12 Halloween Door Decorating Ideas That Will Bewitch Anyone Who Visits Your Home

Flock of Crows

Black birds set an unwelcoming scene when they alight around a doorway flanked with stalks of dried corn. There are two kinds of crows pictured here: Some are cut from tar paper, a weatherproof material used in roofing, and others are artificial store-bought ones. Both perch on vines and pumpkins with the help of metal wires.

Pumpkin Arrangements

Lined up the stairway to your front door, this gradient of gourds is devilish in the details: peachy Porcelain Doll, mottled Kakai, and blood-orange Cinderella Rouge pumpkin varieties are camouflaged with faux snakes and lizards.

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Googly-Eyed Plants

You can count on these watchful planters to oggle at trick-or-treaters approaching your home. To recreate this Halloween door decoration, coat a pair of gourds or avocado pits in white craft paint and hot-glue the "eyeballs" onto wooden stalks. Nestle them into the leaves, and they're bound to make the neighbors look twice.

Dripping Door Number

Some houses ooze charm; come October, yours drips in blood. This macabre touch is actually just colored hot glue. Squirt the red glue right onto the edges of your digits, blowing on it to accelerate cooling and help control the drops. This scare tactic also works on mailboxes and letter slots. After the holiday, simply peel off the evidence, leaving no trace of evil behind.

Enter at Your Own Risk

To cement your reputation as the scariest house in the neighborhood, assemble our patented "nobody's home" fake-out. To begin, chalk the details of a door on black kraft paper and tape it to your real door's interior frame. Cut a hole in the middle that's just big enough to fit your arm (covered in mummy tape or a werewolf paw), and place candy below. It'll look like a mere prop—until it playfully reaches out to grab the hand of anyone sneaking an extra treat.

Haunted Miniature House

No need to turn your home into a haunted house. This small-size one does the trick: It's a dollhouse that's been repurposed into a treat station. Brush the walls with dirt and chalky paint to give the effect of an old house time had forgotten; then, suspend some fallen branches from the yard and hang a swarm of paper bats to complete the scene.

"Night Watcher" Owls

Searching for a stylish, but slightly spooky way to greet guests this season? A pair of these "night watcher" owls cut from our template and traced onto black card stock or poster board will be a real hoot with trick-or-treaters on October 31.

Etched Pumpkins

The secret to bringing these fairytale characters to life are simple templates. Slice off a small piece of the pumpkin's bottom to make a level base, hollow the pumpkin out, tape on a template, and press a pin into the skin along the lines. Then, remove the paper and connect the dots with a linoleum cutter, scraping the surface just deeply enough for light to shine through. Insert a battery-powered candle, and see your etchings glow.

• Get the Bunny Template
• Get the Fox Template

Dried Wreath

Looking for a wreath that captures the spirit of Halloween's season? This wreath, made of natural air-dried maple leaves, hydrangea, wispy wheat, and ornamental branches of Chinese lantern, adds autumnal charm to your front door.

Witchy Welcome

If spooky scary goblins, spiders, and bats aren't your thing, a doorway lined in a witch's disassembled broomstick still evokes intrigue. To recreate the look, cut raffia into 7-inch lengths and gather into small bundles; wrap one end of each bundle with masking tape to secure in a broom shape. For the garland base, cut three pieces of one-half-inch-thick sisal rope: two pieces should be just longer than the door's sides and one just longer than its top. Then, wire a "broom" to the end of one of the long ropes with 24-gauge brass wire on a spool, and without cutting the wire, continue adding and overlapping brooms until you reach the end; repeat with other long rope.

Pretty Pumpkins

Whoever said Halloween décor can't be chic has clearly never seen these pumpkins: Place a couple of these planters—filled with chrysanthemums, thistles, and seeded eucalyptus that have been colored gold with floral spray—on your front porch to create a warm, ambient glow on All Hallows' Eve.

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An Attack of Bats

Looking for a foolproof way to bring an unexpectedly spooky element with this Halloween door decorating idea? These easy-to-use paper bats cling to the glass of windows and mirrors without leaving any residue behind.

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