Repurpose Your Empty Milk Jugs For This Fun Fall And Halloween Porch Decor

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Instead of tossing your milk jugs into the trash or recycling bin, you should be saving them — after all, there are all sorts of ways you can repurpose them. For example, you could DIY your own milk jug owl to keep squirrels out of your garden. Or if you're looking for something more seasonal, we've got something fun for you to do with them this fall — creating cute jack-o-lanterns to display on your porch or in your flower beds.

If you sometimes buy gallon jugs or half-gallon jugs, that's great. This way, you'll have multiple sizes of jack-o-lanterns to set out. You don't need a lot of materials to make this fun project, which is excellent for the entire family and will add some whimsy to your yard as the weather starts to get cooler and the leaves begin to fall. To get started, you'll need those empty and clean plastic milk jugs, Mod Podge outdoor glue (so it withstands the weather that autumn brings), a foam brush, orange crepe paper or construction paper, black craft foam, and some craft glue. Other items you may want to have on hand include brown paper lunch bags, battery-operated candles, acrylic paints in orange, green, and black, and green craft foam.

If you've ever done decoupage before, you're already on the right page for this project. As demonstrated by the YouTube channel Cool2Craft, you can take your crepe or construction paper, rip it into strips, and glue them with the Mod Podge onto your jug until the entire thing is covered in orange. If you don't have paper on hand for decoupaging, you could also use some orange acrylic paint to paint the jugs. 

When making the faces for your jack-o-lanterns, you can paint them on with black acrylic paint. For a more vibrant look, cut the eyes, nose, and mouth out of black craft foam and attach them to your pumpkin with craft glue. With green craft foam or green acrylic paint, you can create leaves or vines for your jack-o-lanterns. The brown lunch bag can be twisted into a stem and placed into the top of your jug.

You can also take your scissors and chop enough off the tops of your jugs to make room for a battery-operated candle to fit inside. Once they're done, dried, and lit, you can stage them on your porch with other decor, put them in gardens for a spooky atmosphere, or line your path with them. They also make great lighting for spooky Halloween camping.

Not into jack-o-lanterns? Other fun Halloween-themed ideas for your jugs include light-up ghosts or Frankenstein's monster. For the ghosts, you can leave the jugs as is and add the eyes and mouth. For the monster, paint or decoupage the jug green and add the monster's hair and other accents with black paint or black craft foam. And for more Halloween porch decor, check out this pool noodle ghost idea.