Outside Halloween Decorations
Make Your Own Halloween Yard Decorations

Would you like to have some unique outside Halloween decorations? Here is a step-by-step photo tutorial on making your own Halloween yard decoration that looks fantastic in the day, and haunting in the night!

Making a three dimensional four foot tall “Book of Spells” is a pretty simple construction project. Following this pattern you can minimize the material needed.

Materials needed:

1- 4X8 sheet of pressure treated plywood.
1- 4 foot long 1X12
3- 8 foot long pressure treated 2X2
Box of 1 1/4 inch screws

Measure and cut the 4X8 as seen below.

Use the 1X12 you purchased as a guide for how wide to cut the two thin pieces. The result of those cuts, along with the other boards you purchased, should look like the photo above.

Both of the small pieces of plywood need to be cut shorter. One of them needs 12 inches cut off and the other one needs 1 1/2 inches off.

Next, take two of the 2X2’s and cut two 46 1/2 inch long pieces from each of them.
Take the other 2X2 and cut two 31 inch long pieces from it.

Now you have all the pieces ready to be assembled as seen in the photos below. Piece together using 1 1/4 inch long screws. The bottom should be left open, because this allows for better stability.

After your construction is finished, you are ready to paint your outside Halloween decorations. I used outdoor latex paint. Paint the book cover first, let dry, then paint the "pages".

Let's turn the new book pages, into old book pages. Pour some acrylic antiquing paint into a small cup. I like to use the color "burnt umber". Add a little bit of water to your antiquing paint and stir.

Using a brush apply your antiquing paint onto your "pages". Apply more antiquing paint on the edges. Next, before it dries, take a paper towel and wipe off the paint gently. Do not go in a circular motion. Go back and forth in a straight line.

Now taking a black permanent marker, draw lines resembling pages. Very easy!

Making this book look like a witch's heirloom required something that would look timeworn. So, I purchased large metal gate hinges from the home improvement store in order to resemble old book hinges. The hinges were black, and would not show up on the book , so they required some painting. Rust-oleum silver, hammered spray paint was a perfect choice.

Purchase your letters from the craft store and paint them with florescent spray paint. In order for your letters to glow using a black light, you have to paint your letters with florescent spray paint.

I used Elmer's wood glue to attach my letters.