Studio 5 Party, Holiday and Ideas Contributor Alisa Bangerter share quick, simple and inexpensive things you can do to add unique seasonal décor to the inside of your home.
Utilize spray paint. Spray old metal lighting fixtures black to create a spooky chandelier. Add spiders, webs and other bugs and old dripping candles. It does not need to work to be effective. Spray paint a grouping of a variety of candlesticks, old pots or urns, or other unique shaped containers to use in your decorating. Spray pumpkins with black, silver, gold, copper or other eerie metallic colors and add bows, ribbons, glitter, jewels, polka dots, stripes, google eyes, etc. These can be elegant or whimsical.
Use acrylic paint. Pant old books, frames, etc. and add to your existing décor. Slip a spooky book in your shelf and see if it is noticed. Washable paints or acrylic paint with liquid dish soap added can be used to paint windows. Glow-in-the-dark paint is available and would be fun to use.
Decorate with fun textured fabrics. Use cheesecloth, gauze, burlap or netting or other textured fabrics to add atmosphere. Use as table runners, chair covers, draped over couches, hung along the top of drapes or hung in doorways. Make complete curtains using gauze or cheesecloth. Tear the cloth in strips or create holes and uneven edges. Stain with fabric dye or concentrated tea. Old sheets also work great for this.
Use recyclable materials. Black garbage bags and newspaper make eerie additions to doorways, ceilings or even used as table coverings. Cut strips in the paper or plastic and pull and twist to create distressed effects.
Bring in nature. Use twigs, leaves, branches, pumpkins, gourds, etc. to create seasonal centerpieces. Place natural items in jars, add ribbons and you have instant decorations. Sticks can be painted black or silver and placed in bowls or pots around the house. Add some webbing and a few spiders. Use pumpkins as floral or serving containers.
Use spider webbing. Spider webbing is very cheap and goes a long way. Make sure to stretch it thin for the best and most realistic effect. Stretch over photos and picture frames and other décor items.
Have fun with photos. Replace framed photos in your home with some spooky or Halloween photos from past years. Normal photos can be digitally changed to black and white or sepia. Digitally adding some spooky items to the photos such as a wart on a nose or a spider on a shoulder can be a ton of fun. Try replacing photos with some of these and wait for family to notice. Look for clearance sales on damaged or gaudy looking photo frames – as this is a great time to use them.
Use plastic bones. Plastic bones are fun to place around the house in subtle places. Some can fit in candle holders. Place a bone peeking out of a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter or in a candy bowl. Be creative. Check out dollar and discount stores for bags of inexpensive fake bones or take apart a plastic skeleton.
Utilize lighting. Replace some bulbs in your lighting fixtures with some colored (black, orange, green, purple) bulbs to create atmosphere. Tiny white strands of Christmas lights can also be used. Look for the realistic flicker lights that run on batteries. They come in all shapes and sizes and add a lot of atmosphere with no fire hazard. Use glo-sticks. Place in vases filled with water, in the bottom of a pot or behind an item to give an eerie glow. Activate these right before company or guests come. Switch out decorative candles with spooky or dripping wax candles. To make a dripping candle, light a candle and tip it so wax drips down the side of another candle. Continue around until the desired effect is reached. Use a red candle to make it look like dripping blood.
Use spiders, bugs and other creepy creatures. Place an artificial crow, raven, owl, etc. on the top of a curtain rod or somewhere it can overlook a room. Plastic spiders can be strung like a garland or hung from the ceiling throughout the house. Use fishing line or clear thread or sting to hang. Hang from a variety of places for a fun surprise. Fill jars with bugs, spider or other creatures or use scrapbooking glue dots to adhere spiders on walls or on kitchen canisters, etc. A plastic spider ring fits perfectly over a taper candle for a quick accent.
Decorate with candy. Halloween candy can be strung in a garland or placed in jars. Jars can be filled with all sorts of unique candies. Some inexpensive ones are marshmallows, black licorice, and candy corn. Specific colors (black, white, orange, etc.) and unique candy can be bought in bulk off the internet at places such as www.candywarehouse.com or www.bulkcandystore.com. Candy wrappers can be decoupaged onto containers making some customized items.
Decorate with a color theme. Decorate using a certain color scheme. Colors such as black and white, orange and purple, silver and white, etc. can create a fun look. Pull out dishes and other items that have that color scheme even if they are not specifically Halloween themed. A fun item found at www.wellbeingworldusa.com is colored toilet paper. It comes in black, orange, green and other fun colors.
Utilize items in your home. Do you have a couple of black or unique old wood chairs? Replace some of your regular dining chairs with these to create a mismatched effect. Use a birdcage with pumpkins, ravens, etc. as a centerpiece. Place an old wood broom in a corner with a witch hat on top and a couple of spiders hanging down. Look around your home to see what you could use and alter a bit for the season.
Create a Halloween tree. Spray paint a bunch of twigs black or use an artificial tree. Many craft stores now carry ornaments for Halloween trees. Decorate with candy, bugs, creatures, spider webbing, photos, streamers, etc. place a witch hat on top. Kids love this!!
The possibilities are endless. Be creative and have fun!
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