A silhouette is the cheapest way to fill a bare yard, and you can buy the paint, plywood and metal stakes in one trip. The plan below pulls from two published guides, one for durable yard pieces and one for indoor and sheltered ones. Use them with your home haunt lighting for a bold backlit effect.

Which silhouette method should you choose?

How do you make plywood yard silhouettes?

Timothy Dahl of Charles & Hudson uses one 4×4-foot sheet of 1/4-inch plywood or cabinet backing per character, six self-tapping wood screws, two wooden or metal stakes, and Rust-Oleum all-purpose spray paint, with an optional primer for lighter colors. The steps are:

1. Find patterns. Search online for silhouettes and print them about 5 inches across.
2. Trace and enlarge. Use a tracer to enlarge each design onto the plywood with a marker.
3. Cut. Use a jigsaw, larger pieces first and small details last, and keep your hands behind the blade.
4. Attach stakes. Screw them to the back if the piece will stand in the ground.
5. Paint. Spray it, using primer first for lighter colors.
6. Dry. Let it cure overnight before setting it up.

The author says the project takes a few hours and does not give a cost. His longevity tips: use 1/2-inch plywood for durability, paint both sides to resist moisture, choose metal fence stakes over wood, and store the pieces upright somewhere dry.

How do you make window and door silhouettes?

HGTV’s Ruth Meharg suggests cutting shapes from adhesive vinyl, black plastic, black construction paper, poster board, foam core or plywood. You sketch the shape (she even suggests tracing the shadows of hands), cut it with scissors or a box cutter, and mount it with tape, vinyl adhesive or removable glue. Her tips are specific:

• Sheltered spots can use poster board, but exposed areas need vinyl.
• On a garage door, cut the vinyl at each panel seam so the door can still move freely.
• Test your adhesive on a hidden spot before committing.
• Mount cutouts slightly off the surface to create a shadow when lit.
• Put battery-powered lights behind cutout eyes for depth. Flameless LED tea lights work for this.

Where should you place your silhouettes?

Put them where the street sees them: along the front walk, in front of a floodlight, or in the upstairs windows. Plywood pieces are heavy enough to need two stakes, but a wind gust can still topple them, so stake them firmly and see our outdoor prop weatherproofing guide. If you power lights outdoors, read the extension cord safety guide first.

Want more yard ideas? Build a haunted forest around your cutouts.