Halloween is just around the corner. And that means it’s time to kick off your creepy crafting with your favorite finds from Goodwill. Here, we’ll show you some great Halloween DIY tricks that will make your space the scariest of all! The best part is that you can create all these custom pieces with most items purchased at Goodwill! So head on over to one of the Goodwill locations near you, pick out your favorite pieces, and use your imagination!
Doesn’t look like much, right? Not too scary at all. But wait till you see the results below!
Picture this! It’s gruesomely great!
The finished frightful frame!
Wow, it’s perfectly horrific! And this one is super easy!
Thrift a fabulous frame and a morbid mask from Goodwill.
“Age” the frame by painting it black and roughing it up with a scouring pad.
Cut some small holes all around the mask.
Take some twine or wire, connect it around the face of your rubber mask, and stretch it.
Staple the twine (or wire) to the frame.
Decorate your mask with more fake blood for that special touch of macabre!
What’s Halloween night without a Book of Spells? We grabbed this great book at Goodwill, decorated it with a skeleton, gave it a nice glaze of decoupage, and finished it off by painting it black with gold paint highlights.
Start by hot-gluing your decoration (we chose a skeleton) to the cover.
Lay a damp paper towel over the cover and spine (leave in creases and bumps to give it an aged look, and make sure to tuck into the crevices of your decoration to get the full impact).
While it’s still wet, add decoupage mixture (we used Modge Podge), then dry for about 2 hours.
Spray paint it with black (we chose glossy) and let it dry.
Brush on some gold gloss paint for that special effect!
Stencil on your terrible title, and we guarantee your guests will be mesmerized!
We added tacks in the corners of our cover, just for more effect.
Any book will do, but we loved that this one was about Psychiatric Health.
Our Supplies:
Book $3.99
Modge Podge $5.97
Paper Towel $0 (Of course, we had some on hand…and we discovered that the thinner, the better! Paper napkins would work, too.)
Tacks $0 (in our tool drawer)
Skeleton 97¢
Black Paint 96¢
Glue Gun and Sticks $8.24 (DIYers will already have the essential glue gun!)
Gold Paint $4.99
Foam Brushes 97¢/package
Total: $26.09
Eyeballs and Rats and Brains, Oh My!!!
Well, this one was a cinch. A few jars, some props, a teeny bit of spray paint, fill them with water, and WOW, do you have the grossest display ever! Fill your jars with the pieces you think will gross out your guests the most! Eyeballs, rubber rats, “brains” (carved out of cauliflower). Easy and inexpensive gore! We found our jars with lids attached, perfect for our display, and spray-painted the bottoms with matte black to darken for a “singed” look. Insert items into jars, add water, and violå, the perfect prop!
Jars in an eerie green…a perfect match for our candlesticks!
Our Supplies:
Jars with lids 2 for $3.99, 1 for $2.99, for a total of $10.97
Spray Paint 96¢
Eyeballs $1.97
Cauliflower $2.67
Hairy Rat $2.98
Total: $19.55
It Figur(in)es…
A second chance for those “sweet” figurines from Great Aunt Mary. Check out these spooky transformations!!! We found an angel, a little rabbit (which, we must add, was creepy to begin with), and a little boy carrying a basket of fruit. A little glossy black spray paint over these pieces, a little red paint for the eye sockets and mouths, and you’ve accomplished your frightening finish! We had some white paint on hand, and we utilized it for the face of the angel as an extra icky added effect!
You can find just about any type of ceramic piece that can turn creepy with one application of paint!
Our Supplies:
Figurines $3.99 each
Black and Red Paint 96¢ each
White Paint $0
Total for all three pieces: $13.89
Set Your Creepy Stage
You can’t have a great Halloween without having the proper atmosphere. Create it with our candlestick spookification! This was a no-brainer (no pun intended—check out our jar of brains above). Two candlesticks (already green colored…looks like mold…yay!) with a light coat of matte black spray paint. Add a few candles, and voila! Eerie, delivered.
Any set of candlestick holders will do. We picked these because they were already an eerie green…something we could definitely work with!
Watch out, witches! We couldn’t leave you without setting our table of terrors! Along with the candlesticks, we picked up an inexpensive serving dish with a ladle and simply spray-painted them both matte black.
CAUTION: Do NOT serve food or liquids in this unless you have purchased a paint or glaze labeled “food safe” or “lead-free”!!!
This particular piece will hold your wrapped candy safely, or fill it with dry ice for a creepy cauldron effect on your Halloween treat table!
Our Supplies:
Set of Candlesticks $10
Black Spray Paint (Matte finish) 96¢
Candles $0 (we had a stash)
Serving Dish (with ladle) $7.99
Total cost: $18.95
These fun DIY ideas all add up to a frighteningly affordable Halloween scene! So stop by any of our Goodwill Central Texas retail stores, and see what spells you’ll cast for your Halloween bash!
