This post is related to sponsored content I created for Instagram. See bottom of post for full disclosure.
All October posts are part of the Countdown to Halloween!
Want a spooky front door this year? I did…but I had never gone all out with this kind of decor before, so I found myself scratching my head, wondering where to start. To boot, I also live in an apartment building in the city – read: NO outdoor decorating space – so I knew I would have to get EXTRA creative with my ideas.
Luckily my friends at Party City helped me out by inviting me to participate in their #PartyCityContest! (If you haven’t checked it out yet, you need to…right now! Two tickets to Heidi Klum’s annual Halloween party are on the line!)
Today, I’m sharing my three easy tips for how I put together my spooky front door and showing you the finished product!
How I created my spooky front door:
As a reminder, all photos are the property of Spooky Little Halloween and cannot be used elsewhere without permission. See my disclaimer page for more information. Want to use a photo? Email me.
Tip #1: Brainstorm
I create very few of my Halloween projects on a whim. I’m the type that has to mull things over and look for ideas for a while before I’m truly inspired. And that’s exactly how I got started with my idea for my front door – I hopped on Pinterest, but nothing really jumped out at me.
Instead, I took myself to Party City and wandered the aisles, taking photos of items I liked. I quickly fell in love with all their classic black-and-orange decor (above) and decided I would go with a vintage Halloween look.
Except, that’s not really how brainstorming works. I settled on the idea, but I wasn’t inspired by it.
Luckily, my wheels kept turning without my realizing it. A few days later when I returned to make my purchases, inspiration struck: I would use my Halloween party theme – villains – to transform my apartment door into the entrance of a villains lair.
With that, I was off and running.
Tip #2: Focus on 2-3 key elements
With the idea of villains in my head, I started picturing creepy cloth draped across the doorframe, like curtains opening into a darkened lair. Then I turned around and spied some large plastic cauldrons, and I had a vision of it piled high with the bones of my enemies. Mwahaha! Finally, I decided every villain lair should have a bat colony living near it.
I had my three key elements to focus on:
- Curtains over the door frame
- Cauldron at the corner
- Bats flying overhead
Tip #3: Then, add details
With those three things decided, I could add in details. Every spooky front door needs a good way to notify guests of your arrival, so I picked two: a door knocker and a doorbell.
To add to the spookiness, I grabbed a few different colors of spider webs to spread across the front door itself (I ended up liking purple the best against my white door) and give the scene a bit more texture and color.
The cauldron is my favorite detail in my spooky front door. I envisioned a villain would have a bubbling cauldron of bones outside her front door, so that’s exactly what I created:
I added the headstone for a bit of texture and to give the cauldron some height. (And yes, also to hide my cords!) To make sure my skeleton bones rested at the top of the cauldron, I cut open 2-3 brown paper grocery bags, crumpled them and tucked them loosely inside the cauldron. To give it a little glow, I dropped half a string of orange lights on top of the paper. I happened to have a bit of bubble wrap from a package I received, so I laid that on top of the lights before layering on the skull and assorted bones.
My bat colony in-flight provided some nice movement and height on the left side of the door, so to give it a little more I decided to add in a black chandelier. It also helped class up my spooky lair!
Finally, to top it all off, I decided to grab some purple lights to frame the door. There’s just something about purple lights that make everything feel more spooky to me! I also threw in my pumpkins I purchased at local grocery stores for a bit more color and for a natural element.
My Spooky Front Door!
So…how did it turn out? Here is the finished product:
Fun, right? I had a great time putting it together!
Think your spooky front door is contest-worthy?
There’s just one week left in Party City’s contest. Post your photo on Instagram by Monday, October 9, 2017 with the hashtag #PartyCityContest to enter. (And feel free to tag me too – I’d love to see what you’ve created!)
I hope you found a bit of inspiration in this post for your own home! Putting together a spooky front door is easy with just a few steps. Plus, it’s one more fun thing to enjoy during your Halloween season.
Happy haunting,
Disclosure of Material Connection: This post is related to sponsored content I created for Instagram on behalf of Party City. I was compensated to participate in their 2017 #PartyCityContest campaign. Per my disclaimer, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe you will love too. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”