For some decorating for Halloween just means putting out pumpkins on Halloween night.  For others it means decorating extensively inside and outside the house or other place they live for the whole month of October.  This is a guide of ideas for decorating closer to the extreme,but parts or the whole thing can be taken to decorate to the extent you want or your time allows.

Pumpkin

Pumpkins are probably the most common Halloween decoration.  They can be carved wuth funny, scary, or serious faces.  You can even carve different shapes into pumpkins.  One year we carved a cow out using a stencil we had.  It is fun to make your pumpkin(s) truly your own by carving something you are really interested in on a pumpkin.  Carving is best done on bigger pumpkins, but if you are skilled you can successfully sarve smaller pumpkins.


Just becaue you do not have the ability to carve small pumpkins does not make them useless.  These pumpkins can be decorated on the outside without carving them.  These can be painted with accents added with other craft supplies.  You can make your pumpkin represent something you are interested in with more creativity than just carving a pumpkin allows.  Almost every Halloween I like to make a Sorcerer Mickey pumpkin (pictured beloe).  I paint the face using acrylic paint.  I add ears and the sorcerer hat using construction paper connected to the pumpkin with toothpicks.  This type of decorating allows the pumpkin to last much longer than carving (my Sorcerer Mickey pictured below lasted over 6 months before starting to rot) thus is a great method if you want to decorate for all of October.


Another option for long lasting pumpkins is to use craft pumpkins, which can be used year after year and saves you time in decorating once it has been completed.  Craft pumpkins can either be carved or painted and decorated as discussed above.  I have a soccer themed craft pumpkin (pictured below) I use year after year.  I just simply drew the face, added soccer ball eyes, put paper filled soccer gloves on the sides, and a soccer hat on top of it.

Windows

Window decorating is one of the easiest ways to decorate for Halloween and can still be creative.  The main decorations I use are plastic window clings.  You can get sheets of designs at most dollar stores, also many craft stores carry them for a dollar.  It is fun to mix and match several different designs making it work for your windows in a way that appeals to you.  There are also gel clings available at some stores (I found skulls and spiders at Michaels recently).  I find that these sometimes leave residue on the windows and/or get torn when removing.  The thin plastic window clings on the other hand can easilly be removed and used multiple times.

Another way of decorating windows is to use spider webs.  You can buy packages of spider web and spread across windows.  They even have different colored ones that could be used to match your current decor.  Some webs already come with spiders, but if yours does not you can buy spider rings at most dollar stores or here on eBay.

Graveyard

There are two main options for creating a spooky graveyard in your front yard.  You can purchase skeletons, gravestones, and other graveyard decorations from stores or eBay.  Some good decorations can be found at dollar stores, especially skeletons.  Alternatively you can make your own skeletons, gravestones, etc. out of cardboard and other materials.  When decorating your yard it is nice to make mounds and then place gravestones on the mounds.  Skeletons can be placed coming out of the graves.  You can also scatter bones around your graveyard.


Candles

Candlelight provides an scary glow to your Halloween decorating.  There are many candles available in Halloween shapes that can go with any type of Halloween decor whether you are focusing on witches, pumpkins, or ghosts.  I like to use tea light holders in different Haloween shapes, as they can be reused with just buying new tealights.  There are also candles in Halloween scents, especially pumpkin.  Search local stores and/or eBay to find ones that fit with your other Halloween decor best.