Simple spooky and easy DIY Halloween gallery wall (free printable included)
Today, I want to share some easy and fun ideas for creating a unique and spooky Halloween gallery wall in your home the way I did for my daughter’s Halloween party in our dining room. The kids and adults will certainly love this creepy decor.
Simple spooky and easy DIY Halloween gallery wall
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As I just said, this project was for my daughter’s creepy Halloween birthday party.
My two kids adore Halloween and want to see lots of it. I used to just decorate the outside of our home with Halloween decor but this year since our daughter wanted this sleepover party, I decided to go a little creepy inside as well. Since we don’t have a lot of extra room, Halloween wall art was a great idea because it doesn’t require any additional floor space.
I tried to go with medical items amongst some other things. There is nothing that creeps her out more than doctors, blood, and finding out how people used to get treated at the doctor’s office a long long time ago. She is also obsessed with band-aids. I constantly find wrappers and band-aids everywhere.
As I also mentioned yesterday some of these items are “sentimental”. Creepy sentimental and you’ll probably think that I’m nuts after reading this post. Well, that means that I’ll live up to my nickname “the crazy German” right?
The frames used for this Halloween gallery wall
I started by buying some frames at the local thrift stores. Different sizes and shapes are important! The smaller ones were 97 cents, one larger picture frame for $1.97, and one for $3. (two of them on the wall I already had in my frame stash)
I cleaned them all up, removed all the glass and pictures, and spray-painted them gold or black. I always use this Kilz spray primer before I paint anything. For frame colors, I used black and gold spray paint to finish the frames.
Tip: To avoid nail holes, you can use command strips to hang the frames.
The prints used
For some of them, I used vintage medical prints that you can find for free at Vintage Printable but the resolution is so low that you can only use them in the smaller frames.
I don’t know how long you have been following me but you might remember the trip to the Sedlec Ossuary (read more about our trip) where my hubby took some cool photos of the huge amount of skulls and bones that the church is made of.
I’m sharing my original version of the skull image with you as a free spooky skull printable (do not use it for resale).
I had two of them blown up at Staples on engineering prints for around $5 for both of them which is so cheap. And my son was beyond thrilled since it was the coolest thing he had ever seen 😉 He is so excited that they are hanging in our dining room now and that they came from a place he had visited and seen in person. I already owned the large black frame to put this print in.
Creepy real items used
Now for the creepiest thing I used (something that I snatched from my father’s desk drawer, sorry Dad). Years and years ago he had a tooth removed that had a huge hole in it and my kids are fascinated by it. It serves the purpose of demonstrating to them why they have to brush their teeth LOL. It is a gnarly yucky huge tooth. And I hung it on one of the 97-cent plaques. It’s a hit for all the kiddos that visit our house.
So do you think I’m nuts yet?
Another fun detail is the bandaid art. I added some band-aids that I painted a little red and then framed them.
And then it also pays off that I have a friend who collects bones. He gave me the two large ones that I hung on the wall on the right side. He finds them on walks in the woods and cleans them up. Creepy!!!
Quick bloody DIY Halloween canvas art
I bought 12×12 canvases and a larger rectangular canvas. For the blood splatter canvas, all you need to do is water down some red acrylic paint and let it either run down the canvas standing up for the drippy runny look or take a brush and splash some blood spatter on it.
One has a painted cross on it as well.
The frame with the “Bloody” on it is wall vinyl again that I cut with a free font that I recently found online. But I can’t find it again, sorry. You can certainly just paint this one too.
So for my son and daughter who always loved watching “Oddities” on TV, this is the perfect spooky gallery wall which only cost me around $25 (this doesn’t include the spray paint and acrylic paint which I already had). Great price right?
Do you think I’m nuts or would you hang an old yucky tooth on your wall as well to get your kids to brush their teeth better? Bottom line, I had so much fun putting this Halloween wall decor together. What I love most about it is that it is a unique mixture of vintage printables, DIY canvases, and actual real items like bones and teeth.
You might also like my creepy Halloween art I recently made for above our dining room buffet:
More Halloween art printables for a gallery wall
For some more creepy downloadable and affordable Halloween printables, check out Etsy. They even have entire Halloween gallery wall collections.
Free printables: free skull printable, free human internal organs printable, vintage skeletons printables, and free anatomical heart drawings.
More unique Halloween decor
- How to make faux terracotta pumpkins. All you need is some old plastic pumpkins!
- How to make a macrame bat wall hanging (free pattern)
- How to make a macrame ghost (super easy beginner project)
- How to make a paper moth
- black and white Halloween porch
- how to make a scary burlap DIY scarecrow mask
Tschüß
LOVE that gallery wall of yours. It’s perfect. Tooth and all 🙂 ha ha I
Lol, thanks so much! My dad will be in for a surprise when he reads my post today. He might lock his desk next time when I visit.
You have to do what you have to do with kids and teeth brushing. This whole wall is seriously amazing. And creepy. And amazing.
Hi Julia! Ich finde es sieht echt super aus. Manchmal wünsche ich
mir, das wie auch hier bei uns Halloween feiern würden!
Dann würde ich auch so dekorieren!:)
Looks really creepy!
Danke, danke Lydia und Du kannst doch Halloween alleine feiern oder?
First, I am glad I am not the only one in the world who has a frame stash (I will be telling my husband that tonight), second…the tooth is crazy cool and creepy and weird all at the same time (but it’s you, and that’s what is important!)
Am I crazy, creepy and weird??? LOL
I loved your house tour yesterday! So many fun things for Fall.
Your daughter and her friends must have LOVED that party! I’m totally jealous haha
Thanks and yes they did!
as i commented the other day- love it! every home needs a creepy space for halloween!
thanks and a rotten tooth 😉 LOL
Such a creepy gallery wall, Julia! (Especially the tooth!) My kids love the scary Halloween decor, so over the years I’ve migrated from the “cutesy” to the “slightly frightening.”
I’m glad I’m not alone with the slightly creepy and frightening decor 😉
Looks awesome! Has anyone ever told you your husband looks like the actor Dave Annable?
People have told him he looks like Cole Hamels 😉
OH my goodness the blood everywhere!! Totally pinning this creepy girl — you totally made blood classy (is that possible??) 😉
LOL thanks Amy!
That’s the most horrifying gallery wall I’ve ever seen (which, of course, I mean as a huge compliment :))
I take it as such and thank your soo much!
That tooth is SO gnarly!!!
My dad read my post today and wasn’t too happy that I took his tooth. LOL which makes the hole thing even stranger.
You are so wacky and I love it! The gallery wall really is fantastic in the most creepy-wonderful way.
I am wacky, I know…I guess I have to live up to my nickname “the crazy German” right?
Totally cool! Creepy cool, but cool. I think that’s what you were going for though, right?
LOL, yes that’s what I was going for, thanks!
You went all out- I love it!! The blood is probably my favorite. Very dexterish 😉
And I have been dying to see some catacombs. One day!!
OK, this gallery wall is actually really creepy! But in an awesome way! Love the tooth!
Julia, your gallery wall is super scary! And the dining room is stunning with the red/blood accents 🙂 I love it! xo
OMG I had no idea that tooth was real!!! Yuck! haha I didn’t notice the brain art the other day, love it!!
I’ve got to say that all this stuff is a little bloody for me. Don’t get it and I certainly would not decorate with it no matter how crazy my kids (now grown) were about Halloween.
Showing my age I guess. I also don’t understand how to comment on this blog without using anonymous. What does all that mean??
There is a scroll down menu at the bottom where you can choose how you want to comment.
Wow! I love this! Of course you had me at the Swiss cross art work, but the combination of frames and art is perfect!
You crack me up with the Halloween decorations you do! This one is the best. I don’t decorate for Halloween, but if I did, I would totally go for this great gallery wall! It’s just so awesome.
ha!ha! featuring your dad’s tooth is cool 😉 wish I had one of those to convince Nate to brush his teeth (it’s a fight every day)
& now I know why you said it had sentimental value ha!ha! I really loved your wall gallery; it’s fun and perfect for a Halloween party!
This is SO creepy, but I love that it still manages to look sophisticated. Very nicely done!
Thanks Alexis
LOVE it! I can imagine the conversations that happen at that gallery wall. 🙂
Haha, they do. The kids conversations are the best.
Great alternative to the usual store bought decorations, so much more unique. I’ve linked your post on the top5 diy’s of the week on my blog, I hope you don’t mind.
http://curlymade.blogspot.pt/