DIY Scary Halloween Chandelier and Other Outdoor Props

Our front yard is dark and hidden at the end of a cul de sac, and the city didn’t put in a street light. No problem, our Halloween yard decorations will share more than enough sparkle and light for the trick-or-treaters, including this Halloween chandelier. We have the best time making Halloween decorations for our front yard using everyday things, thrifted finds, and Dollar Tree supplies. Creating during the spooky season is just too much fun, I enjoy it more every year and the neighborhood kids seem to as well.

The moment I saw this broken old chandelier being given away at a garage sale I knew it would make a perfect scary outdoor witchy decor for Halloween. Instead of simply hanging it from the front porch where there is plenty of light, I wanted something that would draw the kids in to explore our We could have just decorated it and hung it from the roof of the front porch, but there’s enough light there, and we need it to encourage and invite the trick or treater to our front door.

A scary DIY Halloween chandelier in all black with a gothic look. There is a fancy black cat butler decoration standing at the bottom.

Outdoor Halloween decorations are too much fun to make and share, I love using everyday items especially free ones to make creepy props for Halloween. Too long ago, when my boys were little we raked up my brother’s yard, bagged the leaves, and made a full-sized graveyard in our front yard with them, and cardboard tombstones. Now that we have Pinterest it is so fun to create new Halloween props and ideas and share them.

In today’s post, I’ll start with a step-by-step tutorial on creating our spooky Halloween chandelier, followed by a few other props you might want to make.

How to Make a Halloween Chandelier on a Stand

The best part of this Halloween chandelier is the stand, which allows you to place it in the right place, inside or outdoors.

Halloween Chandelier Supplies

This witchy Halloween DIY is simple to put together with a few supplies. You can easily swap out the decoration I used for items you already have on hand to make it even more budget-friendly. Here are the supplies we used, some thrifted, and the rest are from Dollar Tree.

A free chandelier, I got mine at a garage sale, it was free as it didn’t work.
A floor lamp with base – I got this one at a thrift store for $10
A dollar tree black broom handle, we used it to lengthen the pole lamp I found, you may not need one.
2 – 1/2 inch screws
Mat black paint – I used spray paint
Assorted Dollar Tree Halloween decorations you like, spiders, bones, skulls, painted moon shapes, or black roses
4 ft – 1-inch wide satin ribbon
I used an old black bead garland – any black wreath or spray-painted black garland will work.
Dollar Tree black tulle
Battery-operated fairy lights – I have these on hand, but Dollar Tree has them in Halloween colors
Black pipe cleaners – Fill in the lightbulb socket for candles.
Dollar Tree black florist wire and hot glue gun – to attach decorations
Drill and Hack Saw
Wire cutter and a drill

The Candles

You need to use battery-operated candles, I wish I could afford black candles with a remote but settled for white Dollar Tree candles. They are 2 for $1.50 but they don’t have a switch. You insert and remove the batteries to turn them on and off. For one night I don’t mind, but I wanted to give you the heads up about them. If you use the Dollar Tree candles I made mine black using Dollar Tree black tape. You also need 2 AAA batteries for each candle

Step 1 – Dismantle the Chandelier and Floor Lamp

Our chandelier still had the chain that hung it from the roof attached. Hubs took the top part of the chandelier off, cut the wires inside, and then pulled the top wires out. Using pliers he pried the chain link apart, and discarded it and the ceiling attachment.

For the lamp, Hubs again dismantled the light bulb part on the top of the pole, removed the lamp mechanism, cut the wire, and then pulled the entire wire out from the bottom.

Collage with 2 images the first is a man cutting the wire from the top of a lamp under the lightbulb mechanism. The second is a man pulling the samecut wire out from the bottom of the lamp pole.

Ours pulled out in one long piece, and we ended up with the stand bottom and the pole only.

Step 2 – Build the Stand

Buying a cheap floor lamp is an easy way to get a stable base. To build it into a the standing Halloween chandelier, we added a broom handle to enlarge the too-thin pole the original lamp stand came with.

The top of a garage sale chandelier being dismantled using wire cutters. The chain and the wire on the top of the chandelier are being cut off.

Decide how high you want your chandelier. Slide the hollow black broom handle over the lamp pole and mark where you want the bottom of the broom handle to sit, remove the broom handle. Set aside.

A closeup of a Halloween chandelier DIY prop for outside with arrows showing the skinny lamp pole, the placement of the broom handle, and then the screw placement to hold it together.

Next, screw the broom handle and pole together. Drill a hole in the lamp pole where you plan to attach them. Depending on the type and thickness of the lamp pole’s metal, this could take a couple minutes. Once the lamp pole hole is drilled, align the black broom handle next to the lamp pole and drill a matching hole in the broom handle as well. Remove the top of the broom handle, and cut off the screw end with a hack saw.

Slide the broom handle over the pole lamp. Line up the holes, and screw in two 1/2 inch screws one from each direction.

Step 3 – Attach the Chandelier

Take a look at your chandelier and remove any central portion of it you don’t need. Once we did that there were four curved wire decorative pieces on the bottom. We place that over the black broom handle of your stand. Wire it in place tightly, and glue it if you like. Our chandelier fits down over the broom handle several inches so we did not glue ours.

A man connecting a black Halloween chandelier to the top of a pole while making a scary DIY Halloween decoration for outdoors.

Spray the entire thing with two coats of black mat paint according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let dry overnight.

Step 4 – Decorate the Halloween Chandelier.

Black Ribbon – I used 4 feet of good quality black ribbon. Then wrapped it over the wire I used to attach the chandelier, camouflaging it. Then tie it in a long dramatic bow.

Garland -My chandelier has a witchy goth vibe. I chose all black to make it elegant and goth-looking. I love the all black look, but you could make it fun with bright colors, or pink and white even. I love the all-black for this year.

A Halloween DIY Chandelier, DIY scary decoration for the front yard. Its a beautiful chanderlier decorated in all black with a long satin ribbon bow, black feathered crows, fairy lights, beaded garland and black tulle. An easy to make outdoor Halloween prop.

I had an old beaded black garland that had seen better days, so I used it as a base for the rest of the project. If you don’t have something similar, I recommend picking up a plain green wreath or garland from the thrift store and spray-painting it black.

Fairy Lights – My battery fairy light has a white battery pack, to camouflage with black fabric or black tape, making sure you have access to the light switch. Snuggle it in under the chandelier and attach it to the pole with wire or pipe cleaners.

Tulle – I used two pieces of tulle each six feet long. Fold the tulle in half to get a double layer, gather it, and place it around the chandelier above the beaded garland. Use florist wire to attach it. Repeat with the second piece.

Embellishments – I used four black crows placing them in pairs on the sides. I considered white Dollar Tree bones but decided it may be too creepy, fun though.

Step 5 – Adding the Candles

As I said I chose Dollar Tree candles, to make them black I wrapped them in black tape first, but did not tape the bottom section that screws in the batteries.

Because our chandelier had lightbulbs the opening for the candles was too large. To accommodate the difference, wrap the bottom of each candle with repeated layers of black pipe cleaners. Insert them into the old light sockets and glue them in place on the socket side.

A battery operated candle from the Dollar tree thats been made black using black Dollar Tree tape, and enlarged to fit a chandelier socket using black pipe cleaners.

I had black paint, but if we had to buy paint we would have made this homemade Halloween decoration for less than $25. I think that’s reasonable considering how elaborate and high-end looking it is. To store it we will be able to take off the upper chandelier and store it in a tub for next year.

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Several DIY Spooky outdoor decorations including a large witch, a diy Halloween chandelier, two witch frogs that light up, spooky trees and a Help me sign. Using thrifted items and Dollar Tree supplies.

Some Other Creepy Props for Outdoors

Halloween Frogs

These adorable frogs were originally Dollar Store garden frogs, they are solar lights. The step-by-step instructions for these little frogs are included in the Halloween Frogs DIY post.

Two small frog house props for Halloween. There are two little garden frogs decorated like swampy witch frogs. They have an eerie glow because they light up and the have green glow in the dark paint.

DIY Halloween Help Me Frogs with Sign

The Dollar Tree had this Help Me sign that was a great addition to my pair of Halloween frogs.

A collage of three images one image shows the back of a help me Halloween sign diy, the next is the front image of the same sign. The third picture is a image of two witch frogs outside frog decorations with the help me Halloween sign in the background.

To strengthen the sign I placed a 1 by 3 behind it, applied glue, and covered it with the Dollar Tree plastic sign. Then Hubs cut a point at the end of a 1 by 2, I screwed them together and placed the plastic part over the 1 by 2 before pounding it in the ground.

Scary Tree Branches

We live surrounded by trees so it was a good way to decorate for cheap. Just grab some old dry tree branches and “plant” them near our front door, we didn’t even paint them although you could. We used fishing line to hold them in place and various Dollar tree bats hung with fishing line as well. Again I have a full tutorial, in this Scary Halloween branches post.

A collection of outdoor Halloween decorations on a front porch including two large scary tree props made using branches.

Large Halloween Candles from Pool Noodles

As I said our yard is very dark, and adding lights really attracts the children to the front door. Last year I created this pair of very tall Halloween candles to sit on each side of our front steps. They kept well and I am able to reuse them this year. I share the instructions in this Halloween Pool Noodles candle post.

A scary Halloween front porch decorated with various scary DIY Halloween props including two large sets of pool noodle candles in black and purple with vultures, rats, black candles and spider.

.Halloween Witch in a Chair

My home isn’t being decorated as much as a haunted house as it is a witches’ coven, with various house props in our front yard. I will include some more witch-themed decorations before Halloween, they are made but I have not written them yet. I will include these posts soon. Here is a witch prop I made last year, sitting in a thrifted chair, the kids loved her because of the full size. I will place the Halloween chandelier beside her at the end of our driveway.

A life sized DIY scary Halloween witch prop sitting on the front porch, she is purple and black sitting on a chair with a green face and a witches broom.

Happy Spooky Season,

Leanna and Herman