It’s officially spooky season, and I’ve got one of my biggest Halloween DIY roundups yet. This one covers everything from Haunted Mansion-inspired pieces to vintage tablescape hacks to a full porch makeover, and almost all of it comes from Dollar Tree or basic craft supplies. Here’s everything I made:
DIY Haunted Mansion Book Stack
I’ve been hunting for the Haunted Mansion book stacks sold at Lowe’s for ages with no luck, so I made my own version using a cheap book stack from Dollar Tree. I designed three custom book covers, printed them on sticker paper, and applied them over the existing books after removing the center screw. The whole thing cost about $10 instead of $30, and the templates are in my free file library if you want to make your own.
Spooky Mirror DIY
This is a Halloween decor staple I bring out every year. Grab a thrifted frame, pop out the glass, spritz it with water, and spray it with mirror effect paint. Dabbing the wet paint with a paper towel creates that distressed, aged look. Flip it over and spray the back black so it shows through the front. Add rub and buff or leave it metallic. Either way, it looks straight out of the Haunted Mansion.
Vintage Halloween Wood Signs
Vintage Halloween is everywhere this year, and I love it. I recreated old-fashioned candy ad artwork on scrap wood using a faux stain technique with black and orange chalk paint plus antique wax, then sealed printed artwork onto the wood with Mod Podge. The files for these are in my free library.
DIY “Hey Boo” Porch Sign
Built from three pieces of 1×6 lumber for under $7 total. I braced the back with scrap wood, hand-painted a rustic ghost using a watered-down black chalk paint stain and a makeup brush for crisp edges, then freehanded the “Hey Boo” text. No Cricut required. Sealed with clear spray paint and stapled (not hot glued) to hold up against sun exposure on my covered porch.
Dollar Tree Vintage Pumpkin Stack
Inspired by the papier-mâché pumpkin stacks all over TikTok, I built mine using Dollar Tree stackable pumpkins, foil for shaping the witch hat and cat ears, and torn Dollar Tree paper towels dipped in Mod Podge for that vintage papier-mâché texture. Base-coated in folk art vintage white, black, and orange, then hand-painted the details, inspired by Joanna Parker’s style.
Dollar Tree Pumpkin Trio Makeover
I redid last week’s Dollar Tree pumpkin trio with a more Joanna Parker-inspired look: a grinning cat instead of an O-shaped mouth, a redesigned ghost face, and a green-skinned “bride of Frankenstein” style witch. Dry deck spackling filled in unwanted texture before repainting.
Water Slide Decal Plates, Mug & Candle
This is the hack for getting that expensive Pottery Barn or West Elm seasonal tableware look without the price tag. I used water slide decal paper to transfer vintage-style graphics onto plain ceramic plates, a mug, and a candle. Soak the printed decal in room-temperature water for 60 seconds, slide it onto the surface, smooth out the water, then bake at 230°F for 15 minutes to set it permanently. Ceramic only for the oven step.
Etched “You’ve Been Poisoned” Glass
A fun, spooky bar cart addition. I applied a mirrored vinyl stencil to the bottom of a cheap highball glass, brushed on etching cream, let it sit, then rinsed and peeled. When you look down into an empty glass, it reads normally, but from the drinker’s perspective it appears backwards, like a spooky little surprise message.
DIY Haunted Mansion Clock
Built from a Dollar Tree clock with the face removed using acetone, then replaced with a printed vellum Haunted Mansion “13th hour” clock face so the internal light shines through. Free template available in my file library.
DIY Tombstones
Dollar Tree tombstones filled with wood filler, painted with metallic paint mixed with black for an aged look, then finished with black vinyl lettering applied over paper transfer tape.
Dollar Tree Plunger Witch’s Broom
One of my favorite budget hacks. A Dollar Tree plunger becomes the broom handle, and Dollar Tree nautical rope cut into pieces and rubber-banded around the base becomes the bristles. Using rubber bands instead of hot glue means you can re-fluff and reuse it every year.
Lit Ghost Wreath
A dupe of the popular lit ghost string lights, built on a foam wreath form with skewers, foam balls, battery-powered string lights, and ivory muslin fabric draped over each ball to look like little flying ghosts.
Wanda the Witch Wood Cutout
A years-old Pinterest inspiration piece I finally recreated. Hand-cut from wood (or use foam board or cardboard if you don’t have a jigsaw), hand-painted using reference images, with fabric hair and a bow. You named her Wanda last year, and she’s back for another season.
Be sure to watch the full video to see more and enjoy!
