Decorating on a Budget
If you are trying to decorate this Halloween, but are watching your dollars, try using things from the home and turn them into some scary and spooky Halloween decorations and props.
Nine Budget Halloween Decorating Ideas
Save empty boxes or go to your local store and ask for some. Use a sharp utility knife to cut out some crooked windows and doors and then spray paint black. Tack some yellow tissue paper behind the cut-out windows and put in some light sticks to create a creepy haunted house.
Print out some pictures of vampires, monsters, and other scary looking photos and adhere into your picture frames with some double-sided tape. Tell everyone your last name is Adams and these are some of your favorite relatives.
Use some cardboard and cut into tombstone shapes. Mix a little sand into gray acrylic paint and then paint both sides and let dry. Draw images and sayings using charcoal. And then paint with mixtures of black and white acrylic. Let dry. Spray with some clear acrylic spray and display on tables and mantles.
Use matboard or cardboard and cut out irregular shapes. Paint with Halloween colors like green, orange, black, purple and gray. Use an extra thick, black sharpie and write sayings like, Haunted House, Enter if You Dare, Dead End, Bat Alley, Gone Haunting or other ghoulish rantings.
Trim off the tops of ornamental grass into 3 foot long pieces. Cut around 20 pieces and put them together to form a witch’s broom. Use black electrical tape and some green or purple masking tape to wrap around the grass to create the broom’s handle. Make as many as you can and put them by the front door with a sign that says “Park Here.”
Use old clothes to create pumpkin people or scary monsters. Stuff them using other old clothes, crumpled newspaper or towels. For a head use a styrofoam jack-o-lantern or a white balloon with a face painted of your choice (scary or silly). Top with a hat or wig, or left over Halloween masks. Have them seated outside on a bench or inside on some chairs.
Use some old white sheets and drape them over your chairs and tables to create an abandoned haunted house effect.
Ghost Bowls are fun and easy to create. Wash and dry a large clear glass bowl. Print out some pictures of ghosts and tape inside the bowl so that the pattern is facing you. Use Elmer’s glass markers made just for glass and color the design. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning.
Lanterns –Spray paint an old coffee can orange. On the outside draw a traditional pumpkin face and then punch holes along the outline. Paint the eyes, nose, and mouth black. Add some sand to the bottom and place a votive candle inside. You now have a Halloween candle that you can place on a shelf or table. Remember to never leave lit candles unattended.
