Halloween is just days away, but the excitement in my house begins well before it seems appropriate for Starbucks to sell pumpkin spice lattes. One of my kiddos loves decorating the house and all things Halloween. Over the summer, he asked to decorate the front yard with skeletons and gravestones "just for fun."
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Every year I pull out my Halloween decorations and sort through the items to determine which decoration pieces I still love and the items I'm ready to part with for whatever reason. I also love to see what's new and add to our collection or build upon any unique Halloween themes for the house and yard. Like many, I'm often inspired by Pinterest and Instagram to see what unique ideas and DIY projects are trending and worth trying in my home.
Last year, my front yard was home to a trio of skeletons around a fire pit roasting skeleton heads, and I made light-up pumpkins using solar yard lights. Where we went wrong with the skeletons is the lighting. I have minimal lighting in the front yard and the skeletons were almost impossible to see once it was dark. So this year, I am incorporating outdoor lights and trying something new with my skeletons and the overall theme for the yard.
This year's Halloween projects include a fun surprise for my kiddos with a visit from a spooky witch with ‘boo bags’ and a dining room decorated with floating witch hats, you can read the post here. My second focus was a more robust plan for decorating the front yard because my kiddos love to walk around and see what all the neighbors are doing, therefore our yard needed to be just as spooky and fun as everyone else in the neighborhood!
Let me tell you if you are wondering what the neighbors have in their yard! We have a giant inflatable Oogie Boogie across the street, the scary It clown and his friends live two doors down, and the most elaborate Nightmare Before Christmas setup with a 12' Jack Skeleton a few blocks over. The neighborhood loves Halloween, and we need to find some way to add to the season's magic with our front yard display.
Outdoor Halloween Decoration Tips & Ideas
To maximize my Halloween decorations and create a spooky/fun space, I divide my yard into zones creating unique themes for each space. My front door is not visible from the road, so creating a cohesive theme feels less important than maximizing decorations across the entire yard. Working from the street to the house I divide the space into five zones.
Zone 1 : The Light Up Pumpkin Patch
Last year, I made these easy light-up pumpkins using outdoor solar lights and the classic trick-or-treat plastic pumpkin pails. This Halloween DIY pumpkin project is low budget and uses minimal supplies. Sharing the pumpkin pails and outdoor solar lights I used here. I reused the solar pumpkins this year in the front of the yard, creating a pumpkin patch below a layer by cobwebs.
Zone 2 : The Things that Climb Out of the Hedges
As you move past the pumpkin patch and cobwebs I have two wide, low to the ground hedges. In the evening, these hedges are dark and hard to see. For Halloween, I draped orange and purple solar lights across the hedges for a pop of color. Behind the hedges is a larger hedge holding a floating pumpkin scarecrow and a holly tree with a skeleton stepping onto the lower hedges as though he is emerging from the yard. We decorated the skeleton with Spanish moss hanging from trees in our yard.
Zone 3 : The Skeleton Witch with Her Caldron of Skulls
Moving past the hedges, you are greeted by a skeleton witch at the start of the staircase. My witch is covered in cobwebs and stirring a cauldron of skulls with her witch's broom. This is a simple setup, we secured the skeleton to our railing using zip ties and draped her with fabric, cobwebs, and more Spanish moss from nearby trees. Incorporating natural elements from the yard helps tie the decorations and the yard together.
Zone 4 : The Salem Cemetery
Following the staircase up to the house, we have a large tree surrounded by a square dirt lot. This space seemed perfect for a cemetery. We decided to designate this space as the home to our Salem Cemetery with tombstones and skeleton bones appearing as though they are coming out of the grave. I think this space is one of my kiddo's favorite spaces. If the neighboring cats or wildlife knock over the tombstones, my boys are outside fixing the displays or our cemetery sign.
Zone 5 : The Skeleton Guard & Her Pumpkins
The last zone is the staircase to the front door. At the top of the stairs sits our final skeleton wearing a black bucket hat and she is wrapped with Halloween creepy cloth/gauze. She is surrounded by large and small pumpkins that trickle down the staircase steps closest to the house.
As we prepare for trick-or-treaters we are planning the final decorations for the house, including a projector showcasing dancing skeletons in the window by our front door, and more string lights to light up the staircase. Whatever decorations or traditions you have for fall or Halloween, I hope you are enjoying the season just as much as my family. Happy Halloween!
