Kid-Friendly (But Still Spooky) Halloween Porch

At our house, Halloween is almost as exciting as Christmas. Granted, our focus is quite different, but the kids absolutely love to decorate for Halloween. We love pumpkins. We love scarecrows. We love ghosts and goblins and zombies. This year, as the Animal got off the bus, he and Flash and I started discussing what we could do to make a kid-friendly Halloween porch. The Animal is newly obsessed with Minecraft, so he started talking about creepers, spiders, and monster eyes. After a brief discussion, we had our general plan for a kid-friendly (but still spooky) Halloween porch.

The most crucial element of the kid-friendly Halloween porch was a “cave.” The Animal wanted there to be a cave so we could have “things” peeking out and being spooky. My first thought was garbage bags. We went to the dollar store and found basic black garbage bags that I cut open and taped to the sides of our porch. (For the record, in retrospect, I would have just bought some basic plastic black table covers. Too late now. :))

Next, we needed lights and spooky decorations. Luckily, we had a lot of that. Aaron and I had purchased tomato cages a few years ago with the intent of making them into Christmas trees for the porch. This year, we opted to use the candy corn lights my mom gave us and fall garland. By themselves, they look awesomely beautiful. Mixed in with the Halloween porch, they’re the perfect amount of lights to make the black garbage bags glow.

Then, we pulled out the old Halloween tree we made. I’m still so stinking proud of that DIY that I was determined to use it again.

I felt like something was missing. So we pulled out the Halloween flower pots I’d created a couple of years ago. These are on the outside of the “cave” and provide a bit of framing. We accessorized with pumpkins, skeletons, and a spider.

Then, on another impromptu trip to the dollar store, we found caution tape. For just a dollar a pack, it felt like the perfect addition. When I added that to the outside of the black plastic, our porch looked less like a construction area and more like a Halloween haunted house.

We’re still adding and repairing as hurricane winds reach us here all the way in the middle of the state. But despite my self-critical eye, the kids adore what we’ve created. It’s both kid-friendly, spooky, and exactly what they’d pictured.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Tell me about it!

Now go check out these other October Tricks and Treats from my Blog with Friends buddies:

Individual Mummy Pies from Baking in a Tornado

Cow Tails and Nuts from Spatulas on Parade

Playing Dress Up from Not That Sarah Michelle

Make Your Kitchen Boo-tiful with The Liebers

 

Tags: crafts, decorate, diy, halloween, parenting