5 Cheap Ways to Decorate Your House for Halloween Night
October is upon us, with its pumpkins, apple cider and brightly colored leaves. Soon enough, trick-or-treaters will be wandering up and down the streets, knocking on doors in their adorable costumes and hoping for a special treat.
It can be a lot of fun to plan a few surprises and mild frights for those who come to knock on your door, both for the little ones and for the older children and adults. Many surprises, however, cost real money. Here are five great ways you can prepare your home for trick-or-treaters without spending more than a dollar or two.
[See: 9 Scary Things Consumers Do With Their Money.]
1. Make a big leaf pile ... and hide a surprise inside. If you have trees in your yard, it's a great idea to rake those leaves together into a big pile before trick-or-treaters arrive.
If nothing else, you can put up a small sign encouraging kids to jump in the leaf pile. After all, there are few things more fun than a running jump into a giant leaf pile.
[See: 10 Frugal Ways to Save This Fall.]
On the other hand, you can take advantage of the leaf pile to plan a fun surprise for some of the older children (and even the adults). Shortly before trick-or-treaters come out, bury an older child or a grown-up in a leaf pile that's fairly close to the sidewalk. Give them a little bit of room to watch who is coming. When a big kid or adult is walking by, the person in the leaf pile can jump out and give them a good, old-fashioned fright. Bonus points if the person in the leaf pile is dressed like a zombie or something scary.
2. Make spiderwebs out of garbage bags. Ever wanted to cover the front of your house in spiderweb patterns? Garbage bags are actually perfect for this. You can easily make a giant spiderweb out of a garbage bag or two for just a few pennies.
Just cut off the drawstring along the top, then cut one side and the bottom edge, so that you have a giant sheet of plastic garbage bag material. Then, fold it in half over and over again until you have a small "wedge" shape. Tape together the side that isn't a fold, then cut some large pieces out of the plastic with some sharp scissors, like you would do with a snowflake. When you're done, unfold it and you'll have a giant black or white spiderweb.
For full instructions, check out this article from HGTV.
3. Hang some "ghosts" from your tree. Simple ghosts for your front tree can be made out of anything, but old lightly colored bedsheets are perhaps the best option. All you need is an old sheet, a soccer ball or basketball, some fishing line and a needle.
[See: 12 Habits of Phenomenally Frugal Families.]
Wrap a piece of sturdy fishing line around the soccer ball at various angles, so that you can support it from a single line in the middle, then use your needle to stick that twine through an old bedsheet. Tie the line to a tree branch outside and you have yourself a ghost. You can easily pin eyes on the ghost, too.
I find that the ghost looks best with a gentle breeze, so hope for a breezy night or plug in a fan nearby to make the air move a little.
4. Put a (plastic) spider in the treat bowl. One classic trick is to simply go to a craft store or a party supply store and buy a big plastic spider for a dollar or two. Take that spider and put it in the bottom of a big bowl that you use for candy, then pour the treats on top.
As children start taking the treats during the trick-or-treat night, they'll eventually uncover the spider and get a good fright. You can repeat the trick by just adding a few more treats to the bowl and covering the spider up again. This is a great "mild" trick that's a lot of fun, even for children.
5. Put a scarecrow in the front ... with another surprise. This takes some preparation, but it's a brilliant trick-or-treat tactic.
Scarecrows make for great trick-or-treat decorations on their own. All you need to do is stuff some old clothes and maybe an old canvas bag with straw (you can usually find a bale of straw at a farm supply store for a few bucks) and position the scarecrow in a chair in front of your house.
If you really want to amp things up, though, make a "human" scarecrow. Dress someone up in old clothes with a bag over their head (with a hole to breathe through, of course). Stuff a bunch of straw into the edges of their clothes, gloves, and shoes and have them sit slumped in a chair. Then, every once in a while, have the scarecrow sit up straight and say, "Boo!" It's a fantastic and simple way to give people a good fright.
All of these tactics cost just pennies (or a few dollars at most) and can add a ton of Halloween flavor to your trick-or-treat night.
Trent Hamm is the founder of the personal finance website TheSimpleDollar.com, which provides consumers with resources and tools to make informed financial decisions.
