7 Inexpensive Halloween Décor Ideas

You don’t have to spend a scary amount of money to get into the Halloween spirit. Here are 7 inexpensive ways to decorate your home using things you already have on-hand, or can easily make.

Commit to It
Make a dramatic impact by choosing a theme for your ghoulish displays, then repeating it throughout your home, out the front door and into the yard. Think swarms of bats that fly from invisible string, jack-o-lanterns that peek from unexpected places, or ghosts that float in corners.

Do It Yourself
You can make a plethora of festive decorations and party accouterments from everyday recyclables and household items: plastic milk jug ghosts that light up the night with the addition of a green glow stick; spooky eyes made from toilet paper rolls; glow stick-adorned trees and shrubs; or some cute and spooky snacks.

Spray It
A light coat of black spray paint can transform even charming mini Christmas cottages into a scene from Night of the Living Dead, especially if you enlist some Spanish moss and glow sticks to complete the eerie tableau. Spray paint ordinary faux flowers black to make Dracula’s favorite dark blooms, which you can glue onto wreaths and place in vases throughout the house and on patios and decks. Paint old vases, glass jars and thrift store candlestick holders black, and group them with displays of black-painted plastic fruits and twigs from the yard.

Go Under Cover
Take a cue from haunted house horror stories by draping living room furniture in white sheets. Tear sheets into strips to hang over windows as tattered drapes, or add inflated balloon heads to create ghosts that float through the trees.

Cut It Out
Raid the kids’ paper stash for black construction paper to make silhouettes of ghosts, witches’ hats, bats, mice, rats and other creepy-crawlies to tape throughout the house (don’t forget windows, fireplace mantles and staircase banisters). Add twine to create mobiles and garlands to hang from ceilings, and you’ll be decorated from top to bottom.

Can It
Whether your Halloween theme is scary, whimsical or cute, you can use mason jars to create easy decorations. Wrap them with cheesecloth for mini ghosts and mummies, or fill with colored dish soap and plastic bugs reminiscent of a mad scientist’s lab. Paint mason jars as jack-o-lanterns, pieces of candy corn, bats and monsters complete with googly eyes — or just stuff them full of Halloween candies.

The Great Pumpkin
Keep it simple and chic by grouping uncarved pumpkins, or get creative by painting, carving, stenciling or drilling designs into a few different pumpkins. From frightening silhouettes to adorable embellishments, the pumpkin possibilities are truly endless.