10+ Halloween Paper Crafts: The Ultimate Guide
Halloween is right around the corner—and so it’s the perfect time to unleash your creativity and bring some spooky flair to your home. Whether you're decorating for a party, outfitting a classroom, or crafting with kids, paper crafts are budget‑friendly, versatile, and joyful. In this guide, we’ll walk through a wide variety of paper craft ideas—from hanging garlands and lanterns to interactive pop‑ups and wall art. Plus, we’ll show you how you can take your designs to the next level with laser‑cut precision at the end.
Creative Paper Craft Ideas for Halloween
1. Paper Lanterns with Eyes
Craft lanterns from orange or black construction paper: fold a rectangle, cut vertical slits, and slide in a battery‑powered tealight. Use white paper for ghost faces or yellow for jack‑o‑lantern “eyes.” These create glowing hallway accents or table centerpieces that are safe and reusable.
2. Pop‑Up Haunted House Cards
Take black, gray, or purple cardstock and design simple pop‑up tabs inside that raise tombstones, witches, or skeletons when the card opens. Use markers or foil stickers to add details. These make fun invitations or greeting cards for trick‑or‑treat events.
3. Origami Bats and Ghosts
Simple origami lets you fold paper into bats, ghosts, and spiders. Fold black squares into bats with wings, and white paper for ghost figures suspended from fishing line. Hang them from ceilings or lamps for a fluttering effect.
4. Paper Pumpkin Face Cut‑Outs
Trace pumpkin shapes on orange paper, cut out, and glue onto black cardstock frames. Then cut facial features and layer them for a jack‑o‑lantern look. These lightweight signs can be taped to windows or mounted on walls.
5. Spider Web Doilies
Using paper doilies or folded white paper, cut concentric rings and slice between them to form spider‑web patterns. Paint with light gray or silver and layer multiple webs across shelves or mirror frames.
6. Skeleton Mobile
Use black card stock to cut skeletal arms, legs, ribs and skulls. Connect with eyelets and thread to a ring or branch. From a ceiling bracket let the skeleton dangle and sway—an entertaining mobile for a kid‑friendly spider‑net décor theme.
7. Witch Hat Cupcake Toppers
Cut small triangles from black paper, roll into cones, and add paper brims. Insert toothpicks into each cone to turn them into mini witch‑hats topping cupcakes or treats. Add glitter or stickers for sparkle.
8. Monster Gift Bags
Upgrade plain paper bags by gluing googly eyes, snack bags and fringe teeth. Add arms cut from green or purple paper. These custom treat bags become part of the décor and are part gift container for guests.
9. Spooky Hanging Garlands
Cut a string of paper shapes—ghosts, bats, pumpkins—on colored card stock. Alternate black, orange, and white, then thread through ribbon or twine. Use glue dots to secure shapes and hang them across door frames, windows, or mantels. (Tip: fold the top edge for added dimensionality.)
10. Day‑of‑the‑Dead Paper Flowers
Cut tissue paper into petal shapes in bright colors. Fold, stack, and cinch in the center to create vibrant flowers. Attach them to black backgrounds or wreath frames to echo shifting traditions and add vibrant color to your spooky décor.
How to Bring It All Together
Start by choosing a color palette—traditional orange and black, ghostly whites and grays, or neon “digital neon” for a modern twist. Once you’ve chosen 2–3 main craft types (like garlands + lanterns + labels) you can move the supplies into zones: cutting table, glue/glitter station, hanging prep area. Involve kids or helpers in the folding and gluing, while adults handle more complex tasks. You’ll swiftly populate a room, porch, or classroom with layered, themed paper décor that feels unified and fun.
Level Up with Laser‑Cut Precision
Instead of crafting by hand, you can step into high‑efficiency mode with a laser engraver. Patterns that take minutes to hand‑cut (like intricate spider webs, thin‑lined bats, or repeated pumpkin faces) can now be batch‑processed with precision and speed. With an OMTech CO2 laser machine, for example, OMTech K40+ and Polar Lite which offer the best value, you can create dozens of identical cut‑outs in minutes, then glue or hang them. Use wood veneer or acrylic panel overlays for mixed‑material rigs—paper front, wood base, layered dimension. Laser‑cut templates mean you can keep repeating the Halloween theme year after year with the same files.
Conclusion
From hanging garlands to pop‑up cards, Halloween paper crafts are a delightful way to transform your space. And when you're ready to take that creativity to the next level, laser‑cutting offers precision, repetition, and speed. Whether you’re outfitting a classroom, prepping for a yard display, or creating treat‑bag décor, consider pairing your manual craft skills with the power of a CO2 laser engraver from OMTech. Unlock faster, cleaner, and more scalable Halloween crafting and let your designs stand out.
Ready to elevate your craft game? Explore OMTech’s laser‑engraver lineup and start cutting smarter this spooky season.
