle to bring your mummy life.