Wood Carving Ideas for Halloween: Ten Simple Homemade Crafts

Here are ten woodcarvings you can make from wood lath for this halloween. These woodcarvings can be used for home Halloween décor, given to friends and relatives as gifts, or even handed out to trick-or-treaters in place of candy.

Wood lath is generally a thin board about a third of an inch thick and 1.5 inches wide. They sometimes are sold in bundles of 50, perhaps at your local hardware store. Use a scroll saw or knife to cut out these simple carving patterns. A thin-bladed hacksaw will also work well.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #1: Wooden Ghost: Draw the shape of a ghost on a piece of wood. The ghost should be about four inches tall. A simple ghost shape is real easy to cut out. Finish this Halloween craft with a coat of white paint. Check around the house for paint from leftover painting projects.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #2: Pumpkin: Draw the pumpkin profile sideways on the wood. Drawing the pumpkin this will allow for the pumpkin to be a bit wider. Don't go too crazy about the pumpkin stem; a thin long stem is more likely to break. Cut out the pumpkin. For effect, paint the stem green and the rest of the pumpkin orange. This pumpkin craft can also be "made" into a jack-o-lantern. Simply draw a face on the pumpkin and color the face yellow or black.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #3: Skeleton: Carve a skinny figure of a man, about 4-6 inches tall, out of the wood. Paint a first coat black, then paint white bones on top of that first coat of paint.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #4: Tombstone: This one is really easy. Trace a two-inch tall tablet on the wood. An alternative design is to draw, sideways on the wood, a two-inch wide tombstone. Starting with the rectangle, round the corners a bit so the tombstone resembles those in the cemetery. Paint the tombstones gray. On the tombstone, you can write a simple R.I.P., or you can write a nice memento such as "We remember those who have passed away." Such a respectful message has a healing effect as opposed to the coldness of today's morbid Halloween decorations.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #5: Pirate Flag: Not exactly a Halloween craft, but why not? Draw a two-inch long rectangle sideways on the piece of lath. Add waviness to the long edges of the rectangle to convey the effect of a flag blowing in the wind. Paint the flag black, then when the black paint is dry, you can paint a white skull and crossbones design on the flag.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #6: Witch hat: Draw an oval shape on the lath, and then add a cone arising from the middle of the oval. Cut this out from the wood and paint it black.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #7: Angel: What does an angel have to do with Halloween? Well, what does death have to do with Halloween, then? A simple angel shape is a side profile. To make this wooden craft simple, have the angel's robe flow to its heels, with hands folded in prayer against its chest. Wings should be up against the back, not actually connected to but definitely touching the angel's head. Paint the wings and robe white, and the hands and face can be either plain wood or a flesh-tone color. A small yellow halo can ring around the angel's head. This Halloween Craft can be reused for Christmas.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #8: Witch's caldron: Draw a round cauldron on the wood. A cauldron is a round pot; sort of the same shape as a round pumpkin only flat on the top. This can be painted black.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #9: Scarecrow: Draw a very unrealistically fat human figure on the piece of lath. A Scarecrow will fill out every part of the clothing, while requiring the pants cuffs and sleeves to be tied. These features need to be included in the design as well. Hands can be straw sticking out of the cuffs or gloves. The head can be the sweeping part of a broom or a pumpkin, among other designs. Paint the scarecrow whatever colors you deem fitting.

Halloween Wood Carving Craft Idea #10: Wooden candy bar. Be it a tootsie roll or a chocolate bar. One way to make these is to carve the wood in the exact shape of the candy bar you just purchased. Then carefully open the candy bar without damaging it and (eat the candy!) glue the candy bar wrapper to the carving. Or have some of the wood showing and painted a chocolate brown. This Halloween craft should not be given to younger kids, especially if you did a good job making it realistic!

These woodcarvings add an original flavor to Halloween as well as are great to make on the spur of the moment. To get a better idea of the craft outlines, I have included a picture of the outlines. In a real crunch, crayon can be used in place of paint. However, these crafts are not recommended for children who are under three, as they may put the wood carvings in their mouths, leaving open the possibility of eating wood or paint, as well as damaging their teeth. Make sure young children understand these crafts are toys and not pieces of Halloween candy.