Budget-Friendly Halloween Decorations

Low budget, high impact decorating for Halloween!

Ah, fall!  I’m such a sucker for it, and all that comes with it!  Of course, you know I’m extremely fond of decorating and celebrating Halloween.  I have such great childhood memories of spending time with my family, coming up with fun costumes, and going to our local Halloween fair.  Those are memories that I have yet to recreate, but in honor of them, I am doing my darnedest to make the season just as fun for my little family of three, starting with our decorations at home.

This year I was feeling especially whimsical, but extremely exhausted with all that has gone on recently, so I tried to lighten my load a little bit by making a large impact with as little as possible.  Luckily I ran across these little creepy rats  critters at the Dollar Tree one day and picked up an armful knowing that they would do the trick, and boy did they!  My method was to place them randomly about the room, and with the help of my son we managed to get this done in no-time.  Fun, right?  I didn’t even have to change out my regular decor, which was a HUGE plus!

Because I didn’t want to take away from the effect the rats made to the space, I ended up adding a few items to the space to keep them the center of attention.  We wrapped our chandelier in black gauze, and I covered the windowed doors on the built-in with cheap white tablecloths from the Dollar Tree to cover up the decor displayed inside.

Mr. Skeleton woke from his long nap in our garage, to come inside and relax on our couch.  He sure does seem happy!  As a matter of fact I’ve caught him napping on the couch recently, and I’m completely jealous.  What an afterlife!

I couldn’t help but keep my grandpa’s picture out on the side table.  He was such a jokester in his funny nose and glasses disguise!  I sure do miss him!

I’m guessing y’all didn’t know that some of my distant relatives were witches and vampires, did ya?  Okay, they weren’t really, but these creepy decals I found at the Dollar Tree sure do the trick to create the illusion of vintage portraits!

And for no reason other than I thought it would look creepy, I added blood decals to the mirror and built-in windows.  It’s a good splash of color in an otherwise colorless space, and don’t worry, my son has no context about splattered blood other than that these were fun to play with before we stuck them to the surface of the mirror.  He’s not scared of it at all.

Of course, the fireplace is always a great focal point for any holiday decor, so we amped up the amount of rats surrounding the space, and added some fun pumpkins to the mix.

Other than that, the only added decoration was the stack of skulls on the counter of the builtin.  It was such a good find from HomeGoods!

A couple of takeaways from the tour..

• • Decorations don’t have to cost you an arm and a leg!  All the decor you see in this space cost right around $100.  Check your dollar stores, thrift shops, even online party supply stores for great deals.
  • Multiples can make a huge impact to the space.  It doesn’t have to be rats!  Bats, bugs, spiders and crows are all great options too!  Don’t like critters?  Random plastic bones scattered about, or faux blood splatter decals would do the trick too.

I hope you enjoyed the tour and the tips!  We’re currently working on the porch and dining room, so check back in with us soon to see those spaces.

-Iris

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