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Your Halloween décor may be a few years old and tired looking or maybe you have new decorative pieces that you want to jazz up to stand out on your block. Either way, we have a few options to liven up your spooky season that only take a few minutes and a few dollars.
First, you may notice a ghoulish glow to the outdoor photos of our porchscape. This is our best Halloween hack that works for any front porch with recessed can lights. We've alternated these orange and purple bulbs in our exterior cans and the Halloween glow is a unique and fun look that I certainly haven't seen around the neighborhood.
In most neighborhoods I've seen, various types of skeletons and spiders can be found on almost every house. To make my skellies and spideys stand out, I decided to work with color. I went with glitter silver and glitter purple for my skulls. For the skeletons and spider, I went with a metallic gold. I used three coats of spray paint on each piece and let it dry 20 minutes in between each coat. To cover two skeletons and a large spider, I used two cans of paint.
Also pictured are two ghost lanterns pictured as before and after. These lanterns are on their 5th Halloween with me and they were looking a bit sad and worn out. I went with a metallic white to revitalize them and give them a pearlescent spooky glow. The metallic white was more transparent than I expected. They certainly don't look like new as I was hoping, but they are improved. One can of paint made it through two coats on both lanterns.
Make sure to spray your decorations outside, even for small pieces. You may want to wear a mask if you are sensitive to fumes. The smell is strong. Use drop cloths and make sure you are not too close to any vehicles or items that you wouldn't want permanently painted. I prefer reusable drop cloths. We use these cloths for kids projects as well. The plastic drop cloths are more cost effective, but I've had issues with using them outside where the wind makes them fly up at really inconvenient times.
2024 Update!
At the time of this update, I am planning out my 2024 Halloween décor and will add updates and photos as I decorate. I intend to reuse all of last year's updated items as described above with a few additions:
First, I was inundated with questions and compliments on the glitter skulls last year. Expanding on that, I've purchased this set of 12 plastic pumpkins for just $12.99 and will enhance them with various color glitter spray paints. I'm thinking Cosmo Blue and Black Metallic. I will arrange these amongst the natural pumpkins that will be at my front door and front patio furniture. I may also use some inside.
Second, it has been a struggle to keep plant and floral material alive and looking nice in my front porch planters. I'm currently experimenting with faux florals, but Halloween is the perfect time to leave them barren with an added spooky touch. For $12.99 (at the time of publication), I purchased this two pack of 15" skeletons. I chose metallic black spray paint and put one in each planter. The Krylon spray paints do have a superior product application to the Rustoleum paints, but the Krylon cans are small and go very quickly. I needed one can per skeleton.
If your planters are deep like mine, you can grab a set of foam floral blocks to build up a seat for your skeletons.
