More Halloween Ideas
October 30th, 2009 Posted in House&Home, Photos
One of my favorite decorations has become these little skeletons. For some reason they just bring such a whimsical little flavor to just the right places. This was another Kim idea that she started at my Aunt’s house… and now I think we all do it. I have two that sit on my fireplace each year and I just added one more this year that sits in my entry way when you walk in.
My other favorite decorations are the ravens/crows. Last year I only had about 5 of them and this year I went a little crazy with them because I got them 50% off at Michaels making the medium ones $2.50. Everyone asked about my birds… the trick is that you have to watch the sales flier and get them 3-4 weeks BEFORE Halloween, because once they mark them onsale, they fly (no pun intended). In several places around my house the birds sit on some mossy looking sticks (on the kitchen pot-rack lamp shown above, above the hutch and on the table in the dining room, and on the fireplace). Those I actually got at Old Time Pottery and they weren’t cheap. I think I paid about $6 a piece for them, but I loved the feeling they gave. You can easily duplicate a similar look by grabbing some sticks from a tree out in your lawn or the woods or something. I also got the Spanish Moss at Old Time Pottery for about $6 for a HUGE bag. It really set my mood though, especially on the chandelier. Add a few cockroaches and spiders from the Dollar Tree and you have a great scene that looks like it’’s straight out of the swamps of New Orleans!
And of course every spooky scene needs spider webbing. I found the trick with this stuff is to pull, and pull, and pull until it is thinner and not so clumpy. I probably should have pulled some more for even more realism. But this stuff is perfect to go all over your house to set the mood… and one bag will seriously do the whole thing!
The other item many people ask about where my pillows and coverings in the living room. The pillowcases came from Target last year (they have them again this year in their bedding section near the end caps). They even glow in the dark! I got mine 50% off after the season for about $2.50 a piece. Now, what you cannot tell from the picture is that these are actually regular bed pillowcases. I put two on our guestroom bed upstairs, but for the smaller pillows in the living room I just folded the pillowcase up inside itself making a kind-of pocket so that you couldn’t tell. And the couch is actually covered in a plain old black sheet. I had one and decided I needed a few more… although I did not get them for the purpose of covering the couch originally, nor for snuggling up in bed. I actually got them to use as tablecloths. You would never believe how hard it is to find black tablecloths… I looked everywhere! BUT, Target was getting rid of all their college bedding at 50% and they had black sheet sets. SO I bought two sets (One queen and one twin) for a total of about $13. One flat sheet covered the couch in the living room and one went on the dining room table. As for the fitted sheets, I actually turned the big one into a round table cloth for my kitchen table by tracing a round tablecloth I had and sewing a seam around it. And the smaller one I just wrapped around the ottoman to protect it… which, after all, was a big reason for why I covered everything in the first place. When you have a party, mood is one thing… but when you have new, light-colored furniture, you may want to consider covering it.
And another cheapie idea involves CHEESECLOTH (shown above in the background)! I noticed that Target was selling a cheesecloth torn table runner for $5. That seemed a little dumb to me when you can buy 6 ft. of cheesecloth at Walmart for $4… so I did and cut it to size and tore it. It’s quite easy and doesn’t require any strength to do so. This idea works great for furniture covering and curtains too (which we did at my mom’s party). And the spiders on the chair are so darn cute that I can’t even help but smile each time I see them. That was an idea from my mom… these were another Old Time Pottery buy at $3.50 a piece… I was shocked to find spiders this size so cheap.
And these curtains are one of my favs… we also put two in David’s office. Again, these were a Target buy a few years back that I got for 50%… I don’t pay full price for anything because you can find almost everything the day after Halloween at 50% off or you can use a coupon! BUT AGAIN, YOU CAN MAKE THESE SO EASY! I have two options for you… one is a Martha Stewart idea using black garbage bags… yes, GARBAGE BAGS (go here)! You can cut them open or leave them as is for a double layer and just cut stips into them… then pull them and you get interesting, scraggly shapes that mimic these curtains. OR, if you are a sewer (and you really don’t even have to be) you can get black fabric, cut a starting point and then rip up so you get the shreds. You can even use a stapler to make the seem to slide onto your rod (no need to be fancy). You can also go the pre-mentioned cheesecloth route which look like spiderwebs or just old ratty fabric (Martha has another how to on these). Martha even has some made out of black paper/cardstock (go here) and crepe paper (go here)! Seriously, get creative and don’t spend a lot of money. I only got these because they were cheap after the season.
What’s most important is to have fun. Use what you’ve got and embellish on it. Use paper, garbage bags, cheap spider webbing, dollar store items and more. And don’t forget to check out the stores the day after Halloween. The prices are sure to be so low, they’re scary!