Small Porch Ideas for Halloween
Last updated August 21, 2024
Anika is a physicist and electrical engineer turned DIYer and woodworker, sharing all of her favorite tips, DIY projects, and inspiration on her site, Anika's DIY Life.
A Note From The Home Depot
Decorating a small front porch for Halloween doesn’t have to be difficult. Follow along to see how Anika of Anika’s DIY Life made the most of her small front porch with a few clever DIY projects for this year’s Halloween and Harvest Style Challenge.
Table of Contents
How to Decorate a Small Front Porch for Halloween
Sabre Tooth Cat
DIY Dog Bowl Treat Holder
Warning Sign
Rotting Pumpkins
Halloween Planter
How to Decorate a Small Front Porch for Halloween
Hi everyone! I am super excited to show you our front porch for the Halloween and Harvest Style Challenge!
We are a huge fans of the Halloween decor at The Home Depot. Every time I visit The Home Depot around Halloween time, the kids beg to go just so they can hang out with all of the animal skeletons. So, when The Home Depot asked me to set up a space for Halloween, it just had to be about animals!
Sabre Tooth Cat
The Home Depot sent me the 82-inch Sabre Tooth Cat, which made an instant impression on the kids. They named him Skeleto and he has since become the pet we never had. Because we have a pretty small porch it can be a challenge to decorate. With a few small projects and all of the fun Halloween decor choices from The Home Depot, I was able to create the perfect scene!
I started out by covering the entire scene with spider webs because what is Halloween decor without spide rwebs? Next, I set up Skeleto, the Sabre Tooth Cat, as though he was jumping out of the planters onto the porch. I cut off the skulls from a blow molded chain and used it to tie Skeleto to a 48-in. Shepherd hook with a hanging graveyard lantern.
DIY Dog Bowl Treat Holder
Just like other trick or treaters, Skeleto is certainly there for the treats! So, I had to build a dog bowl treat holder for Skeleto.
I started with a 3/4-in. thick plywood cut to 20 x 18-in. and cut out a 12-in. circle in the middle using a jigsaw. For the legs, I attached 1 x 12-in. boards cut at 20-in. on each side of the plywood using wood glue and finish nails.
To give it an old distressed look, I used black and white spray paint and misted the dog bowl holder. For the “TREATS” board, I used a scrap piece of cedar fence misted with black spray paint and painted letters using white paint. This was simply nailed onto the dog bowl holder specifically making sure it wasn’t level.
For the bowl, I used a 12-in. hanging basket.
On the bottom of the basket, I broke the slits on the bottom and pushed the hose from the fog machine hose kit through it.
This connects to the fog machine which sits underneath the dog bowl holder.
Next, I filled the basket with candy, stuck a few skeleton hands from the bag of bones in it, and added battery operated LED skull lights around the bowl. It created a perfectly creepy treat bowl!
Warning Sign
A 5-ft. Posable Skeleton sits on the opposite side warning everyone with a sign.
It was a simple project using leftover 3/4-in. plywood from the dog bowl holder. I misted it with black spray paint to make it look old and finally painted Enter if you dare with white paint.
Rotting Pumpkins
I used 13-in. and 9-in. craft pumpkins and gave them a rotting effect with mists of white spray paint followed by black spray paint. The key here is to hold the spray paint cans directly on top of the pumpkin.
Halloween Planter
I spray painted a Tall Crucible Planter in black, added faux black branches and hung the little skulls I had cut off of the blow molded chain. Battery Operated purple LED lights add to the effect.
On the other side of the door is the 13” rotting pumpkin and the Animated Skeleton Greyhound also trying to get to the treats in the dog bowl.
A Halloween wreath on the door completes the scene.
The most important part of Halloween decor – the lighting – brings it all to life at night! So finally, I added purple LED string lights in the eaves of the porch, a couple of battery operated orange LED lights behind the rotting pumpkins and two ghost flame lights on both sides of the scene.
Changing the light colors from the ghost flames completely changes the ambience of the front porch! The kids are stoked to be the cool house on the block that is already decorated for Halloween! They are having fun running around the porch to activate the animals and grab the candy.
We can’t wait for it to be trick or treating time! Because, above all, isn’t Halloween about having fun?
Find more Halloween decor at the Home Depot.
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
