Kid Approved, Budget Friendly Halloween Decorations

You know what I like about decorating for Halloween?  If you guessed the big bowl of candy   you probably aren’t wrong.  The other great thing  though is that a mix of dollar store and homemade decorations – and a dirty house (got cobwebs and dust…great!)  – are perfect.  You don’t have to spend much to get in that Halloween mood – a few simple craft items coupled with a strong Pinterest addiction and you can deck out your house!

My kids are small so we keep it pretty light hearted and fun rather than gory.   I tend to decorate for Fall and then layer in Halloween decor for a few weeks.  Here’s what our decorations look like this year.

The kitchen shelf got some love from the Target dollar spot in those cute little signs and the color changing ghost.  A few years back I made the spiders. I spray painted foam balls black and added googly eyes and pipe cleaners for the legs.  I probably made about ten of them and I hang them by string from the ceiling, nest them in cotton webbing, or just display them like on the shelves.  Since they are about 4 or 5 years old and get played with quite a bit they are looking a little tough.  I will probably need to break down and make new ones next year but you at least get the idea.

img_9470

img_9491

 

My daughter made this spooky and adorable eye out of pearler beads.   I love putting it in the middle of my wreath!  It’s amazing what you can make with those beads and they keep the kids entertained for a while so that’s a win.  My one rule is they have to bring them to the ironing board when it times to iron and melt the beads together.  If I carry them it never fails that I trip and knock the beads all over – no my middle name is not Grace in case you were wondering!

img_9542

img_9487

One of my favorite tricks is finding free printables off Pinterest.  I’ve gotten some adorable ones that take take some cutting and assembling but have lasted me for 3-4 years already.  Also this year I added some bats cut from black construction paper – so cheap and easy but still give a great affect.

img_9506

 

img_9501

 

img_9478

One of my favorite decorations that we have made over the years is a candy corn banner.  You just take a paper plate, draw a circle in the middle which will stay white.  Then draw another circle kind of where the crickly edge of the plate starts.  That middle section is painted orange.  Next paint the outside rim yellow.  Last cut the plate into 6 wedge slices, paper punch it and thread it with yarn or twine.  It’s cute and a fun project to do with the kids!

img_9482

 

img_9480

You might remember that last year I made this  Wizard of Oz inspired sign.

img_9497

Well  I decided to do one more this year.  These are great craft projects.  All you do is paint your board and then paint the words on.  With these signs messy handwriting is actually ok in fact it adds to the affect!

img_9535

And in this picture you can see my little guy getting his morning Mickey Mouse fix.  I would rather the Today show but when’s the last time I won that argument?!

img_9540

Sometimes I will break down and buy a decoration.  If you are from a small town don’t discount your local stores.  I have found some of my favorite pieces from our local variety store, drug store and thrift store! Here is one piece that I had to get a few years ago because I’m a Harry Potter nerd. It reminded me of a fancy sorting hat – like maybe it’s the sorting hat’s flamboyant cousin.  And if you know what I’m talking about I will consider you a kindred Harry Potter nerd as well!

img_9498

For the living room I had some little plastic witch cauldrons from a past Halloween party.  I decided to string them up with twine and hang them as a banner on my fireplace.

img_9485

img_9483

Next I made some pumpkins to decorate my entertainment center out of some scrap fabric and twine(always have twine on hand folks – it’s amazing).  Here is a link to the tutorial I used however I fashioned the stems out of my beloved twine rather than the sticks they used.   It’s a completely personal preference- never be scared to get the generally idea from a tutorial and then tweak it to your liking.  Fabric Pumpkin Tutorial

  img_9523

I also made one more small sign when I was playing around with paints one night. This one can stay up all Fall.

Here was my inspiration – my dad’s old toy pickup truck.

img_9545

And here’s the sign

img_9547

Here is a shot of the whole corner with my lovely reflection in the TV

img_9529

Last for the porch I already had my Fall decor up but than I scored a really cute chalk board at a thrift store so I just added the word BOO to it and put it in with the pumpkins.  A super easy way to add a little Halloween touch to a Fall display

img_9543

So that’s my Halloween decorations this year.  I’m sure that I will add a couple more things here and there.  I never really stop decorating – thankfully the holiday eventually ends saving me from going too over the top!

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!!

Save

Save

Save

3 Comments

Comments are closed.