Decorating For Halloween
If you’ve walked into any grocery or department store, you’ve no doubt seen the splashes of black and orange and caught the aroma of latex in the air. Decorating for Halloween can be a fun activity and there are so many directions a person can go. From scary and horrifying to playful and cartoonish, you’ll find everyone has a unique take on the spooky holiday. We’ll take you through some of the most common ways people bring Halloween to their homes and also some of the ways people create a more year ’round permanent solution to satisfy their inner ghoul.
PUMPKINS!
There probably isn’t a more iconic symbol of Halloween than the pumpkin. Native to North America, pumpkins are used in all sorts of recipes for Thanksgiving and typically represent bounty. But for Halloween, they are carved out to make jack-o’-lanterns. Make them devilishly frightening or go the more goofy route. For the more talented and patient, entire works of art have been carved into pumpkins. Nowadays, you can buy stencils from the store or even download templates online that can be traced right on to the pumpkin. The PumpkinLady.Com is a great resource. But don’t be put off by the effort. You don’t necessarily need to do any carving to create the Halloween vibe. After all, a carved pumpkin will start to rot after a couple of days. You can always leave the pumpkin untouched and display them as they are. An uncarved pumpkin can last anywhere from two to three months. Check out these cool carved and uncarved displays for inspiration.
SKULLS
An easy way to put a little fright into your Halloween decor is to play on our sense of mortality. Nothing does that more effectively than seeing a skeleton. It only takes a skull or two to change the aesthetic from playful to a bit creepy. If they are properly displayed on your lawn, you can make it appear as if the skeleton is busting it’s way out of the grave. Some people can DIY these things with paper mache but you’d be better off getting some cheap stuff from the Halloween section of your local party shop.
GHOSTS
If we’re taking our mortality to the next logical step beyond our bones, then the spirit world would be next. One of the easiest ways to dress up for Halloween is to toss a white sheet over yourself and you’re an instant ghost. Similarly, it’s very easy to create some ghosts on your porch or in your home by simply hanging some small white linens. Cheesecloth is a great options for that transparent effect. There are a couple of very clever ways to go about this. One easy method is to use a spherical object, preferably a styrofoam ball and toss some cheesecloth over top. Then,attach a string to it, either by tape or pin and needle through the cheesecloth. Then, pin the other end into the ceiling. Give it a pair of eyes and a mouth but even that isn’t necessary. Another very clever way to create a ghost is using a white balloon. Some black permanent marker can be used to create the eyes and mouth. Then tape some white tissue to the bottom and you’ve got a couple of friendly ghosts flying around. The DIY Network has a great tutorial on making ghosts.
CREEPY CREATURES
When you think of creatures that tend to give you the creeps there are probably a few that would instantly come to mind. Oddly enough, snakes are not a Halloween character but bats and spiders are. Black cats have also had a reputation of being a bad omen. However, they are much more revered than feared nowadays. Bats’ association with Halloween may have something to do with migration habits in the Fall in North America. But a bat is also associated with one of the forms which popular vampire icon, Dracula can take. The easiest way to add some bats to your doorway is cutting them out of black construction paper and hanging by a string. Not much else is needed. There is no shortage of fake spider webs that you can purchase from any grocery store’s Halloween section. Grab as much of this and spread it out to heart’s desire. Spread it over the bushes outside, across windows or span it at the top of your doorways. It’s always an easy and very effective decoration. Check out this example of someone using creepy creatures when decorating for Halloween.
WALLPAPER
What do you do if you’re so into the Halloween aesthetic that just having a day or even a month doesn’t satiate your craving for the macabre. There are solutions that can turn a room into something that expresses your ongoing gothic tendencies. Wallpaper has a history that harkens back to the Victorian age which is a popular aesthetic for creating a haunting vibe in the home. The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is popular template. But there are modern options too that can create an amazing backdrop when you’re decorating for Halloween all year ’round. A few of our favourite wallpapers are pictured below. From the sexy, sophisticated gothic look of Huntington Lace, the dark creepy farmhouse effect of Black Wood Boards or the dramatic impact of Amityvillve, any room can have strong dark overtones and create a canvas for all your furniture and accessories. If black cats are your thing and you want to be a bit more playful with your decor, Meow would be right up your alley.
For more eerie wallpaper designs, check out everything that Milton & King has to offer.
Halloween has it’s history rooted in the meeting of religious and pagan traditions. Today, it’s largely bereft of any serious connotations. Now it’s all about the fun. What will we dress up as? How will we decorate? There are no rules when it comes to transforming your porch or your home. There are definitely some easy options if you’re stuck. Pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, bats, and skeletons are all easily identified with the holiday when you’re decorating for Halloween. If you desire to dress up your lair for more than an annual occasion, wallpaper is a great way create a haunting backdrop that any soul would find to suitable to dwell in.
