When you feel that little nip in the air, you know Halloween’s right around the corner. Suddenly you see pumpkins everywhere and your kids will start talking about Halloween. Everything around you is Halloweeny! You have to start thinking about decorations too, and rack your brains for cheap decorations which look fantastic. There are some really good decoration ideas which can be done using materials you already have at home, or you’d have to spend just a few dollars on the supplies. Create the best, most impressive Halloween house with these great cheap decoration ideas for Halloween which are almost for free, they’re so affordable!
8 cheap decoration ideas for Halloween
Cemetery in your backyard
When you throw a backyard Halloween party or your kid’s friends come over to play on Halloween, then this cheap outdoor decoration idea for Halloween would surely impress everyone and creep them out. Turn your yard into a spooky cemetery, using just reclaimed materials.
All you need are cardboard shipping boxes, wooden or plastic stake, marker pen, scissors and grey paint (any waterproof paint which will not be damaged outdoors by moisture or snow or rain). Flatten the boxes and draw tombstone shapes on them. Create a few different tombstones of rectangular or oval shapes. Depending on the size of your backyard, do as many or as few as you want. Then cut out the shapes and paint them with grey paint and let the paint dry.
After the fake cardboard tombstones are dry, write RIP and sayings on them. Glue them to plastic or wooden yard stakes and stick them in the ground. To make them look more authentic and aged, glue some fake moss on them.
This haunted cemetery is one of the easiest and best cheap decoration ideas for Halloween. It can also be used to create a haunted pathway for the trick-or-treaters, who will definitely find it thrilling.
Specimen Jars
Specimen jars are seriously terrifying décor objects for Halloween. And they are perhaps the easiest and one of the most cheap indoor decoration ideas for Halloween. Fill some old mason jars or glass jars with toy bugs, plastic rats, doll heads and any other dismembered toy, and then add some colored water. Make the colored water using food color or any paint (watercolor, poster color etc).
The names of the jars make them spine-chilling, such as baby rats, deadly tarantula, shrunken head. If you don’t have any limb or anything, just mix red paint in water and call it vampire blood!
Scary glass bottles
Use your empty glass bottles for this easy and scary and cheap DIY decoration idea for Halloween. Remove the labels and cap from the bottles, any old glass bottle will suffice. Spray paint is the simplest and fastest way to paint them. Use white color. Then draw faces with a black marker. If you want, you can put in some straws, colorful ones and they can be put on side tables or center table as part of your Halloween décor.
Ghostly trees
To complement the outdoor cemetery in your backyard, you can design some scary haunted trees. This cheap outdoor decoration idea for Halloween will work both for your front porch/front yard or garden as well as the back.
With oven baked clay, you can give spooky faces to the trees. Create eye, nose, mouth for each of your trees and attach these to the tree trunks. Play eerie soundtracks near the tree to draw attention to the sinister trees.
For this project, you will have to buy some colorful oven baked clay, of black, green and brown colors. Create some basic shapes for the nose, mouth and eyes, and use butter knife to carve the details like eyes, mouth and nose. With double sided tape or putty, you can attach the face to the tree. As a final touch, you can glaze them with a clay glaze available at craft stores or online and prolong the life of these faces from inclement weather.
Jack o’ Lanterns Reusable
These are staple and cheap decoration for Halloween. Every home has to have them. But making them year in and year out may get on your nerves. These reusable Jack o’ Lanterns can be used for many years. You have to put in your effort only once, and then store them for the next year.
For this, you have to buy one artificial pumpkin from any hobby store and in any color, shape or style. Pick the one which will look best on your porch. You will need Exacto knife, sandpaper, flashlight or electric candle, and Jack o’ Lantern stencil, if you’re not too artistic!
Carve out the shape with the knife, then sand with the sandpaper and pop an electric candle or flashlight to make it glow. It can be kept on the windowsill or on the porch, to cast an unearthly light.
Spooky banner
Let everyone know that your home is all set for Halloween with a spooky inexpensive banner. Print out the letters of your message on cards. Make a ruffled border with decorative paper strips which are then accordion-folded. Glue this to each letter at the back. Punch holes in each of the cards and then use some ribbon or twine to hang the banner.
Coffin Cooler
Nothing can be creepier than a coffin. With some nails and wood, you can design a life-sized coffin, which can be used in various ways. It can be a cooler to keep drinks, or spooky planter or a table for your party. Use it for a hair-raising graveyard scene! Hide a scary figure inside, which pops out to scare people.
You will need 4×4 ft boards for this coffin cooler. Maybe you already have some boards or pallets at home, or talk to your family and friends if they have any boards you can borrow. Or buy some reclaimed wood which will not be very expensive.
Vary your design for this cheap DIY decoration idea for Halloween, depending on the number of boards you source. If you have seven boards, then you will need three boards to make up the bottom and the sides. This will be enough for a cooler. If you have more boards, then use the other boards to make a complete coffin, you will find many ideas on Google. Paint the coffin brown, black or grey and line the inside with waterproof trash bags (choose biodegradable ones, for the environment’s sake!). The bags will help to waterproof the coffin when the ice melts.
Creepy floating hands/bags
Clear plastic gloves are very cheap. Use a pair of these or as many as you want and place them around the house or sneak them into snacks bowl or make a creepy hand garland. This is a pretty fun and cheap indoor decoration idea for Halloween.
The best effect of these creepy hands is when you fill them with fresh Jell-O, as you’ll get a very realistic, jiggly hand. You can fill it with tissue paper or popcorn or shredded paper or any other discarded paper. Then tie the hand’s mouth with an elastic band (clear). The hands can be hung also, just slide one paperclip through the loop of the band.
Make these hands into candy bags for treats by filling them with candy.
Halloween is a time for fun with your kids. They can help you create the decorations and you will have new decorations as well as new memories you will cherish.
