I love what summer has to offer, but my heart will always belong to fall. You can’t beat apple picking, fall décor shopping, apple cider donut runs, and long color drives. The smell in the air is addicting and slowly but surely, the fall TV shows start to premiere. There’s this undeniable buzz in the air the second the first leaf drops. It’s the official start of the fun part of the year. The “BER” months as some of you call it. And most importantly, it’s Halloween season.
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It’s not unheard of for me to start planning my decorations and costume in June. If I’m M.I.A. in the fall, you can find me at Spirit Halloween. If you’re reading this and start sweating because you have nothing done, it’s halfway through October and you still want to make Halloween special on a budget, don’t panic! There’s still time to make this year the best Halloween ever!
- Half of the fun of Halloween is the costume, and NOTHING beats a homemade costume. There is absolutely no reason to empty your bank account at the store when there are so many great DIY costume ideas you can make using things you already have around the house. You can also pick up affordable supplies at your local dollar and thrifts stores. I’ve made some killer costumes with felt, cardboard, pipe cleaners, and dollar store paint! Parents, you’re probably reading this and saying…WHEN?! I hear you! Encourage your kids to get involved in the costume making process too! I always helped my mom make my costumes when I was younger, and I was always so proud of it. The options are endless.
Costumes I’ve created:
- Giant strawberry frosted donut (cardboard, felt, pipe cleaner sprinkles, & hot glue)
- Dani Dennison (thrifted red sweater and black skirt, puffy paint, orange tights)
- Taxicab driver (cardboard box, yellow and black dollar store paint, tinfoil for the wheels
- Owl (Walmart hat & Sweater, Googly eyes, felt, dollar store feathers, hot glue)
- The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (thrifted flower shirt and backpack, neon fabric paint, white gym shoes from Walmart).
2. Candy is the other half of the fun. Depending on your situation, you might need to buy candy for trick-or-treaters. My suggestion; don’t wait until the last minute. There’s nothing worse than having to do the walk of shame down the barren candy aisle the day before Halloween. Check your local grocery store apps for digital coupons and discounts before you go. Walmart and Costco also have large bags of candy for a reasonable price. Lock it away in the tallest cabinet possible so there’s no temptation to break into it early. If you’re only buying candy for a small group of guests or just yourself, hit up Dollar Tree. They have a great selection of Halloween candy. Try making a Halloween candy salad with some of the festive treats you find.
3. It’s always a good idea to plan for food other than candy. That doesn’t mean that your food can’t still be Halloween themed. Since I’m taking the day off from work this year (use it before you lose it), I’m going to treat myself to Dunkin’s new Potion Macchiato and Chipotle’s Boorito $6 entrée when you place a mobile order after 3PM. There are some great deals and themed treats popping up at places like Burger King, TGIFridays, Wendy’s, Andy’s Custard, Domino’s and many more. Always check to make sure the location you plan on visiting is participating before you go.
If you’re not in the position to order in and want to stay on budget, here are a few spooky ideas:
- Spaghetti and meatballs (worms and eyeballs, respectfully)
- Stuffed Peppers cut to look like jack-o-lanterns
- Breakfast for Dinner with pumpkin and ghost shaped pancakes
- Charcuterie board made inside a small plastic skeleton
- Homemade cupcakes (From scratch or box cake; it’s still so much cheaper than store bought cupcakes and decorating them can be a fun activity for the little ones.)
4. Make your house festive without breaking the bank. My favorite decorations are from Dollar Tree this year. They had the cutest solar pumpkin lights that I used to outline my front garden. There were still a ton of them and other decorations left when I went this past weekend. I also got Stackable Pumpkins for $5 and plastic and Styrofoam bones (HUGE find for my Howl-o-ween dog theme this year).
I love making signs and silhouettes for my front window using different scraps of paper and markers. I like to use Black-Out paper from Michael’s, which does tend to be a little expensive unless you have a coupon, but I’ve used wrapping paper, card stock, poster board, construction paper, computer paper, and cellophane in past years. Partner creativity with determination and the sky is the limit. One of my favorite Halloween displays was a silhouette I drew and cutout from black wrapping paper of the Sanderson Sisters. I used Scotch tape to stick it to the front window. I lined the inside of the window with tiny command hooks and hung red, green, and pink lights to match the witches’ colors. I got great feedback! A cute decoration that cost me under $20 and only took up a few hours of my time. Don’t forget, pumpkin décor can be left out for Thanksgiving too so if you want to stretch your dollar even further, go with a fun pumpkin and fall leaves theme.
5. Get your watch-a-thon on! Halloween would not be the same without scary movies and shows. I am not a big fan of gore, so my list usually contains more cult classics and family friendly movies vs slashers.
- Hocus Pocus
- Practical Magic
- The Craft
- Casper
- The Addams Family
- Addams Family Values (we also watch this on Thanksgiving)
- Corpse Bride
- Happy Death Day
- Halloweentown
- Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire
- Halloween
- The Scream Series
- Nightmare Before Christmas
- Get Out
- The Haunted Mansion
- Beetlejuice
- Ghostbusters 1 & 2
- Ready or Not
- Hotel Transylvania
- Interview with the Vampire (has anyone watched the series?)
- Us
- The House with the Clock in its Walls
- Nightmare on Elm Street
- IT
- Phantom of the Megaplex
- The Sixth Sense
- Signs
- Trap (Waiting until the MAX premiere on Oct 25th)
6. If you’re not into scary movies and are looking for affordable Halloween activities instead, do some research on free haunted houses and yard displays in your area. Looking for a fun Halloween themed activities? For just $3.50, you can purchase 30 Halloween BINGO cards, a coloring page, and scary story stationary from my Etsy page by clicking here.
I hope this post gets you excited for Halloween! I’d love to know how you are planning on celebrating and what your creative costumes are. Let me know in the comments. Happy Halloween!