We’ve researched some fun, cheap Halloween decorations you can use around your home. The best part? They’re all made of recyclables that you probably already have in your home.

Halloween comes in the middle of my favorite season—fall. The whole “fun in the sun” vibe evolves into autumn leaves, hot chocolate mornings, and the ever-creative children’s Halloween costumes. Since having children I’ve had to tap into my creative side to come up with ways to transform them into their desired Halloween characters without breaking the bank. If you’re looking for ways to make cheap Halloween decorations for your home (or your kids), we’ve got some ideas that’ll help you do that. Since we’re big on recycling around here, you’ll probably already have most of these items at home. 😉

35 Cheap Halloween Decorations

Stuffed Sock Pumpkins

These stuffed pumpkins from Hometalk are upcycled from old socks or hats and make cute, indoor Halloween decorations for your shelves, staircase, counters, and more!

Milk Jug Ghosts

These milk jug ghosts from Eighteen25 are one of the easiest cheap Halloween decorations we could find. They’re cute, your kids can help you make them, and you probably already have everything you need (clean jug, marker, xacto-knife/box cutter, lights). Whether you want individual ghosts in your yard, or you want them lining your sidewalk for the trick-or-treaters, they are sure to be a big hit for everyone. 

Tin Can Halloween Decorations

If you have some tin cans kicking around, you can make some homemade Halloween decorations by punching a fun design in the sides of a can, then sticking a light in it, or by painting the outside of the can to make a fun jack-o-lantern candle holder. These are great for driveways, shelves, tables, and more. 

Green Nylon Costume

ATTENTION! We all know that body paint is a hassle (and it’s messy!), so if you need the green skin to perfect your or your kid’s costume, try dying some old nylons green. It will have the same effect without any of the mess.

Halloween Vase

Residence Style has a list of over 30 easy DIY Halloween decorations you can make with old mason jars. I’m definitely trying some of these. Scrounge up some jars and paint to make your Halloween a little spookier!

Spider Web Frame

Got an old picture frame and some rope or yarn? Try out this unique and easy-to-make spider web frame! It’s a little different from other Halloween wreath ideas and could be used both inside and out.

Toilet Paper Roll Monsters

This kid-friendly craft is so fun, and it’s a great way to upcycle toilet paper rolls by making Halloween characters. You can make cats, bats, monsters, and more. They work great as decorations or you can fill them with candy and give them as gifts.

Apothecary and Potion Jars

If you have any vases, bottles, jars, or any other glass container, you can make your very own potions collection. Whether you want to fill them with concoctions or have them just for decoration, they are definitely a favorite this Halloween. For a variety of potion bottle ideas, check out this page!

Spider Web Jewelry

DIY Halloween jewelry is fun and festive. If you’re interested in making your own customized jewelry, check out this necklace and earrings tutorial!

Candy Slide

A fun way to get candy to trick-or-treaters is by making a homemade candy slide, like this one from Instructables! All you need are some cardboard tubes or some PVC pipe, white gauze or cheesecloth, and some plastic skulls!

Floating Ghost

Ghosts are a Halloween staple, and they’re easy to make! You can create your own gravity-defying ghosts with a candlestick as a decoration or even a bowl to hold candy. Check out these examples from Sadie Seasongoods.

Scary Halloween Figurines

Did your grandmother or estranged aunt leave you one too many figurines? Or maybe you need help coming up with an idea for how to use some you found at a garage sale. Again, take a look at Sadie Seasongoods for a tutorial on how to turn them into scary Halloween figurines!

Upcycled Haunted House

Sometimes you can take old children’s toys, like this toy barn Angie Wilson transformed, and make them creepier than anything you can buy at the store. Have fun with all the tiny touches that make this haunted house come to life!

Wooden Character Halloween Decorations

Old wood is perfect for Halloween. All it takes is a little sandpaper and some paint to make your favorite ghosts, cats, Frankensteins, vampires, or witches for some incredible Halloween decorations! The pictured examples are being sold on Etsy by WoodSamaritanGifts. Top them using candles, like the picture above, or with hats, ears, pumpkin stems/leaves, etc.

Creepy Dolls

Sheri from Confessions of a Refashionista took advantage of her kiddos’ old dolls and turned them into some scarily cute Halloween decorations. You, too, can take some old baby dolls, barbies, or figurines and apply a little paint and ragged fabric to make your own monsters!

Upcycled Spell Book

Old hardcover books can be turned into some eerily beautiful spell books with little effort. While you may not want to make one as elaborate as this one from Unique Creations by Anita, there are plenty of options to customize your own spell books.

Homemade Mummies

White gauze or cheesecloth is perfect for wrapping your own mummies! You can use stuffed animals or dolls for decorations, or you can wrap up a tin can to fill with candy and give out as gifts or to hold items during a party.

Potted Plant Jack-O-Lanterns

Did you know houseplants can be decorated for Halloween? If you keep your plants in terracotta pots, just slap on some Jack-O-Lantern faces to make the season feel spookier. You can paint them on to make them more permanent or use adhesive vinyl or duct tape that you can peel off later.

Ghost Windsock

Painting a tin can of any size white and adding some white streamers can make excellent windsock ghosts that you can hang up in your yard. They look even better in the dark! Or if you want to try your hand at a Frankenstein or witch windsock, Chicken Scratch NY has you covered.

Cooler Candy Buckets

I have a cooler that I got three Christmases ago at a family Christmas party that’s just too big for a lunch and too small for a picnic, so I’m doing this! By painting or covering your cooler in duct tape, you can create ghosts, Jack-o-lanterns, and more for a festive candy holder. And they will still work as coolers afterward! Great idea Single Girls DIY.

Pill Bottle Decorations

Paint up your old pill bottles to make your own fun potion ingredients, or decorate them and fill them with candy to give away. They would also make a great decoration set on your mantle. Take a look at the tutorial by Amy at Mod Podge Rocks.

Halloween Wreaths

Halloween wreaths are a must-have for the spooky season, and they can be easy to make. You can make them out of old t-shirts like Blue Bear Wood did, black toole, orange fabric scraps, black and orange feathers, or anything else you love.

Canning Lid Pumpkins

If you have some canning lids hanging around and you’re looking for a very easy Halloween DIY project, this pumpkin only requires that you paint your canning lids your favorite shade of orange and then string them in a circle. A couple of cinnamon sticks stuck in the middle top it off as the perfect stem. Cheap Halloween decorations are our favorite. Thanks for the easy, durable decoration, Alli from Hometalk!

Halloween Coasters

These cute Halloween coasters can make any party better. The creative possibilities are endless as you customize your favorite designs. Sadie Season Goods is hitting the jackpot with her creative Halloween projects.

Umbrella Bat Wings

These DIY bat wings can perfect any Halloween costume for you or your kids. They can be easily made with an old black umbrella and they don’t even require any sewing! Here’s the tutorial from Mother Natured.

Spiderweb Treat Holder

This treat holder made by Jacquie Fisher from Edventures is cute and easy to make. It is also perfect for leaving outside your door if you don’t want the doorbell ringing all night!

T-Shirt Candy Bags

Kids need something to hold all that candy in, and these T-shirt bags will do the trick! Old T-shirts can be made into cute bags for all of your candy-collecting needs. Check out the tutorial from Homemade Ginger.

Cutting Board Wall Decorations

You can reuse some of your old wooden cutting boards or pizza paddles to make some nice wall decorations, inside or out. You can paint a nice sign or your own spooky characters, like Carlene from Organized Clutter.

Bag Skeleton

Our list of cheap Halloween decorations wouldn’t be complete without some way to use up that stash of plastic bags we all have. We don’t need hundreds of them, so use some of them up by making this cute bag skeleton to hang in your yard or house. Follow the tutorial here from Instructables.

Orange Peel Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins is messy work, so check out these orange peel pumpkins by Rebecca’s DIY! They’re easy, cute, and smell like oranges! The best part is they’re compostable so you can throw them away guilt-free.

Laundry Basket Cage

This one is my absolute favorite, and takes almost no effort either! A couple of old laundry baskets make a perfect cage to hang up in your yard. You can cage up some crows, monsters, or even a skeleton, like The Navage Patch did!

Hula-Hoop Spider web

These spider web decorations can be made from cheap or broken hula-hoops! With a little paint, string, and a big, fat spider, you can make an awesome wall decoration like this one from Over the Big Moon this Halloween season!

Wire Crown

Whether you want to be an elf, an evil villain, or a princess, you’re going to need a crown to complete that outfit. Check out these customizable wire crowns from Mizerella.

Spider Earrings

Spider Earrings are a Halloween staple, and you can make them yourself! While there are a lot of different designs and options, here is one step-by-step tutorial to make your own.

Monster House

Have you ever wanted to live in your own monster house? Now you can! Take some old plywood or old fencing boards to give your house a scary face! We love how ModMischief from Instructables used their window as a mouth.

Which one of our cheap Halloween decorations will you try first? Are there others that you like making out of your recyclables?