Halloween Party Decorations on a Dime

Want to create spooktacular Halloween party decorations on a budget? Follow these low-cost decorating tips to create a howling good party!

Creating a frightfully fun scene for a Halloween party doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune. Just use a few (or all) of these tips to create party decorations that won't scare your budget!

Haunting Hands

These scary hands are a breeze to make! Simply stuff a pair of rubber gloves with tissue paper, newspaper or cotton batting, and then use your imagination to decorate them: spray paint, gauze wrap, fake fingernails, rings, a watch, fake insects, or red "blood" paint.

Jack-O'-Lantern Garland

Draw jack-o'-lantern outlines on orange paper, making sure to draw long stems on top. Cut out the jack-o'-lanterns and then draw on faces with markers or crayons. Fold the stems halfway down, and then attach them to yarn or string with tape, glue or staples. When attaching the pumpkins, make sure that the stems 'fold' over the yarn or string. Now you're all set to drape this garland across a room, over a window or from lighting. You can also make a ghost garland in the same way!

Egg Carton Bats

Using egg cartons to make bats couldn't be easier! First, separate 3 cups from an egg carton. Cut out part of the bottoms of the two outside cups so that they look like bat wings. Then just add eyes and a mouth with a marker (or you can use googly eyes). To hang, just attach it to a string or rubber band. Feel free to decorate your bats with paint, spider webs or anything else that grabs your imagination!

Egg Carton Spiders

Egg cartons also make fun spiders! Start by separating one cup from an egg carton. Next, make 8 small holes (4 on each side) at the base of the cup. The point of a scissors works well for this. Then insert a pipe cleaner into each of the holes to create legs. Last, just add a face and decorate however you choose!

Bat Clips

Cut out bat wings and bodies from black construction paper, card stock or fun foam sheets. Make sure the bat bodies are large enough to cover clothespins. Glue the bat parts to clothespins (wings first, and then bodies) and then add googly eyes to complete the look. These are easy to clip anywhere!

Lollipop Ghosts

These fun little ghosts not only make fun decorations, but they also make great party favors! To make these adorable little haunters, you'll need round lollipops, white tissues, googly eyes or black marker and ribbon, preferably black or orange. Using one or two tissues, place a lollipop in the center and then gather the tissues around the top of the lollipop. Secure the tissues around the top of the lollipop with ribbon. You will now have a ghost head (top of lollipop) and body (tissue that covers lollipop stick). Finish by adding googly eyes or drawing them on with a black marker.

Halloween Blood

More of an accent than an actual decoration, there are lots of uses for fake blood - and it couldn't be easier to make:

* 1 cup corn syrup
* 1 tbsp water
* 2 tbsp red food coloring
* 1 tsp yellow food coloring

Just mix all the ingredients together and you'll have one cup of Halloween "blood"!

Go Buggy

Creep everyone out with your own profusion of bugs and rodents. Bags of plastic bugs and various sizes of rodents are readily available - and usually inexpensive - around Halloween. Scatter them on tables, floors, walkways, windowsills - anywhere that needs a little spooking up.

Pumpkins Please

Mini pumpkins provide a wealth of decorating opportunities. You can paint them any color and glue nearly anything (felt, construction paper, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, etc.) to them, allowing you to create spiders, witches, monsters...just use your imagination!

Balloon Ghost

All you need to make this fun ghost is a white balloon and two white plastic grocery bags! Start by cutting the handles off the plastic grocery bags. If there are any markings on the bags, try to cut them out, too. Starting at the top of the bags, cut them into strips, leaving the bottom seam of each bag intact. Next, blow up a white balloon. Tape the plastic bags around one end of the balloon, forming a circle around it. (Hint: if you're planning on hanging the ghost as a decoration, be sure to leave the tied end of the balloon exposed at the top, so you can tie a string to it.) Finally, create a face on the balloon with a black marker, and you've got a frightfully fun ghost!

Halloween parties can be lots of fun - and lots of expense. But by using the decorating tips above, you can decorate for Halloween without breaking the bank.

Heather L. Clark is a Web researcher and writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. Check out her favorite sources for 2009 calendars and online calendars.

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