Zero-Waste & Plastic-Free Halloween Decorations To DIY
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Decorate your home sustainably this spooky season, with these easy zero-waste and plastic-free Halloween decorations to DIY.
Halloween may be synonymous with plastic waste, but it doesn’t have to be like that. This year try skipping buying plastic spiders and ghosts, and instead make some homemade decorations from natural materials or repurposed items.
Not sure how to get started? Let me help. I’ve got six amazing plastic-free decorations to DIY this Halloween that you can decorate your home with. The best bit is you don’t have to be a crafting genius – they all come together quickly and easily. You can get the kids involved too – most are perfect for making with kids over the spooky season.
Before we get started, a quick reminder. As always, don’t bin any plastic Halloween decorations you already own. Remember that re-using what you already have – even if it is plastic – is always the most sustainable way to decorate your home for special events.
Plastic-Free Halloween Decorations To Make
Now that we’ve got the disclaimer out of the way, let’s move on to the best bit – the decorations! Here are my favourite eco-friendly decorations to make this Halloween.
Use the quick links to jump to a particular DIY, or keep scrolling to read the full post:
- Bean & Seed Ghosts
- Spooky Paper Garlands
- Pinecone Halloween Bats
- Leaf Ghosts & Bats
- Toilet Roll Tube Ghosts
- Homemade Clay Ghost Garland
Bean & Seed Ghosts
These bean and seed ghosts by Woodlark are a great way to decorate your home sustainably. All you need are some dried beans or seeds, some cardboard, scissors and glue and you’ve got a spooky ghost on your hands! It’s a great activity for small kids, whilst also quite meditative for adults!
Spooky Paper Garlands
Alandalicia has a great video on Instagram for making these fun spooky garlands, made from paper. Completely plastic-free, these decorations can be strung up around your house come Halloween.
After Halloween, you can carefully fold them up and store them flat, so that you can reuse them again and again. And when you’re done with them, they can easily be recycled in your paper and card recycling bin or composted.
Pinecone Halloween Bats
My kids love collecting pinecones in the autumn, so it’s always good to find new ways of crafting with them. These pinecone bats by Handmade Charlotte are really cute and would look amazing when strung up into a garland or dangled from a gnarly branch.
Leaf Ghosts & Bats
As well as the seed ghosts above, the Woodlark blog also has a great tutorial for making ghosts and bats from autumn leaves. It’s a good excuse for a walk in the woods – not that you ever need an excuse! You can then stick these on your walls or windows to create a spooky scene.
Do note that the leaves need pressing and drying before you start painting to avoid them curling up. You can use fresh leaves, but they may curl as they dry.
Toilet Roll Tube Ghosts
I love crafting with toilet roll tubes. The possibilities are endless. These toilet roll tube ghosts by DIY Decor, for example, are a brilliant way to make zero-waste Halloween decorations.
Simply save up some tubes, and get snipping and painting and decorating. Make a garland, or stick them around your home to bring on the ghostly vibes.
Homemade Clay Ghost Garland
Want to create a spooky garland for your home? There’s no need to buy a plastic one. Instead, Kate from My Plastic-Free Home has a great homemade clay ghost garland that you can make.
All you need is some cornflour, bicarbonate of soda and string. If you’ve got a ghost-shaped cookie cutter, then that will make life easier, but you could draw a ghost shape out of cardboard and carefully cut around it with a knife if you don’t want to buy anything new.
With careful storage, this zero-waste Halloween decoration will last you year after year. I’ve been making homemade clay decorations with my kids for years, and I find that popping them in a sealed tub with some dried rice helps to keep the moisture out when they are in storage. Otherwise, they can start to take on moisture and go mouldy.
More Eco-Friendly Halloween Inspiration
Looking for more ways to enjoy Halloween sustainably? Here are my top resources:
- How to have an eco-friendly Halloween
- Homemade Halloween outfit ideas
- Ways to reuse and recycle your pumpkins after Halloween
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