By Melissa Riker

Step 1: Set up your terrarium.

Setting up a terrarium is easy and inexpensive. Repurpose jars, fish bowls, lanterns, vases or nearly any other clear plastic or glass vessels as terrarium containers, then add plants or simply display objects. For a step-by-step guide to creating a terrarium with plants, get our Terrarium Planter How-To.

Step 2: Add spooky details.

Whether you’re updating an existing terrarium or creating a new one, these haunting additions can turn a standard terrarium into a Halloween decoration:

• Mimic the look of dead trees with small branches, then perch various creepy creatures like crows, owls or bats on them.
• Make headstones out of cardstock and nestle them in a terrarium of moss for an instant graveyard.
• Consider a carnivorous Venus Flytrap plant to create a seriously creepy effect.
• Add faux spider webs and plastic spiders.

Tip: Give your terrarium an eerie glow by painting some of the objects with glow in the dark paint.

• Easily create a Halloween scene with figurines from the craft store, like vampires and ghosts.
• Tuck toy skulls and skeletons inside your terrarium.
• Bring on the "ick" factor with plastic toy bugs.
• Use air plants such as Achrostachys or Albida, which look suspiciously like sea monsters.
• Turn small pumpkins into faux jack o’ lanterns by drawing on faces with a permanent marker.

Tip: These spooky terrariums make festive Halloween party decorations, too.

Melissa Riker is a DIY and craft blogger specializing in upcycling and frugal décor. You can find her blogging at The Happier Homemaker.