Halloween Popcorn Hand Party FavorThese favors are always a hit with children and adults too. They get a kick out of receiving the favor because of the "novelty" of the use of the glove.
Paper Spider Web Halloween CraftHere is a video of my paper spider web project, I hope you will be inspired to make this simple Halloween decoration. I took the paper snowflake technique to make these paper spider webs. These look great taped up to a window, decoupaged to a jar or used as a craft activity with kids. You can make them in different sizes and if you want to make these more precise, use an exacto knife. A little word of advice be careful when cutting through multiple layers of paper. If you decide to do this with littles consider folding the paper less times.
Day of the Dead Milk Gallon SkullHere is an easy and fun way to make a Day of the Dead, or most commonly known as Dia De Los Muertos, decorated skull. Simply use an empty and clean milk gallon jug with the handle facing forward. Use permanent markers or paint brushes and paint. You can also glue on glitter, etc. If you want to give it a cool effect at night, place a tea light on top as shown, or cut a hole at the bottom of the jug and insert it underneath. Enjoy !
Sofa Legs as PumpkinsHere is a cute and fun way to repurpose the legs off an old couch that will be discarded. Many are round shaped. Simply unscrew the legs, paint them, and put a ribbon on top. They are nice decorations for Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. They can be made into personalized handmade gifts, and balloon string holders too.
Jar Mummy Halloween DecorationA fun and easy Halloween decoration is to cover different sized glass jars with gauze and sticking on googly eyes or make eyes using black and white felt. Group them together on the mantle or line your porch with them. Place an LED candle inside and enjoy this fun mummy decor. I did step by step instructions here: https://www.thriftyfun.com/How-to-Make-a-Halloween-Mummy-Jar-Decoration.html
My Mr.& Mrs. Ghost CoupleWith Halloween right around the corner, I wanted to create something fun for indoor and outdoor use. I used recycled bottles for this project to keep the cost down. Now it's time to put together my boo friends.
Monster Jack-o'-LanternsI love to see what other people do when they carve Jack-o'-lanterns. Here are some of the ones our family did, if you are looking for inspiration. :)
Kitty Jack-o'-LanternMy 2 year old son picked out an adorably small pumpkin at the pumpkin patch this weekend. I prefer to freehand whatever I carve on my pumpkins and needed a simple idea that I could fit on a small pumpkin. I decided to make his pumpkin into a kitty, since he loves kitties!
Pill Bottle Watercolor StampWhen a foam pumpkin sticker meets a clean pill bottle, there is watercolor fun to be had. All you do is stick the foam sticker to the top of the pill bottle and paint it generously with water color, and it becomes a seasonal stamp.
Cheese Spreaders as Stick PuppetsI keep all the little cheese spreaders that come with the crackers and cheese sets. The little plastic spreaders can be used for plant labels, for digging holes for seeds, or for cutting Playdoh. I used mine to make little seasonal puppets.
Halloween Candy CraftThis treat is a piece of candy, preferably square in shape, wrapped and decorated. These can be used as favors for a Halloween or fall harvest party.
Minion PumpkinsMy friend's sister had these on her porch for Halloween! I am so in love with them! They have so much character and because they aren't carved they will last a lot longer than traditional jack-o-lanterns.
Comic Book Couple for HalloweenHere is a photo of my husband and I this Halloween. I turned us into cheeky comic book characters. It all cost a few dollars using just makeup, markers (for outlining old clothes), and paper for talk bubbles.
Plywood Halloween TombstonesFor making graveyard tombstones, instead of buying them at the dollar stores, I made mine out of old pieces of plywood. My husband had some old pieces of plywood laying around. So I spray painted the outline of the tombstone on the plywood and my husband used his saw and cut them out, then I spray painted them with black paint.
Pippy Longstocking WigI had to laugh when I saw this category. Years ago I dressed like Pippy Longstockings for Halloween. I took a mop head and colored it red with food coloring and used a bent coat hanger to braid the hair around so it would stick out straight.
Halloween: Girl PirateThis is a girl pirate costume. I used nearly all things I had in my closet or Halloween trunk, except for the striped tights (new) and the off white blouse (Goodwill). It's more fun to make a costume instead of buying one
Halloween Costume: Wolverine (X-Men)This is a costume of Wolverine from X-Men. This is the Hugh Jackman version, not the comic book blue/yellow version. Total materials cost about $36.
Halloween Costume: Big Little RanchersSince crafting has always been a huge part of my life, making our sons' Halloween costumes was a huge event. The boys enjoyed it as much as I did and really had some good ideas.
Halloween Costume: Carmen MirandaAs soon as I found an old photo of Carmen Miranda, I knew her colorful style and punchy attitude would make a perfect Halloween costume project. I had the photo up in my bedroom for months and built the costume piece by piece for just as long.
Halloween Costume: A Man and His DogOne Halloween, I dressed the older boy in a dress shirt, vest, bow tie and dress trousers with leather Sunday shoes. The younger one wore a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, with a simple black woolen cap to which I had sewed stuffed black socks for "hang dog ears".
Halloween Costume: Rainbow BriteI made this costume in the 1980's for my daughter who was a big fan of Rainbow Brite. In those days $40.00 was a lot to spend on a homemade costume. But it was worth the smile on my daughter's face.
Halloween Costume: Half Man - Half WomanOne half of my body looked like a man, and the other looked like a women. Very inexpensive. Go to a used clothing store to get the clothes.
Halloween Costume: The Incredible HulkThis is my costume for the Incredible Hulk. It consisted of ripping up a white T-shirt, tearing some jeans and dying them purple, wearing green contact lenses, and spending nearly 3 hours getting airbrushed and detailed with green and purple paint.
Halloween Costume: Hickory, Dickory, DockChild becomes the grandfather clock in the nursery rhyme, Hickory, Dickory, Dock.
Mummy Juice BoxesMake your kids mummy juice boxes for Halloween. Easy to create and great for a kid's party or to send to school.
Pattern for Dracula CapeI have made capes out of twin size black flat bed sheets. They're $5 at Wal-Mart. Just find the middle of 1 edge of the sheet, and cut straight to the opposite corner on the bottom. Do the same on the other side.
Halloween Costume: Plants Vs. ZombiesMy sons love the game, Plants Vs. Zombies so they decided to use it as the basis for last year's costume. I think it turned out super cute, except that when my older son got tired of his Peashooter mask and took it off, he looked more like a frog.
Halloween Costume: Mad ScientistI put this homemade mad scientist costume together so I could play "Host" to my son's Halloween themed birthday party.
Halloween Costume: Black Eye PeaTake a shirt and put a P on it. Then get the black stuff that the football players wear and put it under your eyes. Tell everyone you are a "black eye pea".
Clothespin BatsThis is an easy, cute craft! Just cut a bat shape out of black construction paper, glue on some googly eyes and a red mouth. Glue a clothespin to the back and let dry. You can make tons and clip them anywhere and everywhere!
Halloween Costume: Lunch Lady Land!My company allows us to dress up at Halloween, but it's difficult to find costumes that are family-appropriate and don't hinder movement. One year I made a big splash for less than $10!
Spooky Tree Door DecorationOne year for Halloween I made a "Spooky Tree" door decoration that was a huge hit with everyone who saw it, and it barely cost me anything! I wish I had a photo to show you, but hopefully you can picture it in your head.
Halloween Costume: Dog the Bounty HunterMy daughter thought this up for her daughter, who is my grand daughter.
Halloween Costume: A Bunch Of GrapesI started with a sweatshirt that had plenty of space. I blew up a bunch of balloons, and used safety pins to pin them to the sweatshirt (through the part on the other side of the knot, obviously), in the shape of a bunch of grapes.
Halloween Pencil Toppers As "Treats"I always make plastic canvas treats for my grandchildren and their classmates. I make 25 of these for grade school parties for under $5.00 total. All the children and teachers love them.
Homemade Face PaintTo make face paint mix 1 tsp. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. cold cream, 1/2 tsp. cold water and add food coloring. Mix the ingredients well and paint away! This will wash off with cold cream.
Detergent Bottle PumpkinsSave the bright orange liquid detergent bottles during the year. Decorate the front of the bottle with either black felt, or black fun foam cut into triangle eyes, and nose, and zigzag mouth.
Halloween: Dog the Bounty Hunter and Wife CostumeDuane Chapman is known as Dog the Bounty Hunter and lives in Hawaii with his wife Beth and family. My husband Todd agreed to wear the only store-bought part of this costume, the long blonde wig.
Princess CostumeI used an old dress for this costume. I tore a piece of the dress to put in her hair and added a necklace and I gave her that toy wand.
Popeye and Olive Oyl CostumesPopeye's arms are two pairs of tights (one inside the other) stuffed in the middle with stuffing and sewn to the sleeve of his shirt. I used some red material to pin around his neck for his collar and his yellow karate belt for his waist.
Lollipop Guild Munchkin CostumeThis is a very basic and clean costume that uses 2 button down shirts, a pair of gray cut slacks, white/gray striped leggings, and a pair of boots.
Halloween: Little Scarecrow CostumeThis is "Our Little Scarecrow" Tyler. His costume is homemade by me, his mommy. I took an old pair of overalls, some scrap material and a little creativity. My secret weapon was using an old hula skirt as his straw hair, stuffing, etc.
Recycled Halloween WindsockMake a Halloween witch or ghost windsock decoration using recycled milk jugs, plastic bags, and stuff you have around the house! Super easy. Weather-proof too!
Halloween: Smarty Pants CostumeBe a "Smarty Pants" for Halloween. Buy Smartie candy rolls and tape the candy all over a pair of pants. Use clear packing tape to ensure the candy doesn't fall off.
Halloween: "Monthly Gift" Couple Costume (Adult)Here's our interpretation of the "Monthly Gift from Mother Nature". I wanted to do something really funny and make a costume that no one else would be demented enough to make.
Super Grover Costume (Sesame Street)Here is a DIY Super Grover costume. At a local thrift store, I bought a blue sweat shirt and a blue pair of pants, and tried to match the color as close as possible. I also found some colored felt and sewed on the "S" with the lighting bolt as his logo.
Halloween: Spooky Witch CostumeMy granddaughter had a witch costume. We hot glued plastic spiders all over the hat and painted her face a nice shade of green and added "warts."
Movie Theater Floor CostumeCut the glass down the middle and hot glue upside down to shirt sleeve between elbow and wrist. Cover and all and add a straw to each "cup."
Rubik's Cube CostumeDazzle people this Halloween as the world's all time favorite puzzle toy, The Rubik's Cube!
Halloween Costume Safety TipsRegardless of if your costume is bought or homemade, please use a "homemade" face. As a volunteer with our local fire dept and a first responder, I find it sad that every year at least one child is injured by their costume.
Halloween Tunic TopThis Halloween bib was less than a dollar and with a couple of snips, it became the front pocket on my daughter's tunic shirt. I simply cut off the top portions and sewed around the edges.
"Free Kittens" Stroller CostumeCut top and bottom out of box. Slide over stroller and tie or tape in place so seat of stroller is inside box. Tie or tape stuffed cats and kittens inside box so that they are looking over side.
Halloween: Pirate Costume (Jack Sparrow)This costume was made from items around the house and thrift store buys, costing pennies to make. Any black pants will do, an adult black sweater with arms cut off for the vest, a striped piece of fabric for the sash and a belt.
Halloween: Partly Cloudy CostumeTalk about a frugal, quick, inexpensive costume, this is it! Take any plain, solid-colored sweatshirt (preferably dark), glue or use double-stick tape to adhere some white pillow stuffing a little below the neck of the shirt.
Lego CostumeThis Lego building block costume will wow your neighbors. Also works great as a couples costume!
Barbarian Warrior CostumeTo make this costume, we used old curtains, a toilet seat cover, an old wig and leatherette from an old purse.
Halloween Laundry Basket CostumeYou will need a large white bedsheet. Cut out a hole in sheet to fit over your head. Try to center the hole in the middle of length of sheet. You will need a round plastic clothes basket with most of bottom cut out to fit over your head and rest on your shoulders.
Boxasaurus Dinosaur Halloween CostumeFrighten people this Halloween all the way back to the prehistoric era with this Boxasaurus dinosaur costume!
Jack in the Box CostumePop out of a Jack in the Box and surprise people at their doors this Halloween. On all box costumes, you will need to secure the box shut with tape
Halloween TreeCut a branch. Spray paint both an old bleach bottle and the branch with fast drying black spray paint. Place one small set of white Christmas lights on the branches and hang hollow plastic pumpkins found in the dollar store.
Fish Bowl Halloween Treat BowlFish bowl painted and used as Halloween candy bow. These type of fish-bowls can be found at thrift stores for next to nothing. I purchased this one at Goodwill for 75 cents. I hand-painted candy corn onto the glass with basic acrylic craft paint.
Make Pumpkins from Plastic Milk JugsThis is a fun Halloween craft you can help your kids with. Instead of buying real pumpkins to use for your Halloween, decorations, why not use plastic milk jugs instead.
Fabric PumpkinThis craft is very simple! You'll need cloth, twine, cotton (I used the stuffing from an old pillow), a small stick, some leaves, and hot glue. Cut a fair sized bit of cloth, fold it in half and glue the edges to make a pocket.
Halloween: Upper and Lower GI CostumesThis is a clever and inexpensive Halloween costume, great for adults! When my daughter-in-law was pregnant, that presented a bigger challenge. My creative son came up with a really clever idea for their costumes that year.
Make a Hand With Plaster of ParisA great tip for one rubber glove was done in the sixties. We filled it with plaster of Paris and produced a slick hand, that was used for jewelry display or for Halloween fun.
Infant Football CostumeWe needed a costume for my sister's baby for their Church's Fall Festival Block Party. She and her husband both enjoy football and already had jerseys, so I made the baby a football costume with about a 1/4 yard of fleece. Easy, fun and inexpensive. cost less than $3.
Little SpooksEasy to make. Pound 2 sticks down through the blue jeans. Stuff jeans with newspapers. Attach a styrofoam ball to the top of the 2 sticks. (I stuffed 2 knitted beanie hats, much cheaper). Cover with a sheet and pin on the felt eyes. I have had so many comments about "my spooks".
Magic Wand from Recycled Coat HangerI made matching wands for the daughter's dance class. Their costumes were bright green with boas. I took the cardboard portion of a wire hanger and hot glued a little fur to the top. They loved it!
Howl-O-Ween Sweater DressThis is a sweater dress I made for my tiny Yorkie, it is a cute dress, a sweater and a costume all in one.
Portrait Pumpkins!I used a wire hanger, wooden clothespins and some wooden pumpkin shapes to display my artwork from my children. You can add more or less pumpkins. I used three because of my three wonderful children. We painted the pumpkins, hot glued a clothespin to the back and then clipped to the wire hanger.
Batty About Books!We made a clothespin into a magnet with some paper shapes. This can also be used as a bookmark without the magnet or a clip for chips or papers, etc.
Non Carved Jack-O'-LanternDecorate a pumpkin with construction paper. It's safer then a knife carving pumpkin. Then attach beads, etc., whatever you have, even yarn for the hair.
Cheesecloth Ghosts In My House!Simple and easy and cheap! Blow up a balloon and dip a square of cheesecloth into fabric stiffener. Drape over balloon. Let dry and then pop the balloon. Add felt eyes or use a dark marker.
Buy Your Halloween Costume Larger For Warm Clothes UnderneathIf you live in a colder climate, buy your child's costume a size or two larger so s/he can wear sweats or a jacket underneath without ruining the effect.
Halloween Costume: Stick Of Butter Lady (Paula Deen)For a fast and inexpensive costume that won't look like those at the store, why don't you go as Paula Deen? Or, as my husband affectionately calls her, 'The stick-of-butter lady' with the cooking show. Every recipe she makes seems to begin with a stick of butter, lol... so guys all seem to adore her recipes.
Halloween Costume: JailbirdI used an old pair of white sweats (top and bottom) and spray painted black stripes on the sweats by taping off lines. I then took red fabric paint and wrote "Blonde County Jail" on the back and then numbers on the left chest. I wore a pair of handcuffs to complete the costume.
Halloween Tootsie Roll Pop GhostsFor a fun Halloween treat, you will need Tootsie Roll Pops, squares of white fabric, rubber bands and a black Sharpie pen.
Flying Ghosts Halloween DecorationMake some "Flying Ghosts" to hang from tree branches or porch. Gather a few "Leggs Eggs" or large plastic Easter eggs. Sandwich some filament or string between the two halves at the top. At the bottom, add three narrow strips about a foot long cut from a white plastic bag and glue shut. Paint the egg white and hang to dry.
Easy Pumpkin Table DecorationsCute pumpkin table decoration made using a toilet paper roll and fabric or tissue paper.
Painted Halloween GourdsJack O' Lantern: Cut out leaves from puff paper, you can use color you like best. Wash the gourd good, let dry. Whitewash and let dry, then paint. When dry, spray with sealer.
Frugal Halloween Costumes for Children and AdultsHalloween is fast approaching! Here are some easy and inexpensive Halloween costumes for adults and children alike, using sweat suits and stuff you have laying around the house.
Halloween Rhinestone ShirtBuy a cheap black t-shirt. (I paid $2.50 for mine at Michael's) and then get a rhinestone Halloween themed iron on and iron it on your shirt. So simple, and NO sewing involved. As the month gets colder you can layer it with a white or orange turtleneck. Great for kids too!
Homemade Bowling Ball CostumeI just wanted to share my Halloween costume picture. I went to Walmart and got two standard size hula hoops and a box of 39 gallon lawn and leaf bags. A hula hoop fits right inside the lawn bag and then I taped all the edges to the back with black electrical tape.
Halloween Goodie BoxesMade from paper, ribbon, and stickers. Purchase plain wood boxes at Michael's or other craft store for $1.00 and decorate in any theme. Great for teacher gifts.
Spray Paint Watermelons For HalloweenWhile working in our field, I noticed all these wild watermelons in various sizes growing in our field. With Halloween around the corner, I decided to use spray paint and decorate them to look like pumpkins.
Halloween Milk Jug Treat CarrierTake a white milk jug. With a craft knife, cut a small hole 2 inches across about 1 3/4 inches high (align the cut on the opposite side of the jug handle). This is for your trick or treater's collected treats.
Halloween Costume: Ghostly GuiseSheer curtains over white or grey sweats make an ethereal and safe (see through) ghost costume. They're very inexpensive and much lighter than a sheet and no makeup is needed, although one could use a little clown white.
Carved Foam PumpkinsThese are our current crop of pumpkins. Each year, my husband adds eight to the collection.
Halloween Costume: GhoulteacherFor Halloween one year, I bought the ugliest dress I could find at the thrift store. It was a black sheath dress with yellow, white and gold shear collar and it was sleeveless. I wore black pantyhose and glued spiders and ants on the hose and dress.
Trade Costumes With FriendsIf you have friends with children the same size or about the same as yours, trade Halloween costumes. This way, each costume will be "new" to each child.
Ice Cream Halloween BucketWith the dog days of Summer up on us now, a cold dish of ice cream is one of the first things some people think of to cool off with. If you have children, you might already purchase the plastic 1 gallon pail containers of ice cream.
Beautiful Pumpkin WelcomeI thought you might like to see the pumpkin I painted for myself this year. I just used acrylic paint and decorated the top with a bow and berries. She sat on our front porch to welcome our guests.
Keeping Kids Warm in Their CostumesIf your kids go outside on Halloween it's important that they stay warm in their costumes. Just put them in matching colorful sweatshirt and sweatpants; then pair that with a good mask or hat!
Creepy Dry Ice FlaskThis bubbling Flask decoration is made with food coloring and a little dry ice for fog and the bubbles.
Easy, Pretty Girl's Costume from Old DressWhen I was a little girl my mother made a simple but pretty costume with the taffeta skirt of one of her old dresses.
Halloween Costume IdeasI called several places about renting a Halloween costume and was dumbfounded at the amount of money you can spend to rent a costume. And you don't even get to keep it! So, I put my thinking cap on and did some research.
Homemade Halloween CostumeEvery year, I make all my grandchildren's costumes. I use plain sweats in bright colors without any logo's on them. Hanes is a good one to use. . .
Making Paws for an Animal CostumeSince Halloween is just around the corner I thought I would share this tip. When making an animal costume with paws for hands,(great if it's cold on Halloween like it is here) take a glove in the size you need and cut it apart.
