Decorating for Halloween can be tough for someone who is trying to save up for the holidays (Those iPhone 7s and and Pokemon-everything are not going to by themselves!), and we can totally relate. Your heart says Martha Stewart's fall catalog while your wallet says "just buy a foam pumpkin from the Target Dollar Spot and call it a day."
Here are some easy ways we spooked up without spending more.Β
1. Assess what you have.
Cost: Free
Chances are there are plenty of Halloween-inspired things you already have. Candles, mason jars, washi tape and string are all items you can use to start transforming your home into a pure cocoon of fright.
One small thing that makes a huge difference is to pull out books and things that remind you of the holiday and display them in places where you can enjoy them. Your kid's favorite book about Creepy Carrots? Put it on the coffee table. That Harry Potter memorabilia? Keep it out and pretend yer' a wizard every now and again.
Kick up the festivities by adding a prop or two from your old Halloween costumes around the house. You'll be surprised at how happy seeing an old broach from that time you dressed up as a Golden Girl will make you.
Creating space in your home to display some of your spooky books and items is an easy way to get into the Halloween spirit.
P.S. Dried flowers can add some detail to any creepy look.
Feel ghoulish by leaving out some Harry Potter-inspired items or any of your favorite fandom memorabilia. The wand was made out of a wooden spoon and the Chocolate Frog box was purchased during a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood. Β
2. Swap this for that
Cost: Free
Don't feel like you need to move around furniture or paint a wall to make yourΒ space feel like Halloween Town. Sometimes just swapping one item for another is a quick and simple way to get all the spook you need.
Replace the photos you have in picture frames with ones that remind you of the season. Box up that deer head print you got off Etsy for some fun skeleton art you made yourself. Hold on to Halloween decorations like kitchenware, living room knickknacks or projects from the past, and replace them with some of your everyday items.Β
A living room storage table is transformed into the haunting display of images from Halloweens past. The table runner and "Spooky" sign were clearance items purchased last year. Picture frames and candle sticks are from Goodwill. Skeleton and bird prints are from Gather A Vintage Market. Flower print and and black and white image (It's of online producer Samantha Munsey and her sister, Kimber, as teens) are from Bisbee.
3. Invest in some construction paper
Cost: $1.99-$10
If you really want to take your budget-friendly Halloween skills to the next level, pick up a bundle of construction paper. Preferably something with a mix of color, but we're partial to black. Any spooky decor you can think of can usually be done using this magic material. Make a fun monster fridge, spider crown (way better than a sparkly tiara TBH) or some fancy pumpkins. The possibility are endless!
An easy construction paper project the whole family can help out with is putting together a Halloween bat banner you can use year after year.
Start by downloading and printing out a free bat template or coloring page from the internet. We recommend the image being about 6 to 8 inches wide, wing to wing.
Next, cut out the image to use it as a template. Fold a piece of construction paper in half and trace around the bat shape. Cut along the line you created.
We recommend using a crayon to trace.
Be sure to keep some of the paper along the crease uncut so you have a connected mirror image of the bat.Β
Once cut, have the kids decorate the bats however they see fit. Let their imaginations run wild! But within reason, because clean up.
Remember to only decorate one side, because the next step is to hang the bats along the crease with twine, yarn or string. Use glue to secure the edges.
Glue stick or tape also works for this step.
Hang and enjoy!
Your family will go batty over this homemade banner.
4. Become best friends with the dollar section of your store
Cost: Item prices are between $1-3.
The Target Dollar Spot will make any crafter's heart sing. Here you can find ready-to-use fall and Halloween decorations for $1-3. They also have stuff to help you create your own spooky trinkets.Β
Perfection π.
Go in with an open mind and a budget. Everything seems real cheap until you have 20 bundles of sticks with black glitter on them and 10 rustic chalkboard easels. Remember, a lot of things in that section are stuff you already have in your home or can make for free *gasp!*
Why buy a $3 foam pumpkin when you can buy a cute little gourd for $1 at your grocery store? Skip anything that is paper cut into creepy shapes because it's something you can do with the stuff you have at home (I'm looking at you $4 card stock spiders). Look for pieces that you wouldn't have the time or resources to make.
Good example of something we probably couldn't make from home. Plus it's really cute.Β
Dollar stores are also a good place to find cheap decorations. They typically will have a whole section of just Halloween stuff; decor, costumes and trick-or-treat bags.
Finds from the Dollar Tree.
5. Thrift to find one-of-a-kind items
Cost: Up to you!
Thrift stores are not only the place to put together your next Halloween costume (if you're interested, we have a whole story on that), but it's also a place for unique fall decor. What was someone's giveaway is now your treasure. Save space in the attic try to go for things you might use after the season is over like picture frames, candle holders or kitchenware.
You can pick up both new and used fall decorations at Goodwill.Β
Some of our favorite thrift stores to check out are Savers, Goodwill, Casa de los Ninos Thrift Shop and St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store.
5. Don't rely on what you buyΒ
Cost: Free
Add some personal touches to the things you buy to really make them feel like part of your home. Make that cheap wall art you picked up look like a million bucks by tacking on some fun homemade Halloween cutouts or hang cool air plants or twinkle lights. It's a quick way to pull the whole room together.Β
This ghastly piece was created using a large felt skull purchased at the Dollar Tree and construction paper cut into different size bats.For a cool 3D effect we creased the bat wings before taping them to the wall.
5. Print stuff online
Cost: Free
The internet isn't just for cat videos and hiding your mom's Facebook posts. We've already talked about printing out coloring pages and templates, but there are plenty more ideas out there.
One of our favorite lazy projects is to print out free spooky labels you can then tape or glue to anything in your home. Keep it on the super cheap and use the labels on jars and bottles you would normally recycle.
These bottles were purchased at the Dollar Tree, but you can use whatever jars or containers you have around the house.Β
Keep up the decorating excitement by filling up your containers with fun items.Β Rice is suddenly a pile of maggots. Mix water and glitter together for instant unicorn tears. Have your family come up with a bunch of bad Halloween puns (boo-berry punch anyone?) and see what you can do to represent that. Get creative!
7. Celebrate Halloween at your work space
If you don't have the time to decorate your whole home, why not create a little Halloween haven where you work? It's what you see most often after all.
For us the work space (or wall?) we see all the time is the kitchen bulletin board.
It's easy to give this space a hanted look with a few items. Use some Halloween-inspired washi tap to cover up the borders of your board and add some ghostly stickers on some old buttons and use them as pins.
We used old buttons and turned them into pins for the bulletin board with stickers purchased at the Target Dollar Spot.
Googley eyes are also real winners in this situation because you can tack them on almost any surface for a whimsical effect. You can find them in a variety of sizes at almost any dollar store.
We also took it upon ourselves to write some fun ghoulish notes on the whiteboard. Or maybe we do need to pick up a box of cobweb tea?
A bulletin board fit for an organized monster. Washi tape is from Target, $2 a piece.
Now go forth and live your best nightmare!
