The first sunny weekend in October we pulled out the box of decorations from the basement and started at it. This year Carson had a goal of being the 2nd Spookiest House on the block. Because as he put it, “There’s no competing with the Holiday House.” Located a few houses up, they’re the reason it’s the biggest night of the year in our neighborhood drawing thousands of trick-or-treaters. {this year includes an Elvis impersonator from Vegas and the local news broadcasting live on their front lawn.}

But without a huge collection of Halloween decor we started deciding what we should buy. “Mom, there’s no reason to buy decorations when we can make our own!” Ahh, I love my DIY kid.

Ghosts hung from the ceiling made of cheesecloth and clear plastic Christmas globe ornaments:

Before: empty glass bottles saved from the recycling (soaked in soapy water to easily remove the labels).

Add a few layers of matte black spray paint:

A few cobwebs and plastic spiders… A spooky display for the mantel:

A cardboard box turned zombie:

Yogurt container, pipe cleaners and duct tape becomes a scary spider greeting porch guests:

Plastic containers, construction paper and our endless supply of duct tape. Presenting Carson’s zombie ghost village {beware!}:

Using Mason jars, we added tissue paper and Modge Podge to create some spooky candle holders.

A messy but fun spiderweb project:

We did break down and buy a couple of skeletons for our raised beds turned coffins:

BOO!