Give your garden a Halloween ‘spook-over’

Tips for creating a spooktacular garden for Halloween

Of course, you could buy all of the following in shops or online, but where’s the fun in that?!

Make your own graveyard

Dead easy! Simply make half a dozen or so gravestones out of polystyrene sheets or thick cardboard and paint them. Search the internet for DIY polystyrene gravestones for plenty of tutorials – although cardboard is easier and more environment-friendly.

Create spiders’ webs

String or rope is easiest, although cotton wool looks great, especially in amongst the trees. Again, check out the tutorials online.

Bring some ghosts to the party

It’s amazing what can be done with some old sheets and a bit of imagination.

And don’t forget the skeletons

Just one tip for you here: Search online for ‘how to make a paper plate skeleton’. You’ll be amazed!

Perfect pumpkin jack-o-lanterns:

Here’s how – Buy your pumpkins as close as you can to Halloween to avoid them going off before the big day. Choose one that’s firm and heavy and has an even, orange colour. Check that it ‘sits’ straight on a flat surface – if it doesn’t, you’ll need to level the bottom by removing a thin slice. Or choose one with a flatter bottom!

The first job is to slice off the top of the pumpkin using a bread knife and to then scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Start with the flesh and seeds in the middle and then the flesh on the inside of the skin. Keep the sides about 2.5cm (1-inch) thick.

Draw on your face design with a marker pen – three triangles make the eyes and nose (triangle point at the top for the eyes and at the bottom for the nose) – and then carefully, with a small serrated knife, cut all the way through, remembering to always cut away from you.

For the mouth, cut out the flesh in a straight-ish line about an inch wide, with an upward curve at each end. But don’t forget to carve in a couple of teeth top and bottom in the middle of the mouth. Rubbing Vaseline over the cut edges will preserve your lantern for longer. As these lanterns are for the garden, there’s no need to pierce holes near the top for string handles. For the purposes of safety, use a battery-powered candle inside.

Pop the crown back onto the top and you have a perfect pumpkin to go with your Spooktacular garden!