11 Best-Ever Halloween Decorating Tips

Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, and if you haven't decorated for this spooky day already, you better get started! If you are ahead of the game and have already covered your home in fake cobwebs and zombie brides, then we have some extra tips to make your house even scarier, and even more Halloween-party ready. We've rounded up our 11 favorite Halloween decorating tips, from classic jack-o'-lanterns to blood-stained windows that will fright and delight, just as everything should on this spooky day.

Have flickering candles as the only light source in your home to set an eerie tone. Then make it even more Halloween-perfect by making those candles look like they are bleeding. To do this, simply stick black tacks in the candles, and drip red wax down the sides of them.

Make your home look like a crime scene by mixing together corn starch and red food coloring. Then dip your hands in it and smear them on the windows, mirrors, and any other surface that can be easily sprayed clean afterward.

Scare your neighbors and friends before they've even made it to your front door by hiding some flashing eye lights in the trees and bushes in your front garden that will make any passers-by jump.

Most people are scared when faced with crowds of flapping birds and insects, so play on this fear by covering the area outside your front door with sticks and hanging decorations of black bats and crows to scare away any visitors.

Turn your home into a haunted house by making black and white copies of your family photos, poking out holes where the eyes are, and putting fairy lights in the spaces so they glow as they stare intently at all your guests.

Give your room an abandoned, Miss Havisham-style look by covering all the furniture in white sheets and hanging fake cobwebs from the ceiling and over any mirrors, picture frames, and ornaments so that it looks like your home has been empty and lifeless for quite some time.

This decoration takes a little bit of work, but the extremely spooky end result makes it worth it: Buy some Styrofoam heads (just the heads, no bodies please), cover them with  cheesecloth or another white gauzy fabric, and hang them from the ceiling so these scary spirits seem to be mysteriously floating.

Though jack-o'-lanterns are not an original Halloween decoration, they are definitely an essential. Carve as many as you can manage, place a lit candle inside each one, and leave them on your stoop and inside your home to scare away the evil spirits (as they were originally created to do), and, if you've carved them well, maybe give some kids a fright, too.

Pumpkins aren't just for jack-o'-lanterns: They can be both decorative and functional at your Halloween party. To make a cooler, simply chop the pumpkin's top off, hollow out the inside, line it with aluminum foil, and fill it with ice and drinks. To make a keg, carve out a circle around the pumpkin's stem to make a lid (as if you were making a jack-o'-lantern), and scoop out all the seeds and pulp. Then find a point near the base of the pumpkin (make sure it's where the center is hollow though), and carve out a hole just big enough to fit the spigot, and secure it in place. Finally, fill the pumpkin with beer, and you're ready to go!

Sometimes, you have to stick with the classics. There's no other time of year when it's acceptable to cover our homes in pretty miniature pumpkins, decorative gourds, and colorful corn, so make the most and place these natural decorations in every spare space you have.

Give all your friends a scare by serving them drinks filled with insects! To do this, place a plastic spider in each hole in your ice cube tray, fill up with water, and freeze.