Not Wreaths: Bring Back Nostalgic '90s Halloween Decor With This Milk Jug Porch Garland
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You might be shocked to learn just how many ways you can reuse old milk jugs. If you're feeling particularly inspired and don't want to relegate them to the recycling bin, one savvy spooky-season enthusiast is making the rounds on TikTok with her grocery haul transformation. Creator eliz06161 ditches the overdone seasonal wreaths and instead illuminates her front yard with a glowing jack-o'-lantern garland brimming with nostalgic '90s Halloween accents — all thanks to empty milk containers.
Eliz's now-viral jack-o'-lantern garland has landed on many a For You page, accumulating 229,000 likes and counting. Not only is her Halloween DIY a budget-friendly way to make a huge statement — quite literally, as she used 31 empty milk containers — but her seasonal tradition, in its eighth iteration, is a nod to the plastic orange jack-o'-lantern buckets kids kept on hand for trick or treating in the '90s. Old-school Halloween charm is very in demand right now for its sense of comfort, hint of magic, and flashbacks to the good old days. If this sounds as sweet as your stash of candy, take a page from Eliz's book for a '90s statement that's all that.
How to create a jack-o'-lantern garland from old milk jugs
Those '90s pumpkin bucket upgrades are all the rage on TikTok, and Eliz's DIY is one of the most extravagant displays to hit the algorithms. To follow her lead, gather and clean your large plastic milk containers. Find a black permanent marker to sketch the jack-o'-lantern face pattern before going over it with black paint. Opt for something like FolkArt Acrylic Craft Paint for Plastic so that it adheres to the surface. To get extra creative with this Halloween DIY decor idea, make sure all of the pumpkin faces are different.
@eliz06161
Once your pumpkin jugs are ready, use a small knife and/or scissors to cut a small hole at the bottom of each jug. Then, follow with two cuts along the back of the container, which will let you run zip ties through them. Keep in mind, you'll be stacking the milk containers atop of one another while fastening them to a pole or fixture.
Once everything is stacked and secured properly, Eliz finishes up the project by running two orange string lights through the containers to get that creepy glow. Very important: Choose LED light string lights that won't burn the plastic. Before snagging the string lights, check to ensure they won't lead to a fire hazard.
Top it all off with other fun '90s accents to drive the retro aesthetic home. Stick to the quintessential black and orange color palette, bring out your favorite characters from Halloweens past, and find decorative accents with a rustic touch to give ghosts and ghouls a throwback feel. You'll set the whole neighborhood aglow for sure — and who knows? You just might convince those passing by that they've stepped back in time.