4 Fun (and spooky) Halloween craft projects

Want to scare up some fun this October? Halloween crafts are a wonderful way to include kids of all ages and have a little family fun.

The Halloween craft projects below are easy to create and use supplies you can find in your home or craft room. It’s a good idea to adjust the Halloween thrill-meter based on your kids’ ages. For smaller children, friendly ghosts and bats are fun but not too scary. If your kids are older, they may enjoy more ghoulish creatures like vampires, witches and other monsters.

1. Skull Potato Stamp

(Source: MarthaStewart.com)

Create a handcrafted stamp to imprint Halloween party invitations or treat bags. Older kids can help with carving the potato stamp and younger kids will get endless joy from stamping the design onto everything from labels to lunch bags.

What you’ll need:

• Potatoes
• A melon baller
• A paring knife
• Simple skull template or other creature design

Step 1: Choose a potato and cut it in half.

Step 2: Reference your template and begin to carve your design into the flesh of the potato. Melon ballers are useful to scoop out shapes like eyes while the paring knife is better for more delicate shapes like teeth.

Step 3: Dip the potato stamp into black or orange acrylic craft paint and stamp away!

2. Haunted Halloween Crackers

(Source: MarthaStewart.com)

Party crackers add a little POP! to any Halloween get-together. Gather together a few supplies from around your house and create fun, candy-filled Halloween party crackers for your big bash.

What you’ll need:

• Colored crepe paper
• Scissors
• Toilet paper rolls
• A glue stick
• Twine or string
• Optional: Stickers and rubber stamps

Step 1: Cut a piece of colored crepe paper into an 11-inch square.

Step 2: Cut a 4” x 7” rectangle from a second piece of crepe paper. Decorate with spooky words or ghostly shapes — this is your opportunity to be creative!

Step 3: Fill a toilet paper roll with the candy or treat of your choice. Roll the square piece of paper around the toilet paper roll, gather the seams and close with twine or string.

Step 4: Wrap the decorated piece of crepe paper around the center of the party cracker and glue.

Step 5: Cut fringe into the excess paper at each end of the Halloween cracker. To break open, pull the ends apart and enjoy your sugary treat!

3. Spooky Shadow Lanterns

(Source: MarthaStewart.com)

Hang these vellum lanterns around your house to add a little Halloween décor to your home. For the most effect, place a battery-operated candle inside or hang near a western-facing window — the lantern will catch the orange light from the sunset and create an eerie appearance.

What you’ll need:

• A design template from MarthaStewart.com: Choose from the witch template, owl template, or moon template
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Heavy black paper (you’ll need a 24” x 36” piece for each lantern)
• Orange vellum
• Double-sided tape
• Wire and wire cutters
• Chain-nose pliers
• Twine
• Optional: Clear monofilament and battery operated votive candle

Step 1: Print and cut out the lantern template from the design of your choice. Trace the template onto black paper 4 times to create each side of the lantern.

Step 2: Print 4 copies of the witch, owl or moon design onto orange vellum. Tape the vellum pieces onto the inside of the lantern frame.

Step 3: Form the lantern into a lamp shape and tape the edges.

Step 4: Cut a 26” piece of wire and twist a loop into the middle of the wire. Pierce the edge of the lantern on opposite sides and use pliers to secure the wire to the lantern.

Step 5: Hang your lantern using twine or string. If you plan to use battery operated votive candles, use clear monofilament to hang them inside the lantern.

4. Bewitching Spectral Mirror

(Source: CountryLiving.com)

Turn your home’s entryway into a haunted house with this “mirror” that features a ghostly image. Trick-or-treaters will love it!

What you’ll need:

• Frame with glass (paint black for an extra spooky look)
• A ghostly image like this one from CountryLiving.com
• Reflective paint like Krylon’s Looking Glass paint

Step 1: Print both the original image and its inverse image onto paper that fits your frame.

Step 2: Remove the glass from the frame and tape the inverse image facedown onto the front of the glass.

Step 3: Flip the glass over and spray reflective paint on the back of the glass avoiding the areas where your ghostly image is visible. Let dry.

Step 4: Remove the inverse image from the glass and place the glass into the frame with the painted side toward the back. Fit the original image into the frame and return the backing.

Step 5: Hang your spectral mirror near the entrance to your home so trick-or-treaters can see your crafty work.

Happy Halloween crafting from the helpful organizing team at get organized already!