Lucky 13: Halloween Decorations You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

published Oct 28, 2016

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(Image credit: It All Started with Paint)

If you’re like me, you want to decorate for the holidays, but you don’t always have the time. With Halloween fast approaching, spending an entire afternoon (or even a few hours) decorating may be out the question, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add a few festive touches. Here are 13 little projects and ideas that will have your home feeling particularly boo-tiful, while hardly taking up any time at all.

Above: If you don’t mind investing in a bat hole punch, you could definitely knock out this bat-covered pumpkin in under half an hour (or maybe a little bit longer if you choose to cut them out yourself). Get the tutorial from It All Started with Paint.

(Image credit: Adore Home)

Nothing could be easier than stacking a few mini pumpkins in a hurricane vase (especially if you already have a hurricane vase). Bonus: Uncarved pumpkins will keep for a long time, so you can leave these out for Thanksgiving, too. (From Adore Home via Redbook)

(Image credit: Second Street)

These bat balloons from Second Street are both sweet and spooky. The instructions are in Russian, but the photos are fairly self-explanatory.

(Image credit: On Sutton Place)

Blogger Ann from On Sutton Place created this DIY mini pumpkin wreath. She said it took her about 20 minutes to wire on all 16 pumpkins.

(Image credit: Parents Magazine)

This little gourd family from Parents Magazine is seriously cute, and will take you hardly any time to make.

(Image credit: Woman’s Day)

From Woman’s Day, here’s another idea for hurricane vases. All you need is a little candy corn, which you are welcome to eat once the holiday’s over.

(Image credit: Delia Creates)

These magnetic spiders are just those spider rings you knew as a kid, with the ring bit cut off and a magnet attached. Super fun, or maybe super creepy, depending on who you ask. DIY from Delia Creates.

(Image credit: Sweet Paul)

Painting pumpkins is so much easier, and less messy, than carving them. And, if you paint them in a matte black, they will look incredibly stylish and mysterious. DIY from Sweet Paul.

(Image credit: Kylie M Interiors)

These gourd candle holders, from Revel via Kylie M Interiors, would make a great Thanksgiving decoration as well. (A knife would do the trick, I’m sure, but cutting the gourd would be super easy if you had a hole saw that was just the right size—and that you didn’t mind getting a little dirty.)

(Image credit: Made Everyday)

A flock of these cut-out bats (or as many as you can cut out in half an hour) is a great way to add some spooky Halloween ambience to your home. DIY from Made Everyday.

(Image credit: A Subtle Revelry)

This idea is so pretty, and yet so stupidly simple, that I wish I had thought of it myself: covering a pumpkin in pushpins. The white one (which is actually covered in colored paper brads) has a funfetti look that I love. Get the details from A Subtle Revelry.

(Image credit: Elle Decor)

Spray-paint some wine bottles in shiny and matte black, and add some black candles, for a little (nearly) instant atmosphere. Image from Elle Decor, via Fun Holiday Crafts.

(Image credit: Lovely Indeed)

Here are even more painted pumpkins, this time in a spectrum of cheerful colors, from Lovely Indeed.