Halloween Design on a Dime

Okay, to say ‘design’ is stretching it since these are DIY Halloween decorations but I really wanted to post a page with some of my creations. Warning! It gets more spooky with each tutorial…

Create an Easy Fall Wreath This will double for Halloween and Fall.  All this took was two cross stitch wheels (25 cents each at a flea market), twine, and fake leaves. Simply wrap the twine around the stem to hold the leaves in place and tie a loop for hanging. Add some cheap spider webs and viola!

 

Paint it yourself.  I used a wood plaque for one and an old canvas for the other picture and painted with craft acrylics. What made it easier to ‘finish’ was a Sharpie marker for the borders around the characters and the lettering.

Frame Last Year’s Halloween Pictures.  It doesn’t even need to be a Halloween Frame to do the trick. You can also paint a wood frame and press on Halloween stickers.

 

Spray paint your outdoor items red and grey (or metallic). Add a creepy spider or two and hang from basket hooks that you may already have on front porch.  You can spray paint them back next spring.

Candelabra and candles found at a thrift store. Cost- $3 total.

 

Cement Pumpkins. This link will take you to a previous post on how to make these cement pumpkins. Cost and time is fairly minimal to make. The white pumpkins are the quickest to make. You can purchase for under $4 a 10 lb bag of mortar mix. I generally use Quikrete brand.

   

Ghosts made with Sheets.  These took a little more time to make (an hour and a half) but they were well worth the effort!

 

You will need:

• Plastic Bags
• Newspapers
• Coat Hangers
• Large Sheets
• Shepherd Hooks or Tomato Cages
• Masking Tape
• Mason Jars, Lights, and/or a Spotlight
• Craft paint or Sharpie Marker
• Twine (optional)

Ball up newspaper and secure plastic bag tightly around it for the head. Secure coat hanger to back with a lot of masking tape.

Hook coat hanger on top of shepherds hook. Secure with twine or masking tape. Drape sheet over top, secure ‘neck’ with twine or a strip of the sheet. Paint a face. You could spray with a clear outdoor spray paint to weather proof.

A second smaller shepherd’s hook is placed near the body so you can drape the sheet over it for the ‘arm.’

The second ghost was similar but instead of hanging from a shepherd’s hook I worked the head into the middle top of the tomato cage.

Lights in mason jars can be placed on ground under the ghosts or hang from the shepherd’s hooks.  Or you can use a spotlight.

Note: I found the white sheets at a Salvation Army for under $3 each. This project cost me $6.  I was lucky enough to have all of the other materials on hand.  Spotlight and chains courtesy of my parents.

Create a Spooky Photo Collage. Next year, I’m going to take these pictures from this years decor and frame them to make a Halloween ‘photo’ collage.

I used the Filters App to apply some textured overlays for creepy effects.

I hope you enjoyed these quick tutorials.  I would love to hear what some of my readers are doing to decorate for Halloween this year!