The spookiest time of year is right around the corner and Taylor Morrison wants to help you create the most creepiest house in the neighborhood. Make your place the one all the trick or treaters are talking about or host a fun Halloween party for a ghoulish good time with friends.
From dancing ghosts to a lifelike graveyard for nighttime frights, it’s time to get in touch with your creative side and dress your new home in a Halloween costume of its own!
Translucent Specters
From coast to ghost there’s nothing scarier than a see-through poltergeist swinging in the night. This fun and inexpensive DIY craft project can convert your new Tampa, FL home into a haunted house by the sea!
Shopping List (per ghost):
- 3 clear 30-gallon garbage bags
- Clear packing tape
- Foam wig head (you can order one cheap off Amazon)
- Fishing wire
- (Optional – string of lights)
Step 1: Cut a hole in the top of one of the garbage bags so that it looks like a poncho. Slide it over the head of a volunteer and cut holes for arms, too. Next, slowly wrap the packing tape around the volunteer’s upper body to create a rigid form. Once the form is strong enough to hold its shape, carefully cut the plastic from neck to waist and remove it from your volunteer.
Step 2: Repeat the same process with your wig head to create a translucent head to later attach to the body from step 1. DO NOT use a volunteer for this step. If you don’t have a wig head use a ball or a balloon.
Step 3: Pull the head up through the bottom of your torso and tape it together. You’ll also want to tape both pieces back together where you cut them.
Step 4: Cut the final garbage bag into long strips and tape these to the bottom of your see-through phantom to create the illusion of a flowing nightgown.
Step 5: Poke two holes into the top of the head and run fishing wire through the holes to hang your ghost on the porch. For extra effect, illuminate your specter with a small garden light or tape a string of holiday lights inside the body.
What Big Teeth You Have!
Your garage door offers the perfect opportunity to create a monster of a popular Halloween decoration. Here’s how you can add gnarly teeth to your home.
You’ll need a couple of sheets of plywood, a jigsaw, quality paint and a little bit of artistic ability to pull this off, but the upside is that once your garage monster is finished it will last for years to come.
The garage monster is built with 4 parts: 2 eyes to be hung above the door and then upper & lower teeth.
Simply stencil out two spooky eye designs and jagged teeth shapes for both the upper and lower jaws. Remember that the upper teeth will attach to the wall and then the lower teeth to the door itself – so the lower teeth cannot be wider than the door.
Once the four pieces are cut out you can paint them to your liking and then hang them on the house with screws.
Arachnophobia
A giant spider in the garden is as scary in the backyard of a new house in Denver, as it is on the balcony of an Atlanta townhome.
These creepy arachnids are easy to make and a fun activity for kids of all ages.
Shopping List:
- 1 jumbo black garbage bag, 1 medium black garbage bag
- 8 ½” black pipe insulation
- 8 ½” PVC 90-degree elbows
- Electrical tape
- 2 red reflectors for eyes (or red cardboard/paper will do)
- Stuffing (old sheets or used grocery bags)
Step 1: Build the legs by cutting each tube of pipe insulation in half and then inserting an elbow in each end of the tube. Wrap the joint completely in electrical tape both to hold it in place and cover the white with black. Set the legs aside.
Step 2: Stuff the jumbo bag ¾ full to create the body. Tie off the bag and then tape the ends of each leg near the knot. Use the excess bag to cover the tape if you’d like, but this part goes underneath so it doesn’t really matter.
Step 3: To make the head you can either stuff the smaller garbage bag and shape it or better yet, find something light and round to go inside. You can use a ball or a foam sphere from the craft store. Tie off the end and cut off the excess plastic, leaving 4-5 inches to tape the head to the body. Glue or tape on the eyes and you’re all done!
Boney Invaders
Love skeletons?
Purchase 4-5 durable outdoor skeleton decorations and fashion them climbing up the side of your house!
Haunted House Window Silhouettes
One roll of inexpensive black paper plus a chalk pencil, tape and a pair of scissors can turn every window in your home into a frightening Halloween scene.
Simply draw out your favorite Halloween symbols & characters, cut out along the lines, tape onto the window and throw on the light switch when the sun goes down. From zombies to witches, goblins or Frankenstein, if you can imagine it, you can craft a silhouette.
- For the artistically challenged, a print shop can use a large printer to create stencils from images you find online.
- To add extra spook on the big night, screw in an orange light bulb for the rooms facing the street.
Pumpkin Archway
Install a simple wood or PVC arch in front of your porch to create the framework for wiring up foam Jack-o-Lanterns. You can either purchase plain pumpkins that are designed for carving or choose ready-to-go Jack-o-Lanterns with faces you like.
You’ll need a couple dozen pumpkins to make this work but you can easily pack all the materials away for next year.
While you’re wiring up the pumpkins consider running white holiday lights into each Jack-o-Lantern so your Halloween-inspired entranceway can illuminate the night.
A Trio of Dancing Ghosts
An excellent option for homes with a small front yard, this quick and easy craft takes no time at all.
Shopping List:
- 3 36” wood dowels
- 3 nails
- Cheap white tablecloth cut into 3 equal pieces
- 3 floral arrangement balls
Step 1: Push a dowel into the foam ball and drape the cloth evenly over the top. Use the nail to fix the cloth in place. You can add additional layers of cheesecloth for a more eerie effect.
Step 2: Arrange all three ghosts in a triangle in the yard, driving the dowel far enough into the ground to stand upright.
Step 3: Tie the corners together to make it look like the ghosts are dancing.
Make Good Use of the Shrubbery
Remember how much you loved those old googly eyes from the craft store? With a few large foam discs, black fabric and a hot glue gun you can bring back this classic arts & crafts item to be bigger and better.
Simply cut out black pupils and glue them to the foam discs to create big white eyes you can strategically place around the garden to make “yard monsters.” Manicured round bushes work best.
DIY Graveyard
Remember the foam wig head we used in the original craft up top? Well, you can also find foam heads in the shape of famous Halloween characters, too! From skeletons to zombies, witches and more, these paintable craniums work great for adding character to your Halloween cemetery.
For the gravesite, lay out a plastic or burlap sack over the grass and build up a small mound of dirt. You can buy plastic tombstones at any Halloween pop up store or craft market.
Then, place your painted heads in such a way that it looks like they’ve dug up their grave and are ready to escape!
