Five DIY Halloween Decorating Projects

If you love Halloween and want to have some stand-out decor around your home or create the perfect party atmosphere, try out these five DIY Halloween decorating projects in this P. Allen Smith video:

1. Suspended jack-o-lanterns: With a few modifications, you can create jack-o-lanterns that you can hang from a trellis, tree or porch.

Carve a jack-o-lantern and remove the lid
Cut two holes on either side using a cordless drill
Insert a dowel or stick
Attach a thin wire to each end of the dowel or stick, leaving enough room for the jack-o-lantern to hang freely
Insert LED lights
Hang the jack-o-lantern

2. Ghost maidens: These 175-year old ladies in white antebellum dresses are fun to make, but you need to be well prepared as the base is made from chicken wire.

Put on gloves and a long-sleeved shirt or blouse
Cut chicken wire and form the base frame
Cover the frame with cheesecloth, then fasten to the ground with tent stakes
Drive a 1/2-inch piece of rebar into the ground through the center of the frame
Gently push a Lumina white pumpkin onto the top of the rebar
Attach a piece of cheesecloth in the form of a veil to the pumpkin
Put out a floodlight to illuminate the ghost maidens and pump up the “spook” factor

3. Pumpkin with personality: This dressed-up pumpkin is a colorful alternative to the traditional jack-o-lantern.

Clean out the inside and remove the top of a pumpkin
Insert ornamental grasses and dry plant remnants
Create a face by using mini-pumpkins for eyes, a carrot for a nose, and/or vampire teeth for a mouth

4. Ghost bubbles: A bit of dry ice and a bubble concoction will help you create large ghostly bubbles that set the Halloween mood perfectly.

Add hot water into a bucket (alternatively, use tonic water)
Combine dish soap, glycerin and water to make bubble juice
Add dry ice to the hot water (use a towel and wear gloves and goggles)
Soak a piece of string or foam in bubble juice and run it across the top of the bucket

5. Flying bats: Make an expressive pumpkin with bats that appear to be exploding out of its head!

Black construction paper, floral wire, black pipe cleaners
Start with a carved jack-o-lantern with a broad lid
Fold black construction paper into thirds and cut out a bat shape (you’ll create 3 bats at a time)
Make a 90 degree turn on a piece of floral wire
Add hot glue to the center of the bat, then attach to the wire and cover with a tab of construction paper; let dry
Wrap pipe cleaners around your index finger and insert into pumpkin
Fold the bat wings and insert bats into the top of the pumpkin