Our home is filled with wickedly fun DIY witch décor that makes for a festive outdoor Halloween scene. This apothecary Witch Shop uses a lot of items already around the house like jars, potions, candles, and lanterns. I also include additional ideas for your spooky haunt.
I'm sure I've said this before, but I looooove Halloween. Outdoor decorating for Halloween is one of my favorite activities of the season. This year's setup? A full apothecary witch shop, complete with potion jars, glowing cauldrons, and spooky signage.
If you've ever dreamed of building your own spooky potion display, I'll show you exactly how to do it with DIY apothecary decorations that are budget-friendly, weather-resistant, and surprisingly easy to pull together.
Why a Witch’s Apothecary?
Every witch needs a place to mix up potions, and an apothecary theme lets you combine jars, spell books, and eerie props into one cohesive (and creepy!) Halloween display.
The best part is how flexible it is: you can style a Halloween mantel or transform your entryway into a spooky potion shop to welcome trick-or-treaters. What is better for the theme than a group of witches in a séance with these easy DIY Outdoor Witch Decorations?
Planning Your Apothecary Display
Before you start, think about your setup as if you're designing a tiny shopfront:
- Choose a color palette: I leaned into deep blacks, smoky grays, and eerie mercury metals with hints of orange from the pumpkins, but purple, amber, and green are other ideas.
- Pick your focal point: A mirror, life sized wolf-man, or a large sign can anchor the scene.
- Layer in zones: Shelves or tables for potions, a sign for your "shop," and props (skulls, brooms, herbs) to fill in the details.
- Think about weather: Outdoor décor needs a little more prep to make sure they make it.
*Time Saving Tip!: The lights and decorations for this entire scene are on automatic timers like this one so that I don’t have to mess with them every night and we have less wires streaking through the yard.
DIY Witch Decoration Ideas
1. Repurpose Items where possible
A potion shop theme should be the definition of eclectic and mismatched. I kept my basic fall decorations like the mums, bales of hay, and the corn stalks. I am not a fan of redecorating for every season and every holiday, so I try to incorporate things to keep the flow. Scarecrows work well with this theme as well.
2. Potion Bottles and Apothecary Jars
Use leftover food jars or mason jars and add Halloween labels like these to create realistic potion jars. To use outdoors, make sure to use waterproof decoupage to cover the labels. You can also melt candles into old wine bottles for dramatic effect.
A simple repeating collection of candles and black and white vases can be magic. You can find similar vintage glass pumpkins here too. A few ideas for the jars:
Yes! Plastic works great outdoors and is safer. Spray with gloss clear coat to mimic glass.
Colored water, faux moss, plastic critters, bones, or even dollar-store Halloween slime.
Anchor with sand, gravel, or museum putty, and group them against heavier props.
3. Stagger Heights
Of course, I had to include the DIY pumpkin topiaries (you can find the tutorial here). The Boston ferns will probably die as soon as it turns cold, but they remind me of a lion’s mane or giant moss tendrils as they nest the topiaries.
A few old shelves or even stacked crates make the perfect "shop" display.
- Use risers: upside-down bowls, boxes, or candlesticks to vary height.
- Add texture: cheesecloth, burlap, moss, or spiderwebs.
- Keep odd numbers: 3, 5, or 7 jars look more balanced.
4. Props & Spell Ingredients
No apothecary is complete without creepy extras! A small graveyard peeks out from the front bushes warning visitors what might befall them! Insert witch cackle! I also layered in:
- Witch Hats
- Broom sticks
- A new doormat
- Cut black vinyl into shapes like bats or black cats and use command strips to hang or attach them.
- A bubbling cauldron with dry ice or small mist machine
- Skulls or crows
- A spell book (Mine is ceramic so weatherproof)
- Bundles of dried or dead herbs and twigs
- Halloween lantern (I have a tutorial here)
5. Witch Shoppe Signage
Every apothecary needs a sign! I made a "Witch's Apothecary" yard sign to greet guests. Previously, I shared how we built this DIY Yard Sign. It's like my absolute new favorite item in the whole glorious show!
More Halloween Outdoor Decoration Ideas
Some of these we already have, but they don’t show up well in the daylight pictures.
- A Bubbling Cauldron with a Ring of Dancing Witches
- Singing Jack-o-lanterns with a digital effect (we have a full tutorial on how to setup window projection decorations for Halloween night)
- This set of spooky eyes to peer out from the window above the door.
- Window decal ghouls in the Windows (I cut my own out of black poster board)
- A fog machine for going down the steps (here’s the tutorial for how to setup a fog effect ).
- A large birdcage with ravens and bones strewn about.
I've been collecting this stuff over the last few years, but if I had to make it all this year, I would say it would cost less than $400 total. The pumpkin topiaries were kind of expensive and the sign post cost $47, but most of the rest was shopped from our house and scrap wood from the garage.
Check Out Our Favorite Halloween Porch Decorating Ideas!
Halloween Decorations Video
I have included a video of our newest setup, complete with witches and projection. I may not be the best videographer, but I hope you enjoy how much the effects add to the scene.
More DIY Witch Decorations for Halloween
I have a lot of plans in the future for more witch themed decorations to go with my apothecary shop, so I wanted to leave you with a little more inspiration to use. I'd love to see your version! Share your potion shops or tag me on social - I can't wait to see how you bring your witchy apothecary to life.
DIY Dollar Store Witch’s Broom
This tutorial shows you how to create an cheap and easy broom fit for the finest witch.
I was pretty amazed at this cauldron coming from an inexpensive plastic one.
Printable Apothecary Jar Labels
Amanda, from Domestically Creative, makes some of the most fun and interesting crafts. These free labels are the perfect touch for your apothecary bottles.
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More Halloween Decorating Ideas
PS I love seeing your creations! Be sure to take a photo and tag #cravingcreative on Instagram! You can also stay in touch with me through following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and subscribing to the newsletter!
CoCo says
This is seriously so fabulous! We live too far out of town to have any trick or treaters but I know for sure the littles are going to be bananas over this. You’re going to be a big hit in the neighborhood this Halloween 🙂 Hugs, CoCo