Halloween is the perfect time of year to let your imagination run wild! Especially if you love hosting parties and fancy dress. It’s another great excuse to invite your friends and family over, spend time with the kids and, of course, eat lots of sweet treats.
So, whether you’re planning a party at home, at another venue, or you just want some ideas to entertain any passing trick-or-treaters, there are lots of budget-friendly and DIY Halloween decorations you should try this year.
So we’ve put together some of our favourite ideas for you below.
1. Carve your own pumpkins
It might seem obvious, but it’s a classic for a reason. Whether you put these inside or out, you can’t go wrong with a hand-carved pumpkin, especially if you’ve put lots of effort into making it as quirky or spooky as possible.
And you don’t just have to stop at just one. Why not go all out and make an entire display of pumpkins? You can use big and small squashes to create something wonderful.
2. Set the mood
You want to create a spooky ambience throughout the house, and soft candlelight is the perfect way to do this. Candles also make wonderful Halloween decorations. Large candelabras with dripping candlesticks always look great. Alternatively, candlesticks placed in bottles also dripping down the side can be just as effective. White candles will suffice, but if you can get red to emulate blood, that’s even better.
If you’re worried about young children being around the flames, then it might be better to use battery-operated candle lights instead. These often give the flickering appearance of candles but are obviously much safer.
You can also place strings of tea lights throughout the house, perhaps intertwining these with fake cobwebs to boost the mood lighting without having to place burning candles absolutely everywhere.
3. Dress up the fireplace
If you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace in your house, then make the most of this. Decorate your mantle with black paper cutouts of flying bats, fake cobwebs and spiders. For a truly memorable event, spook up some family portraits and hang these above the fireplace too.
4. Keep an eye on the neighbours
Buying a pack of cheap ping-pong balls and some felt pens, you can crate your own collection of eyeballs.
Why?
To make an eyeball wreath, of course. This is perfect for hanging on your front door or even inside your house if that is where most of the action is taking place.
5. Hang some ghosts
All you need for this idea is either some white card or material and some clear wire or thread. Using a stencil or even just going freehand for a more authentic feel, you can create a number of ghosts and ghouls to suspend from the ceiling inside or even in the trees outside. The clear wire will make them appear as if they are floating.
Alternatively, you could create something a little cuter by cutting out small ghost shapes and stringing them together to create a ghostly garland. This might be better suited to children’s parties or trick-or-treaters.
6. Display your skulls
With some plastic-free paper mache skulls and a variety of jars or tubs in different sizes, you can make some simple but effective decorations. You might wish to add some sand or more of that wonderful fake cobweb to these jars or simply fill them with skulls.
Or, if you’re going for a mad scientist kind of theme, place the skulls and other fake body parts in jars of liquid. These can then be scattered around the house or put out on display on your front doorstep.
7. Bewitch the ceiling
Finally, one of our favourite ideas requires a little creativity and some DIY. Using a black umbrella, some shredded paper and some stripey tights, you can create a witches leg chandelier. Adding shreds of paper to make the umbrella look like a skirt, stuff and then hang the tights in the middle of the umbrella with a pair of shoes attached.
Then, suspend this from the ceiling looks as if a witch has come crashing through your roof and is trapped there.