Halloween Door Decorations: Great Wreaths and Entry Accents

Your Halloween front door decor just went from scary to sweet. Painted foam cones are the secret to this darling candy cane wreath. A festive black-and-white ribbon is a stylish finishing touch. 

Finding a stylish, not scary, witch door decoration can be tricky. Luckily, we have the perfect solution. This adorable door decoration stuffs festive fall mums in a witch-hat-shaped hanger. To get the look, halve a papier-mache witch hat, then trace the cone part of the hat onto cardboard. Cut out, fold, and hot-glue onto the halved hat. Paint all pieces with orange paint. Once dry, place a piece of floral foam in the hat's opening. Fill with silk flowers. 

From a distance, this wreath looks modern and chic, but up close, visitors clearly see it's a scary Halloween door decoration. Spray plastic skeleton hands with metallic paint, then hot-glue them to a chalkboard frame. For extra oomph, write a spooky saying in the center of the wreath. 

Don't worry; this festive banner won't scare off trick-or-treaters. A spooky saying is spruced up with black and orange accents, stylish stripes, and fun fringe. Buy a plain black banner at a crafts store, then dress it up with Halloween accents.

Amp up your entry with these illuminating Halloween porch decorations. Paper lanterns look ominous when paired with flying bat cutouts, painted pumpkins, and spider pillows. Hang the lanterns at random intervals for an extra-eerie effect. 

For the perfect blend of chic and chilling, opt for this burlap bat wreath. The bats lose a little of their fear factor to glitter, and spunky patterns dress up the ribbon.

Purchased from the store, Halloween front door decorations can be scary expensive. But when DIY-ed, they're often budget-friendly. This colorful craft is made from a wreath-shaped cardboard cutout and spray-painted clothespins. Clip the clothespins to the form, then secure with a dab of hot glue. Clear polyurethane spray paint makes the wreath suitable for the outdoors. 

A purchased tinsel wreath is only part of the front door decor in this eerie idea. Adhere fake purple nails to a jewelry-display hand form (found at hobby stores) and mount it in the center of your wreath. The downloadable hanging sign makes a creepy note to hang from outstretched fingers.

This high-impact doormat requires just minutes of work. Simply lay stencils on top of a plain black doormat and stencil with white paint. Let dry and prop with a selection of pumpkins for full effect.

Check out the transformation of 44 wide-mouth jar bands into a fun Halloween wreath. It's a fun, budget-friendly project that calls for only a handful of materials.

This fuzzy orange wreath guarantees trick-or-treaters won't miss your front door. Wrap a wreath form with 1-3 orange feather boas, depending on how dense you want your results. Hot-glue googly eyes to pipe cleaners and use florists pins to secure them to the wreath.

A bag of inexpensive plastic spiders and a plastic foam wreath are all you need to create a creepy-crawly front door wreath. Simply paint a wreath shape black and hot-glue the spiders to the wreath. And make sure to save space in the center for the mother-of-all: a big arachnid.

You don't need a lot of crafting skills, fancy tools, or even pricey supplies to make unique Halloween front door decorations. Here, inexpensive spider rub-ons, stickers, and trims decorate white kraft bags. Fill the bottoms of the bags with sand and stagger on the stairs or along your front walkway. Light with battery-operated votive candles and accent with a variety of pumpkins.

Part frightful, part formal, this skull-adorned wreath gets its stripes from overlapping strips of felt. You'll need about 50 each of 10x1/2-inch pieces of black and white felt. Use straight pins to secure to a 14-inch straw wreath form. Print the free skeleton image and coat with decoupage medium; let dry. Use skewers to attach it to the wreath and tie a bow with upholstery fabric for dramatic effect.

Go all-out with your Halloween house decorations. On the stairs, welcome guests with tall lanterns wrapped in cardstock cut with faces, and situate among small pumpkins and gourds. Accent pillars with spooky planters, hang ghosts from the porch, and use tape to create black spiderwebs on your doors. As a final touch, wrap spare brooms with electrical tape for a cheap door-side accent.

A few handmade ghosts are a kid-appropriate decorating project the whole family can tackle together. Buy several inexpensive plastic bowls and predrill holes in the center of the bottom surface. Run twine or fishing line through the holes and anchor with duct tape. Cut two large squares of white cotton or cheesecloth, snip holes in the centers, and thread onto the overturned bowl. Cut felt in the shapes of faces, then adhere to the ghosts and hang.

Symmetry is a wonderfully simple decorating tool to guide you in creating a seasonally beautiful entryway -- at Halloween or any holiday time. Here, two black feather wreaths, accented with long lengths of shimmery silver ribbon, dress up the towering front doors. Whimsical --and not-too-spooky -- faux ravens beckon their own sort of welcome.

Turn a front door window into a spider's clever trap with black crafts tape. To make this scary Halloween door decoration, start with three long strips of tape. Create an off-center X shape with two pieces and use the third to cut across the middle of the X, dividing your glass window into six sections. Starting at the center, add tape strips to each section until a web starts to take shape.

Make a Halloween front door decoration that looks worn from years of spooky service. Hot-glue faux moss to a foam wreath. Tuck in a few bittersweet branches or seasonal leaves and hot-glue in place. Wire in a raven, mouse, or spider just off-center on the wreath; hang using a wide velvet or satin ribbon.

Embrace the spirit of Halloween in your front yard with this spider-filled bonanza. Secure a skeleton to the ground with rebar; use monofilament to pose the arms. Create a swarm of spiders with inexpensive plastic foam balls and chenille stems; secure to the ground with wired florists picks.

Create your own spooky outdoor spiderweb planters from stretched and pulled cotton balls fitted over plants. Spell out a Halloween message with black foam letters attached to small dowels using adhesive before sticking them into the plant.

Traditionally carved pumpkins -- wide grins, seasonal words -- are a welcome sight on a Halloween-theme front entry. This trio focuses on the eyes -- googly eyes, a Cyclops -- as well as a swoopy script for the Halloween message. Get our free designs below.

Editor's Tip: Rub petroleum jelly on the cut areas of the pumpkins to preserve them for even longer, and use battery-operated candles for ease and safety.

Simple steps and easy-to-find materials transform planters, lanterns, and pumpkins into a scary-fun Halloween doorstep arrangement. Adhere cat eyes (search online for copyright-free images) with crafts glue to urn planters or other pots. Tuck twigs, leaves, or flowers into sand or plastic foam-filled planters. Cut pieces of orange cardstock to fit lantern panels and tape jack-o'-lantern face pieces (cut from black cardstock) to the orange pieces. Place them behind the glass panels to protect from wind and rain. Add a few pumpkins and voila: Doorstep masterpiece accomplished!

With a little witchcraft, you can set the stage for a spooky evening at your front door. Light a warm path to your door with luminarias and a lighted grapevine garland framing the doorway. Dangle a few faux bats and spiders near porch lights. Add black witch, cat, bat, and ghost silhouettes made of heavy paper to windows to increase the spooky ambience.

Infuse plain white lanterns with spooky spirit in minutes. Run lengths of black ribbon along the surface of an open paper lantern (we made one lantern with ribbon and one without). Print basic jack-o'-lantern clip art (a quick online search offers lots of options) onto white paper. Trim and tape to the front of the lantern. Hang it on your porch for a delightful welcome.

A supersize felt spider waits for Halloween guests in this wreath, making a spooky decoration for your front door. Wrap one skein of thick orange yarn (or two skeins of thin orange yarn) around a 12-inch straw wreath form so the threads lay neatly. Hot-glue one end of black rickrack trim to the back of the wreath form; wrap the rickrack around the form, evenly spacing the wraps and securing the trim to the back of the wreath with hot glue. Trace our spider pattern, available below, onto white paper and cut out. Trace the pattern onto black felt using a chalk pencil; cut out with a crafts knife. Position the felt spider in the center of the wreath, using straight pins to fasten the ends of the legs to the back side of the wreath. Hang the wreath with a wide black ribbon.

Skip the pricey holiday mats and make your own spider-theme welcome mat for just a few dollars. Start with a lightweight black mat cut into a circle. Hot-glue lengths of clothesline to the mat in a spiderweb pattern.

This country-chic wreath is a cinch to make. Wrap plastic foam balls of various sizes with orange, cream, and black yarn. Use hot glue to set the end of the yarn in place. Hot-glue each ball to a wire wreath form as desired, adding a pretty orange bow as an accent.

Add a Halloween-theme window covering to your front door to welcome the spooky season. Print two copies of our spider and web pattern, available below, onto white paper and enlarge to fit your window. Cut out the spider and web in two separate pieces to use as patterns. Trace the pattern pieces onto black construction paper, flipping the web pattern to use for the bottom of the window covering. Cut out the pieces, including the webbing indicated by the white within the web. Cut two rectangles from black construction paper to use as side pieces that join the top and bottom pieces, and cut yellow cellophane to fit inside the window. Tape the two web pieces, the two side pieces, and the spider to the cellophane, referring to the photo for placement. Tape the finished cellophane panel inside the window frame.

If classic, not creepy, is your autumn decorating style, then use an elegant display of pumpkins to send a welcoming holiday message. Here, three pumpkins -- each one a bit smaller than the one below it -- rest on each other. Use a favorite font and stencil a message with spray paint or a paint pen. Trail some moss or other accent from the base of a tall planter or urn. If you stack the pumpkins away from a wall, insert a piece of rebar or a dowel from top to bottom to prevent toppling.

Ever wondered what to do with those cute, inexpensive urns from the crafts store? With a simple coat of spray paint they become spooky Halloween decorations. Stuff cotton batting and blocks of crafts foam inside. Stick white branches into the foam as desired. Cut-out black bats, fabric leaves, black webbing, and a few creepy-crawly spider accents complete the look.

It's easy to transform foam pumpkins into one-of-a-kind accents for your outdoor Halloween decorating. Spray one pumpkin with glossy black paint and the other with matte black paint; cover a few pumpkins with discarded book pages. Cut a few additional book pages and silver crepe paper into leaf shapes for contrast. Group several pumpkins into an oversize cauldron or pot.

Set a spooky tone this season with decoupaged plates displayed by the front door. Use computer-printed house numbers embellished with copyright-free skeleton illustrations. Search for the art online under "human anatomy" or "anatomy."