A spooky, scary, haunted Halloween house isn’t my style (because I want my young kids to sleep soundly at night), but I do like to get creative to embrace the holiday. We have handmade tombstones in the lawn, lots of pumpkins on the stoop, and this year, a big ol’ spider web adorning the front picture window.

Our neighbors tell me they love it. If whimsical Halloween touches are your thing, here’s an easy tutorial explaining how I made it!

What you’ll need:

• a big piece of cardboard – large enough to cover your window
• pencil
• utility knife
• white spray paint
• tape, thumbtacks, and/or mounting strips

Our living room window that faces the street is pretty big, so I taped together two pieces of cardboard to offer enough coverage. The easiest way to sketch a spider web is to draw a big asterisk or “X,” and then draw lines connecting to form a web. Every web in nature is unique, so have fun with this and make it as elaborate as you wish. I made my lines a little more prominent in Photoshop for you...hopefully it illustrates the idea.

Use a utility knife to trim the web from the large piece of cardboard, slicing along either side of each line you sketched. It will slowly come to life.

These lines can be as thin or as thick as you wish, just keep in mind that thicker lines allow the web to display more visibly, and are a bit more durable.

Once it is trimmed into its large, web-y design, use a can of spray paint to transform its color. I used white spray paint so that from the exterior it has more impact during the day. If you’re going to display a web like this against a light surface, choose a darker spray paint color.

Attach the painted spider web to the window – there are a few ways you can do it. Double-sided tape (such as Command strips) work well, as does transparent packing tape. I used a few push pins to attach the edges of the web to the wooden window frame, and then trimmed any pieces that overhung with scissors to achieve a flush look.

It looks pretty great from the exterior, if I do say so myself. It's very visible from the road, and I love how it looks in the evening too, when it’s all backlit from within.