Decorate your home for Halloween

Dangle paper lanterns around your porch to give it a ghostly glow

Cut letters and spiders (use the photocopied stamp you used for the pumpkins) from black tissue paper and glue them to paper lanterns. Hang the lanterns with black yarn, and illuminate with battery-operated tea lights (lantern, $3 per 8" lantern; www.pearlriver.com).

Gather a family of friendly spider pumpkins

Paint a group of pumpkins and a bunch of small branches black. Cut small holes in the sides of the pumpkins and insert the branches to make legs. Push in yellow map tacks for eyes and then glue on triangular pieces of white paper for fangs. Use pumpkins and gourds in different shapes and sizes, and surround them with bowls of candy.