Our top five eco-friendly DIY Halloween decor ideas
Quick to make - only 15-30 minutes for each idea.
1. Make your own Ghoulie jars!
This one is quick and easy - take an empty mason jar (or a coffee one) and wrap it in bandage tape from your first aid kit (make sure you leave some bandage tape for those emergencies though)! Then you can either draw and glue on your own eyes, or use a pair of googlies you might have lying around!
Finish by filling your spooky ghoulie jars with Halloween treats (or tricks).
2. Design your own bat garland
Great for getting creative with the kids. Use a pencil to draw the shape of a bat on some cardboard. You can then use this as a stencil to trace around on to paper and create a series of spooky bats. After you've done this you can decorate them - try paint or biodegradable glitter. Once decorated and dry, thread them through with some string/twine/wool and display proudly.
3. Zombie hands for the garden
These are an old-timey classic and they're never too much effort to make! With some cardboard, scissors and paint you can quickly whip up some emerging hands to give your garden a real creepy look.
4. Graveyard tombstones for the garden
Another classic - and one that is super fun for the kids. Cut out some cardboard into tombstones and get the kids involved to make up some super fun and creepy tombstone writing! Feel free to rub some compost/soil over the tomb stone to give it that dirty look if you don't have any grey paint on hand.
5. Milk bottle ghosties
If you get glass milk bottles delivered - don't fret! You can ask a few of your neighbours if they have any milk bottles they could pass to you and save them up in the week coming up to Halloween. You just need a black sharpie to draw some faces on and old fairy lights to light them up in your front room window.
Upcycling your old Halloween costumes
Turning last years costumes into new ones!
Looking to change a kids outfit into a new one this year? Try some simple tweaks to refresh that fancy dress:
- Change an Angel to Bride - take out the wings and halo and replace with a veil (and some lovely flowers to set it all off).
- Change a Doctor to a Mad Scientist - This one is all about making the hair look as mad as possible - and take away the stethoscope.
- Change a Magician to a Vampire - Remove the hat, paint the face white and add some fangs. Voila!
- Prisoner to Mime - Add some black trousers and the classic mime makeup.
Have a costume swap with your family, friends or neighbours.
This one is the easiest if you have children or adults that are similar sizes - but if they're too big, it's nothing a good sewing kit can't sort out. Youtube has many different tutorials for bringing in clothes that are too big - and if you fancy learning yourself a new skill, it can even be fun.
Alternatively...
Bring your Halloween costumes to a charity shop - and get your new ones from there.
It's always exciting shopping for new (old) clothes and you'll never know what Halloween bargains you'll find. We've previously done an event where we went charity shopping and had to built the most creative costume we could using the items we could shop for - it was a lot of fun with a £10 cap! Why not try it?
And of course - say no to food waste this Halloween by upcycling your Pumpkin into scrumptious recipes!
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Seed Pesto
- Double Pumpkin Kissed Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Pumpkin Tiramisu
We hope you have a thrifty (and SPOOKY!) Halloween - let us know in the comments below how you get on with your decor and upcycling. We'd love to hear about your own ideas too!