Halloween doesn’t have to mean a trip to the store for pricey plastic decor. With a few sheets of paper, some cardstock, and a little imagination, you can fill your home with spooky-cute ghosts, grinning pumpkins, and eerie garlands that look just as festive — if not more charming — than store-bought versions. Paper crafts are budget-friendly, endlessly customizable, and a fantastic activity to do with kids. Below are 13 creative paper Halloween decoration ideas to inspire your own haunted house.

Materials You’ll Need

• Cardstock or construction paper (orange, black, white, purple, green)
• Cheesecloth or gauze fabric
• Scissors and a craft knife
• Glue or a hot glue gun
• String, twine, or ribbon for hanging
• LED tea lights or battery-operated fairy lights
• A black marker or paint for facial features
• Wooden skewers or dowels (for puppets)
• A hole punch

Decoration Ideas

1. Glowing Cheesecloth Ghost

A simple wire or paper frame draped in stiffened cheesecloth, with an LED tea light tucked inside, creates a softly glowing ghost with a classic surprised face. It’s an easy project that looks wonderfully atmospheric on a porch or entryway table.

2. Bat, Ghost & Pumpkin Garland

Cut simple pumpkin, ghost, and bat shapes from orange, white, and black cardstock, then string them together with black cord. This mixed-shape garland is a quick way to add color and character to a blank wall.

3. Ghost Family Grouping

Multiply the cheesecloth ghost idea into a whole “family” of different sizes clustered by the front door. Grouping several together, each lit from within, creates a striking welcome display with almost no extra materials.

4. Miniature Haunted House

A small wooden or cardboard house base becomes a haunted house scene with layered paper cutouts — a jack-o’-lantern roof topper, a flying witch, ghosts peeking from windows, spiderwebs, and tiny gravestones. This one is great for a shelf or tabletop centerpiece.

5. Paper Strip Pumpkin Candle Holders

Cut strips of patterned paper, curl the ends, and fasten them around a tea light holder to form a pumpkin shape. The candlelight glows through the gaps between strips for a lovely lantern effect.

6. Rolled Paper Jack-O’-Lantern Garland

Roll small rectangles of orange paper into cylinders, draw or cut jack-o’-lantern faces, and add paper leaves. Strung along twine, these little pumpkin “beads” make a charming vine-like garland.

7. Folded Paper Pumpkin Lights

Fold squares of translucent orange paper into faceted, geometric pumpkin shapes and slip them over a string of fairy lights. Lit from within, they glow like little jack-o’-lantern lanterns.

8. Pleated Rosette Puppets on Sticks

Accordion-fold circles of white and orange paper into fan rosettes, then add cut-paper facial features and attach to a wooden stick. These double as decorations or fun hand-held props for a Halloween party.

9. “Happy Halloween” Pumpkin Wreath

A ring of orange cardstock with hand-lettered “Happy Halloween” text, topped with pleated paper rosettes shaped into a jack-o’-lantern face, makes a cheerful door wreath.

10. Vampire Corner Bookmarks

Origami-folded corner bookmarks shaped into vampire faces, with pointy ears, fangs, and big eyes, are a fun small-scale project — as much a Halloween-themed gift as they are decor.

11. Spiral Hanging Ghosts

Cut a ghost shape into a continuous spiral so it dangles and twists when hung from the ceiling. Suspended near a window or in a doorway, these add movement and a slightly eerie flair.

12. 3D Paper Ghost Garland

Fold simple ghost cutouts down the center so they stand out in 3D, then string them along twine for a friendly, smiling ghost garland — perfect for mantels or shelves.

13. Pleated Rosette Pumpkin Garland

Larger black-and-orange pleated paper rosettes with jack-o’-lantern faces, hung in graduating sizes along a mantel, make a bold statement piece for a fireplace or large wall.

Tips for Paper Halloween Crafting

• Use battery-operated tea lights instead of real candles for anything paper-based — it’s much safer and just as effective.
• Stiffen cheesecloth with a fabric stiffener or diluted glue so it holds its ghostly shape once dry.
• Mix matte and translucent papers in the same display; the contrast between solid garlands and glowing lanterns adds visual depth.
• Keep a few extra paper cutouts on hand — pumpkins, bats, and ghosts are quick to make in bulk and can patch gaps in any garland.
• Store completed pieces flat or gently stacked in a box after the season, so they can be reused next year.

Conclusion

These 13 ideas show just how much spooky charm you can create with nothing more than paper, glue, and a little folding. Whether you’re after a glowing porch display, a playful garland, or a tabletop haunted house, paper decorations offer an affordable and endlessly adaptable way to bring Halloween into every corner of your home.