18 Spooky Skull DIYs Perfect for Halloween

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Updated 10/08/20

DIY halloween jar decorations — Dina Belenko Photography / Getty Images

Halloween will be here before you know it, which means it is time to start making everything spooky. Once you have figured out your costume, transform your home into a haunted mansion by decorating it with some creepy but fun holiday decor. By adding a skull or two to your decor this fall, you can easily turn your home into a haunted mansion perfect for your Halloween party this fall. Here are 18 DIY skull ideas perfect to add an eerie feeling to your home.

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DIY Skull Book Ends

Adventures in Fashion

Skulls have been a popular home accent trend, and these chic metallic DIY skull book ends by Adventures In Fashion would work perfectly to add some gothic flair to your bookcase this Halloween or year-round. For extra festive flair, consider covering the books between the skull book ends with paper and giving them a new temporary cover so that they look like spell books to match the spooky skull bookends.

DIY Skull Book Ends from Adventures in Fashion
02 of 18

DIY Skull Cake Stand

A Bubbly Life

Serve your family your spooky cupcakes, cookies, cakes, or other sugary treats on a creepy skull plate created with this easy DIY that you can make by attaching a plate onto a decorative skull and painting both the paint and skull one uniform color.

DIY Skull Cake Stand from A Bubbly Life
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DIY Decorative Gold Skulls

Lovely Indeed

Update regular beige plastic decorative small skulls available in party stores into a chic decor by painting it with liquid gilding to add some glam creepy decor to your home this fall. The completed gold skulls can be added around the home, either placed in a glass vase or placed grouped together on a table.

DIY Decorative Gold Skulls from Lovely Indeed
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DIY Skull Flower Vase

Persia Lou

For your Halloween tablescape, pick a sophisticated black and white color scheme to give a cohesive look to your snacks table. Start by setting the table with some small black foam pumpkins to hold candy on sticks and if desired add small bowls of additional candy. To complete your table decor, add a black foam skull, and turn it into a decorative vase to hold fresh white flowers to complete your spooky snack table.

DIY Skull Flower Vase from Persia Lou

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DIY Skull Candleholder

Pretty Life Girls

For some inexpensive Halloween decor, head to the dollar store to pick up a plastic skull and turn it into a creepy gold candle holder, perfect for holding a large pillar candle. The slowly melting candle of a skull candleholder will seem right out of a witch's den.

DIY Skull Candleholder from Pretty Life Girls
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DIY Skull String Art

A Beautiful Mess

For some large-scale spooky decor, string together a huge piece of art for your house with this amazing skull DIY by wrapping a piece of white string around nails to create a skull design on a large piece of wood.

DIY Skull String Art from A Beautiful Mess
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DIY Gold Foil Skull Print

Persia Lou

Create some chic gold foil art by downloading a free skull design template from Persia Lou. Print the template onto black paper with a laser printer, and then apply reactive gold foil to the printed design using a Heidi Swapp Minc. You'll create your own metallic skull print in minutes. The black and metallic gold design can then be added to your home for some temporary art in October.

DIY Gold Foil Skull Print from Persia Lou
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DIY Skull Halloween Candles

Gina Michele

Light your house with some flickering skull candles that are perfect for Halloween by transferring a skull pattern onto a regular white pillar candle using tissue paper with this quick DIY project. For an extra frightful look, consider making several Halloween candles of various heights and grouping them together.

DIY Skull Halloween Candles from Gina Michele

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09 of 18

DIY Printable Skull Art

Persia Lou

For your themed party this October, temporarily replace some of the photos on your walls with some printable skull art, available with a bow tie or hair bow, to decorate your walls for free.

DIY Printable Skull Art from Persia Lou
10 of 18

DIY Skull Apothecary Bottle

Endlessly Inspired

Make a witch or wizard inspired apothecary display in your home by decorating a few different handmade potion bottles, such as this DIY skull bottle that is made by adding a plastic skull to an old whiskey bottle.

DIY Skull Apothecary Bottle from Endlessly Inspired
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DIY Glitter Skull

Little House on the Corner

Update your home's mantel for Halloween by adding a few black candles, painting a foam skull black, and covering it in black glitter for some frightful decor that's perfect for October 31.

DIY Glitter Skull from Little House on the Corner
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DIY Creepy Skull Wreath

Tried and True Blog

Frighten people trick-or-treating before they even ring the doorbell by decorating your front door with a creepy looking wreath made out of skulls. This handmade skull wreath is easy to make, and the end result looks so amazing, it will be a holiday decor item you will want to store and use year after year on your front door.

DIY Creepy Skull Wreath from Tried and True Blog

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DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Halloween Skull Votives

Monica Wants It

Wrap small glass tea light candle holders by printing a skull candleholder votives template onto vellum paper and taping it around the exterior of the candle holder to create a votive set for your home, inspired by Pottery Barn.

DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Skull Votives from Monica Wants It
14 of 18

DIY Cross Stitch Skull Sweater Pillow

A Beautiful Mess

This fall as you go through all your warm sweaters to see which ones still fit, put aside one of the sweaters you no longer wish to wear to convert it into a pillow by cross-stitching a skull design on the front perfect for your couch this Halloween. The soft and spooky pillow would be the perfect addition if you plan on staying in to watch scary movies with your family in your living room.

DIY Cross Stitch Skull Sweater Pillow from A Beautiful Mess
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DIY Iron-On Skull T-shirt Halloween Costume

Minted Strawberry

If Halloween is quickly approaching, and you still don't have something to wear, one easy idea is to make an iron-on skull t-shirt with the design available at Minted Strawberry.

DIY Iron-On Skull T-Shirt from Minted Strawberry
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Last-Minute DIY Skull Banner

Lovely Indeed

If you left holiday decorating to the last minute, this is an easy fix. Break out the black cardstock and cut out the same skull design over and over again to create a scary skull banner that can be attached to a string and hung on a wall in your home.

Last-Minute DIY Skull Banner from Lovely Indeed

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DIY Boneyard Lantern

Oh My Creative

If every year you are known among your friends and family for your spectacular Halloween parties, this DIY boneyard lantern from Oh My Creative would be the perfect decor piece to add to your party decor. The creepy candle holder is covered in plastic skull heads, that emit a soft glow from the eye holes of the skulls covering the lantern which is sure to impress your guests.

DIY Boneyard Lantern from Oh My Creative
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DIY Printable Skeleton Art For Your Walls

Rosyscription

For some extra gothic flair to your home, this free printable skeleton-themed black and white artwork will fit the bill. Available at Madigan Made, the creepy art is ready to frame and hang on your living room walls.

DIY Printable Skeleton Art For Your Walls from Rosyscription

DIY Boneyard Lantern