The cost of Halloween decorations doesn’t have to be scary. Some basic items that are probably already in your house can turn into eerie creatures in just minutes. Save money with the cheap Halloween decorations.
Start with the recycling bin.
Empty milk jugs, juice containers and even bottles can become ghostly faces around the house to provide cheap Halloween decorations. And because of their versatility, due to the fact they are made of disposable materials, they can go indoors or outdoors.
What you need:
• a good scissors or sharp knife
• empty containers, such as gallon or half-gallon milk jugs, orange juice or ice tea cartons, even bottles from energy drinks or Yoohoo
• Magic marker or different colored felt tip pens
• a string of Christmas lights
• white spray paint (optional)
• a spooky imagination!
Let’s get started… first, soak the containers in warm water so that their labels peal off easily. Then rinse them out of any leftover milk or juice or whatever. Then cut the bottoms off. We’ll come back to why in a minute.
If you are using any clear containers, such as an ice tea bottle or carton that is not white on the outside, you might want to use the white spray paint to paint over the carton to make it an easier surface to complete the next step. Note: if you use an orange juice carton that is orange, it’s a great color for this project and doesn’t need to be painted over
Take a Magic Marker or colored felt tip pens and decorate the widest side of the containers with pumpkin faces, ghostly expressions, etc. Adults and kids can have funny making silly or spooky eyes, noses, smiles and even eyebrows and ragged teeth!
We’re not done yet. Remember when you cut out the bottoms? Now take a string of Christmas lights, colored or white, and lay it out in a line or circle. Then place your creations over the lights. Boo! The lights light up the faces on the containers… line them up out on the porch or in the window.
Before…
After…
Be a good mommy, we mean mummy!
Paper mache is cheap. You can get a whole pack of it at the dollar store, and in different colors. It can be put to use to make lots of scary and cheap Halloween decorations.
Make sure you get it in the form where it unravels in thin strips that are about an inch wide. Orange is perfect for Halloween, but white and black work well, too.
Turn your front door into a mummy. Simply start at the top of the door and wind the paper mache strips from side to side, covering the door. Secure it now and then with a piece of tape or a stapler. Sometimes it might tear, but that’s OK, because mummies unravel and their wrapping gets torn!
Once the door is wrapped, you can add warning signs (“Danger! Or “Zombies Only!”) – those can be made with simple pieces of cardboard, like from the top of a box some shoes came in.
Paper mache can also be used to wrap around items around the house, such as jars or vases to create a mummy look… once something is wrapped, draw a scary face!
Great balls of ghosts!
Summer is over, but do you still have that beach ball? Is your husband’s old basketball rolling around in the garage? Maybe your daughter’s soccer ball is lying on the floor of her closet.
Balls mark the beginnings of a cheap Halloween decoration – let’s turn them into ghosts!
Next, we’ll need some sheets – they can be white, but black would be the best. Pillowcases can also be used. The idea is to drape them over the ball… if you can, put a small hole in the top and run a piece of yarn or twine through it. Now hang it from a doorway, off the porch, from a tree in the yard or from the fan or chandelier. If you really want to be creative, attach some carton or bottle caps for eyes.
With minimal light, one of these hanging outside can be a spooky sight! Be sure to check out our other Halloween Topics!
