Last-Minute Halloween Decor

This pennant-style banner in Halloween colors brings the party room to life with candy corn, ghost, and screech owl motifs. To make it, print the eight flag images onto white cardstock. Trim carefully using a crafts knife and a ruler. Cut a length of ribbon long enough to drape from point A to point B; the length depends on where you hang the finished banner. Arrange the flags in the order you want them to appear. Use double-sided tape to attach the ribbon to the backs of the flags, about 1/4 inch from the top. The top edges of the neighboring flags should touch.

See your nighttime festivities in a new light by spelling a seasonal message on glass pillar-candle holders. Wrap the outsides of the glass with colored tissue paper and secure with tape. Adhere 2-inch stick-on vinyl letters (find them at office-supply or crafts stores) to the pillars to form a word.

Turn any pumpkin into a festive decoration in a matter of minutes. Best of all, even the youngest kids can help. This cheerful decoration combines a brush-painted design with finger-painted carnival-inspired dots.

This pumpkin centerpiece takes flight with a wiry ensemble of bats flying every which way. To make it, carve out the center of a medium-size pumpkin. Insert a block of floral foam into the pumpkin. Draw a bat shape on paper and cut it out. Use it as a pattern for cutting out several bats from heavy black paper. Tape the bats to pieces of black wire. Insert the wires into the floral foam. Arrange the bats so they fly in different directions.

Plop a prop witch hat (from a crafts store or an old costume) on a pumpkin for a quick table decoration. If your pumpkin isn't carved, you can draw a face on it with permanent marker or pin on face parts cut from black construction paper.

These favors are sure to be a favorite at your Halloween party. Made from cardboard tubes, tissue paper, and stickers, they can be put together in short order.

This stack of pumpkins is an eye-catching space-saver for decorating a small area. Choose four pumpkins in graduated sizes. Hollow them out and carve simple geometric shapes into each one. Stack the pumpkins with tops off to test their fit. If needed, carve larger openings in the tops so the pumpkins nestle slightly into one another. Or push a sturdy metal garden stake through the center of the tower to secure the stack. Place the lid back on the top pumpkin.

A few quick passes with a drill bit will give you enough holes to fill with stems of artificial daisies -- perfect for a fall dinner table or front-porch accent.

Pick up some fat pumpkins and pots of mums, and arrange them on your front steps in a zigzag fashion. Prop up a few crafts store accents, like our cardboard cats, and you have a great look without a lot of work.

Whether your dots are evenly spaced dots or randomly placed, this pumpkin project is a quick way to decorate for Halloween.

Great for a centerpiece or last-minute trick-or-treat greeter, this quick pumpkin idea offers something to crow about.

With a layer of orange felt beneath, the dotted design on this table runner conjures the image of a field of pumpkins. The chocolate-brown felt top layer will carry you through the harvest season; use black felt for a traditional Halloween look. Trace circles of various sizes onto a length of dark-color felt; cut out. Layer the felt over a length of same-size orange felt. Secure the two layers with glue, if desired, and drape the runner over the table.

Pumpkins of any size become instantly glamorous with glittery stems draped with curling ribbon.