4 Last-Minute Halloween Decorations for Gardeners

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Make a Haunting Halloween Scene With These Easy Crafts!

By The Editors
October 30, 2019

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Halloween is almost here! You’ve got the candy for trick-or-treaters ready to go. But, as you
glance across the street at the neighbor’s decked-out haunted house, you realize that your
own Halloween decor is perhaps a bit… lacking. Not to worry! Here are a few simple
decorations that will improve your Halloween scene!

4 Last-Minute Halloween Decorations for Gardeners

Give trick-or-treaters the heebie-jeebies with these cheap and easy Halloween crafts, then
let us know in the comments about your favorite homemade Halloween decor!

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Ghosts of Tomatoes Past
Everyone knows to watch out for vengeful spirits on Halloween night, but does anyone ever
expect vegetable spirits? I don’t think so! It’s time to get one last use out of those tomato
cages before storing them for the off-season, so we’re going to make them into ghostly
lawn ornaments:

1. Gather up your tomato cages, some old white sheets, a plastic bag of fallen leaves,
black construction paper, safety pins, clothespins, and scissors.
2. Cut out a set of ghostly eyes and a mouth from the black paper for each ghost you
want to make. Then, safety-pin a set of eyes and a mouth to the middle of each sheet.
3. Pick out a few spots on your lawn and stick the tomato cages firmly into the ground,
placing a bag of fallen leaves on top of the cage (to act as a head), then draping the
sheets over the cages so that the ghostly face faces forward.
4. Finally, use clothespins to secure the sheets to the cages. This will make sure that
your ghosts billow in the wind but don’t blow away.
5. Optional: Attach glow sticks or christmas lights to the inside of your tomato cages to
make the ghosts glow!

Photo by Catherine Boeckmann

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Disembodied Glowing Eyes
This Halloween decoration has been making the rounds around the web for the past few
years and is great way to add a spooky element to your entryway. Here’s how to make your
own pair of disembodied glowing eyes:

1. You’ll need the cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper, scissors (or a utility
knife), duct tape, some string, a pencil, and a glow stick.
2. Draw a pair of creepy-looking eyes on the cardboard tube. (Since you’re going to cut
them out, the eyes shouldn’t be too detailed, but it should be obvious from the
silhouette that they’re eyes!)
3. Cut out the eyes and tape one end of the tube shut with the duct tape.
4. Attach the string to the tube so that it can be hung from a branch.
5. When darkness falls, light up the glow stick and stick it in the tube, then tape over the
open side of the tube.
6. Hang the tube in a bush, from a branch, or in a stone wall and voila! Disembodied
glowing eyes!

For a better effect, make several of these tubes to hang in various spots—perhaps hide
a few in your garden, even.

Photo by Diane Burnett

The Haunted Wheelbarrow

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Want to trick your kids into doing yard work and make a cool Halloween decoration at the
same time? Well, the haunted wheelbarrow is for you:

1. You’ll need a wheelbarrow, an old long-sleeve shirt, a pair of gloves, safety pins, a pile
of leaves, and a jack-o-lantern.
2. Fill the gloves with leaves or crumpled newspaper and attach them to the sleeves of
the shirt using the safety pins. Then, fill up the shirt sleeves to the shoulders, leaving
the body of the shirt empty.
3. Next, lay the shirt in the wheelbarrow and cover most of it with leaves, letting the
arms and hands stick out.
4. Finally, place your jack-o-lantern in the wheelbarrow, arranging it so that it looks like
a pumpkin head and two arms are emerging from the wheelbarrow!

Pretty spooky! Who knows what else could be lurking under those leaves? (And who dares
to find out?)

The Classic Scarecrow

This decoration pretty much speaks for itself. (Hopefully not literally, as that would be way
scarier than intended.) A scarecrow is always an effective decoration for Halloween—
especially when the trick-or-treaters can’t be 100% sure whether it’s actually a scarecrow or
someone dressed as a scarecrow.
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 1. First, raid your closet for some old clothes. You’ll want a long-sleeve shirt, long pants,
gloves, boots, and a hat (optional).
2. Unless you’re going for the “headless horseman” theme, your scarecrow will need a
head. An old pillowcase stuffed with newspaper, a jack-o-lantern, or a melon all work
well as a scarecrow’s noggin.
3. Stuff the clothes with straw or hay to give your scarecrow some mass. If you don’t
have straw or hay on hand, you can use fallen leaves (dry ones, preferably), grass
clippings, or even crumpled newspaper.
4. Once your scarecrow is sufficiently stuffed, “stitch” the clothes together using safety
pins to make sure that none of the stuffing falls out.
5. Now, find a place to put your scarecrow. Should he be stargazing in a beach chair on
the lawn? Or seated serenely on your porch with a bowl of candy in hand? It’s up
to you!

Using these simple decorations, you can create a haunting Halloween scene in no time
without breaking the bank!

Be sure to let us know your favorite quick and easy Halloween crafts in the comments
below. Happy Halloween!

Learn More

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Check out our main Halloween page for fun facts, folklore, and more!

Also see a list of our favorite Halloween Treats and Desserts for last-minute
Halloween recipes.

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