Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Spider Squash

These multilegged creatures rise up from the damp earth and moss to skitter across cold stones.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Witch's Cauldron

Suspend a steaming pumpkin from long branches to form a wickedly creepy cauldron.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Toadstool Pumpkins

No need to worry that these mushrooms are poisonous. They're made from crown pumpkins and butternut, delicata, and carnival squashes.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Funkin Scarecrow

Welcome trick-or-treaters to your door with this friendly-faced scarecrow.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Autumn Wreath Pumpkin Chandelier

Casually adorned with colorful fallen leaves, a simple grapevine wreath is illuminated by tea lights set inside mini-pumpkin holders. Suspended from a ceiling hook, it gives a warm, rustic atmosphere to a front porch. To make the glow last, light the candles just before your guests arrive.

Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Wise Owl Pumpkin

Pumpkins are thick-skinned, but it's easy to poke through them for a new take on decorating. Here, two miniature pumpkins become a wise owl. Secure pumpkins together with skewers. For eyes, push toothpicks through the tips of two pumpkin seeds, insert in pumpkin, and fan out slightly; repeat several times. A pearberry completes each. To add a chrysanthemum plume, make a hole with a toothpick and insert stem. For the beak, dig out a small opening and wedge in an almond.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Black Silk Flower Wreath

This once-upon-a-midnight-dreary wreath was created using silk flowers, then sprayed a raven hue to give trick-or-treaters a wicked welcome.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Squash Jack-o'-Lanterns

Legend has it that the luckless souls who hear the Three Squashes' song of woe shall vanish into the nearest vegetable patch, never to be seen or heard from again.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Arachnid Descent

Feeling mischievous? Rig up rubber spiders to rise and fall before trick-or-treaters as you open the door.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Witches' Broom Door Decoration and Garland

Two brooms wired together form an unwelcoming decoration on the witch's front door, which also has a border of little broom heads (bundles of raffia).

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Tombstone Yard Decorations

Mound earth to look like newly dug graves and set out a few of these tombstones for a deathly welcome.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Creepy Crates

Assemble a tableau straight out of a spooky movie. The animals in this witch's latest shipment seem to have escaped their crates and are inhabiting these ghostly green pumpkins.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Terrifying Topiary

These scary shrubs will terrify anyone -- or anything -- that dares tread past.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Gourd Garland

John Keats called fall the season of mellow fruitfulness, a sentiment evoked by this string of warm-colored gourds

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Creepy Snakes

Add fangs to these slithering creatures, and drape them down your stairs or wrap them around pumpkins.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Pumpkin-Patch Creatures

Beware the menacing pumpkins who go bump in the night.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Mouse Motel

Rooms go fast in these cozy, critter-filled pumpkins, which offer a shudder-inspiring alternative to traditional carving motifs.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Spider Welcome Sign

The front-door welcome sign is "spun" with chalk on a crafts-store blackboard in a ready-made frame; sticking plastic spiders onto woodwork with weather-stripping tack prevents damage to the finish and allows for easy removal.

Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Glow-in-the-Dark Funkins

Light up your porch with both frightening and friendly glowing pumpkin faces.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Musty Wreath Relic

No one but the bravest trick-or-treaters will dare tread on your doorstep while this aging, spider-infested wreath hangs over it.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Stacked Jacks

Who knew a benign pumpkin patch could yield such otherworldly creatures? Assume the role of Dr. Frankenstein this Halloween, and create your own monster, using stacks of pumpkins, gourds, and squashes. Only the heads need carving; if the bumpy body parts don't sit squarely on each other, level them with a serrated knife, then use toothpicks, pushed into the flesh, to assemble them. Before attaching the head, insert a low-wattage light bulb, and plug it into an outside socket or heavy-duty extension cord.

Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Spooky Birds in Windows

Set an ominous scene with these monstrous birds, who greet visitors in the form of window silhouettes.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Pumpkin Snake

If you'd like to construct a beast as large as this, consider throwing a pumpkin-carving party where each guest works on a different segment of this serpent.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Autumn Luminarias

These luminarias are perfect for lighting the way to your front porch, on Halloween or for any fall party.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Gourd Family

Kids will love re-creating their own family in the form of stacked pumpkins.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Turnip Jack-o'-Lanterns

Pumpkins aren't the only vegetables worthy of carving. These turnips also make good night watchmen. Hang in a row from the porch rafters, from a lamppost, or anywhere else a pumpkin won't fit.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Scary Message Lanterns

Plain brown-paper bags spell danger for arriving trick-or-treaters or Halloween party guests.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Pumpkin Lollipop Holder

Silhouetted in an open door, a pumpkin spiked with orange- and chocolate-flavored lollipops resembles a folk-art Sputnik.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Celestial Pumpkins

Add twinkle to your fall nights with these magical pumpkin lanterns.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Witch and Cat Lawn Ornaments

This sinister sorceress and her trio of menacing felines are in a black humor -- all the better to give guests a start when they arrive at your home for the festivities.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Alligator and Snail Pumpkins

These patient creatures of the night may lurk around unsuspecting trick-or-treaters.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Owl Pumpkins

The owls' extra-large eyes are made from halved miniature pumpkins and gourds. Their feet and ears are curved pieces of pumpkin.

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Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Autumn Planters

When cold weather arrives, gourds, winter squash, Indian corn, and small pumpkins can fill the planters that once overflowed with flowering annuals; tuck some colorful leaves into any gaps. There's no better way to capture the spirit of the fall harvest season.

Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Snake Pumpkins

These jack-o'-lanterns take a walk on the wild side when you wreath rubber snakes through them.

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