Skip to main content

HappySprout may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

6 eco-friendly halloween decorations straight from your garden

It’s the most spooky time of year and many of us have been eagerly awaiting its arrival. Halloween is a fun time for kids and parents alike, but some of those traditional decorations aren’t good for the environment or your wallet. So this year, why not try some eco-friendly Halloween decorations that you can make with items straight from your garden! The best part about these decorations is they’re grown and made with love, and they’re a great way to get kids involved in decorating.

DIY wreaths from your garden

Buying a quality wreath from a florist or art supply store can get pretty expensive. While those options are beautiful, they are often made with plastic, fake flowers, and materials that could be harmful to animals if ingested. Instead, try making your own wreath from flowers and plants within your own garden. It not only means more when you make it yourself, but you’re also extending the life of those flowers by using them after they’ve die off. Dried flowers might need to be dead-headed in the garden, but you can tie them up with other plants and ornaments to make a fantastic DIY wreath. Check out some of these wreath ideas from CountryLiving.

girl dressed as witch with flowers

Spooky flower arrangements

Similar to making your own wreaths, it can be just as fun to make spooky flower arrangements with flowers from your garden. These can be black hollyhocks, dead and dried sunflowers, or even the blooms off veggie plants that you’ve let go to seed. You can use some of these arrangements as inspiration and maybe tie in some fake spiders to really make it spooky!

Table centerpieces you grew yourself

You, of course, can use the spooky flower arrangement as a table centerpiece, but if you’re someone who loves little gourds, you’ll be excited to know you can grow those yourself and fill your table with your own gnarly and warty gourds. These are quite an expensive investment at farmers’ markets, but you can save some money by planting them yourself. This just requires some planning ahead of time in the summer. To add some layers and depth to your table centerpieces, go foraging for pine cones at a local park or the woods behind your house. Not only will they look great, but they’ll also make your home smell amazing!

Homegrown, carved pumpkins

It’s a fun tradition to take the kids to a pumpkin patch to pick out their own pumpkins for carving. What’s even more fun is planting the seeds together in the summer, watching those tremendous little plants grow, then picking their favorite pumpkins when the spooky season rolls around. When guests come by, the kids will be so excited to tell the whole story about their special pumpkin, and you’ll get to save some money. Here are some fun and unique ways to carve and decorate pumpkins for your home.

spooky carved pumpkin

Tied corn stalks

Every year we see our local grocery stores and garden centers selling dried cornstalks that are tied together. These are fantastic decoration items, but they can cost a pretty penny. Instead, you can grow your own corn, harvest the corn to enjoy at summer BBQs, then let the stalks dry and use them in your Autumn decorations.

Chicken-wire yard ghosts

Although this is the most involved project on this list, we think it’s pretty unique and adds a layer of spookiness to your Halloween decor. All you need is some chicken wire, gloves, wire snips, and imagination. Chicken-wire yard ghosts are this year’s most popular Halloween decoration. When you see the videos people are making, you’ll see why. They might not look like much during the day, but with a little spotlight on them, they become spooky and even beautiful at night. You can get creative and make whatever type of ghost you want! Here’s a how-to article to help you through each step.

You can use one or all of these incredible eco-friendly DIY decorations this year. Maybe even combine a few to make the biggest Halloween display you’ve ever made! And maybe think ahead by writing a few of them down to start in the summer next year.

Editors' Recommendations

Rebecca Wolken
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rebecca's has written for Bob Villa and a Cincinnati based remodeling company. When she's not writing about home remodeling…
From mini Christmas trees to ivy wreaths, here are the best small holiday season foliage picks
Great small-space alternatives to Christmas trees this winter
Frosty fern

Sure, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is the epitome of holly jolly winter foliage, but large Christmas trees don’t need to be the sole focus during the holidays. There are plenty of different ways to incorporate greenery into your December festivities that don’t involve lugging home a 6-foot-tall commitment that sheds all month long.

If you live in a small space or don’t want to budget out money for a tree, you can certainly tap into the Christmas joy with a small potted tree or houseplant! Below, we’ve rounded up our favorite mini Christmas tree alternatives.

Read more
7 ways to reuse your Halloween pumpkin so it doesn’t go to waste
From cooking to composting: Creative ways to put your pumpkins to use
Jack-o'-lanterns

Nothing can get you into the fall spirit liking going to your local farm and picking pumpkins. Adults love it, kids love it, and the farms love it, too! Unfortunately, what we don't love is all the waste that happens once those lovely pumpkins aren't needed as decoration anymore. Sadly, about 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins end up in landfills across the United States. That's an incredible amount of waste that could be used in so many ways, including food.

While pumpkins are only a tiny percentage of the national food waste crisis, you can do your part to reduce this waste by finding ways to reuse Halloween pumpkins instead of letting them rot in a landfill. So this year, instead of wasting your pumpkins, consider one of these ways you can reuse your jack-o'-lanterns.

Read more
Where to buy seed potatoes for your garden
Everything you need to know about sourcing seed potatoes
Stack of seed potatoes on a pile of soil

Growing potatoes by yourself is easy and effective. The only things you really need are seed potatoes and dirt. No special tools or fancy lamps, although you can use those if you like. Seed potatoes, however, are non-negotiable. They’re crucial for growing potatoes, but where do you get them from?

Not every place sells seed potatoes, so what’s a gardener to do? Here’s a simple guide on how to find seed potatoes locally and online, and what to look for when choosing seed potatoes. Let’s dig in and find some potatoes for you!

Read more