Frightful Food

Fill a trifle bowl with cemetery mud and a few bloody fingers. Print a little sign and glue or tape it to a toothpick. My cemetery mud is a combination of chocolate pudding, chocolate Cool Whip, and crushed chocolate center Oreo cookies topped with crumbled store bought brownies. For those who eat gluten free, go online for gluten free brownie recipes and substitute gluten free chocolate wafers.

Skeleton & Skull Friends

Using a 12 inch skeleton purchased at a dollar store and a styrofoam skull from a craft store, create dressed up friends to sit atop tables or on a shelf. I made a fancy top hat for the skull embellishing a small top hat purchased at a costume shop. My dressed up lady's outfit was created using scrap fabric. I used a half inch slice of a toilet paper roll covered with a circular black velvet scrap to create the hat. The beads on the hat are actually sewing pins, which I used to secure the fabric to the slice of cardboard.

Instant Ancestors

Find photos of "gothic" or macabre looking people at thrift stores or print out internet images and place in frames. The folks in these photos are actually my real relatives, but they make a stately spooky statement atop the mantle of the fireplace in my kitchen. Memento Mori style photos work well too.

Spider Victim!

I've seen many spider victims for sale at Halloween shops; however, the one I created is my favorite. Purchase or re-purpose a large doll head or paint a styrofoam wig head from a beauty supply store to look like it is scared. Take a couple of items of old clothing that you may be ready to throw out and fill with newspaper or other old clothes to make the body. Nail the body to a tree, add a plastic foot or hand found at any dollar store, and wrap in webbing then add large spiders.

Front Porch Ideas

Take an old pillow and make something cute. I purchased a velvet dress at a thrift shop for a few dollars and covered an old pillow then used fabric glue to attach an applique I purchased at a craft shop for only a dollar.

Make wicker furniture a bit more creepy by covering with "creepy fabric" found at dollar stores. Take an old bird cage and fill it with skulls. Spray paint an urn flat black and fill with spray painted twigs and LED string lights.

Using a wooden plaque I picked up at Goodwill for a mere $.79 I created the raven sign. Spray paint and age or distress a re-purposed sign or piece of wood, find an image to print to use as a stencil, and add a little tag like I did with "Nevermore".