DIY : Creepy Halloween Curtains

Scares ‘Em Good

Add a bone-chilling “creep” factor to your Halloween home with these easy-to-make Halloween curtains!

For this project we’ll be transforming pure white gauze into what appears to be time-worn curtains thanks to a few cups of Joe. Coffee-stained curtains will turn your patio, porch or inside “crypt’ from happy to “Oh, wow, that’s scary!” in just a few easy steps.

Tips:

• You can purchase your gauze by the yard at your local fabric store – we found ours at Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft. The eye screws and rope we scored at our neighborhood Lowes.
• To make a single curtain measure the vertical height of the space you are decorating, double it and add a few inches to make sure your curtains will hang to the porch/floor. You don’t have to be precise with this step. Make enough curtains until you have enough for your space.
• Since you’re not drinking the coffee you don’t have to use the “good stuff” – use a lower-end coffee and save a few bones. You can probably use tea as well, but I’ve always gone the coffee route. A 10 cup pot of coffee will yield about 4-5 curtains, depending on the size of your panels.

Materials: 

Assorted  |  White Gauze Panels
To Stain  |  One Large Bowl
To Stain  |  Coffee (or Tea)
To Hang  |  Eye Screw
To Hang  |  Nylon Rope
To Secure  |  Staples or Paper Clips (optional)

What To Do:

1. Make Curtains.
In a large bowl pour several cups of prepared coffee. You can ice it down if you prefer so it’s not so hot as you wring the excess coffee from the curtains. Wearing gloves is a good idea as I had coffee-stained hands for a couple of days after this project! Lower your pure white gauze into the coffee and let it rest a few minutes and give it a good soaking. Using tongs, lift the gauze out of the coffee and gently “wring” some of the excess coffee back into the bowl. Let the curtain rest in your sink until you are all done staining the remaining curtain panels.

2. Hang Curtains.
Choose your method for hanging. We chose to use eye screws and placed them every 6-8 feet in our frieze board around our patio. You could also use hooks suspended from a gutter or leverage existing plant hooks if you don’t want to drill new holes into your house. Thread the rope though the eye screws, pull it tight and tie it off well at each end.

Hang the coffee-stained curtains on the rope – about half on each side of the rope. Let your curtains dry an hour or two. The aromatic smell of coffee in the air is my favorite part of this project! I found over the years with the breezy winds of Central Texas that securing the curtains at the top with a few staples or paper clips will help keep them from sliding around on the rope. Using a glue gun you can also use a few dabs of glue here and there to keep the curtain into position.

3. Add The Creep Factor
Using your hands tear the bottom end of the curtains to make them look like they have been blowing in the wind for years. You can also tear small holes in the curtains to give them the old look.

4. To Care And Feed
Your curtains should last you for years of Halloweens to come.  You can re-stain them every couple of years to restore the brown coffee stain effect that may be diminished from rainfall.

Have any questions about this project? Email me at JoePaul@KW.com.

Have a spooky and safe Halloween!

~ Joe Paul Reider

Home Style Austin Founder
Austin Realtor®
Keller Williams Realty, Inc.