Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Life

Tag: Halloween decor

  • Have a Spooktacular Halloween

    The following recipes and spooky craft ideas will result in one hauntingly good Halloween.

    Hauntingly Good Recipes

    • Grab your witch’s cauldron and stir up this delicious pumpkin ginger soup.
    • This tombstone taco dip is to die for. Tortilla tombstones anyone?
    • These deadly good cupcakes are easy to whip up. Bake cupcake flavors of your choosing, and once they have cooled, top them off with chocolate icing. Crush a few Oreos or chocolate cookies and sprinkle the crumbles on top of the icing to look like dirt. Next, pipe R.I.P in black icing onto the top half of a Milano cookie and stick it into the cupcake so the top part sticking out resembles a gravestone. You can also place the cookies into a brownie.
    • Eight-legged cake pops anyone? First, make a batch of cake pops and cover the outside in fine chocolate sprinkles. Then, stick eight legs out the side and top it off with two candy eyes. Creepy, crawly, delicious.
    • Make a beautiful pumpkin cake out of two bunt cakes! Bake two bunt cakes and add orange food coloring into the batter so it’s nice and vibrant when you cut into it later. Once the cakes have cooled, flip one cake upside down and ice the bottom, which is now facing up. This icing layer will help keep the two bunt cakes together. Gently place the other bunt cake on top. If it’s wobbly, you might need to use a few dowels. Then cover the entire thing in orange icing, stick a pretzel stick out of the top center for the stem, and voila, you made a pumpkin cake!
    • Creep it real with the following frighteningly delicious Halloween recipes.
    • Spooky and healthy is always an option. All you need are green apples, strawberries, peanut butter, and sunflower seeds. First, cut the apple into slices. Take each slice and cut out a sliver in the middle that will serve as the mouth. Shmear peanut butter into the sliver (the mouth) and place a thin slice of a strawberry sticking out of the bottom to look like a tongue. Use sunflower seeds to make rows of teeth and top it off with two candy eyes.
    • Trust us, you knead these spiced pumpkin doughnuts in your life.
    • Create spooky and sweet Halloween drinks that will raise your guests’ spirits.
    • Top off your cocktails with a creepy eyeball. Place a blueberry inside of a lychee, and you have the perfect Halloween cocktail.

    Deadly Décor and Party Ideas

    • No smoke machine? No problem. Take a diffuser or humidifier and carefully place it into a fake cauldron and turn it on for a smokey effect.
    • Swap out your family photos for a night and create a gallery wall of your favorite monsters. For a cohesive look consider printing them in black and white.
    • Buy a few plastic cloches at a discount store to create a few hauntingly cool displays. Place a small skeleton head in one, a few fake spiders in another, and maybe some fake eyeballs in a third.
    • Bubble, bubble, spiders, and trouble. Fill a clear glass soap dispenser with a light-colored soap and put several small plastic spiders in it to create a spooky effect.
    • Upcycle your empty tissue boxes to create spooky creatures and mischievous monsters. Transform one into Frankenstein by painting the entire thing green and topping it off with stitches and a face. Paint one orange and draw a jack-o-lantern face on the side to make a pumpkin. The kids will love gluing on googley eyes, drawing silly faces, and creating their own original creatures.
    • Fill two or three clean, sterile gloves with water, tie them up, and place them in the freezer. Leave them in until they are solid ice. Right before your guests arrive, fill your punch bowl with a delicious drink and a little bit of ice, so the liquid cools down. Take your ice hands out of the freezer, remove the glove and place your frozen creepy hands in the punch bowl for spooky ice.
    • Halloween table ideas:
      • Place a black runner down the center of the table and top it off with red rose petals, skeleton hands, and a large skull in the center.
      • Fill vases with black branches, twigs, and red roses.
      • Lay a giant skeleton along the middle of the table and fill its torso and ribcage with candy.
      • Place purple fairy lights in a clear vase to create a glowing glass centerpiece.
    • Get crafty with the kids! Let your kids stick their thumbs in orange paint and make thumbprints all over a white pumpkin. Once the paint has dried, they can paint little jack-o-lantern faces and stems onto the prints to make them all into pumpkins. You can use white paint on an orange pumpkin and paint the thumbprints to look like spooky little ghosts.
    • Buy a variety of vases at your nearby thrift store and spray paint them black. After they dry, grab a paint pen and write different potion titles on them. “Spooky Juice” “Witches Brew” “Dragons Blood”

  • Decorating with Lights for Halloween

    You are not alone if you are getting excited about decorating your home with lights and spirited displays for Halloween. From simple DIY projects to more elaborate creations, there are countless options for bringing a sense of magic, eeriness, and fun to your home on October 31st. If you are still searching for unique ideas, read on for our favorite tips for decorating with lights this Halloween.

    Decorating Eerie Paths with Lights

    If you are welcoming family, friends, and trick-or-treaters to your home for Halloween, you’ll want to highlight your walkway in some fun and eerie ways. Consider carving small pumpkins and illuminating them with battery-operated votive candles before placing them along your front walkway or on your porch steps. If you have easy access to tree branches or a porch ceiling, Martha Stewart Living loves the idea of hanging “giant gothic lanterns … vellum printed with [their] clip-art designs” for a spooky, eye-catching touch that sheds just the right amount of light on your walkway and front door. 

    Staging Ghoulish Graveyard Scenes

    Do you love setting up ghoulish Halloween yard displays when decorating with lights? Among other macabre touches, glowing tombstones are sure to get attention. Start by staging a plot of your front yard as a makeshift graveyard and set the scene with spine-chilling tombstones that beckon in the night. Martha Stewart Living offers a set of templates that will make your Halloween light display the talk of the neighborhood. How? The Magazine explains that “the ‘stones’ are gray luminarias (paper bags) stenciled with epitaphs and trimmed into shape. Lights are placed inside them so the glow appears to emanate from the underworld.”  

    Creating Silly and Scary Window Scenes

    If you are looking for something that leans toward zany rather than scary for Halloween, you’ll agree with the editors of Southern Living that Wiggly Monster window decals are perfect. They are ideal for homes that have young children or are welcoming them to the house for trick-or-treating. Southern Living raves: “They’re easy to apply to glass windows—just peel and stick—without causing any damage.” Once the decals are applied, you just need to point green, yellow, or purple light bulbs at the windows to get that supernatural glow.

    Want something scarier when decorating with green lights? Martha Stewart Living suggests using their “monstrous birds” template “drawn and cut from black plastic weed barrier” with a green backlight to create a perfectly ominous scene.  

    Jack-o’-Lantern Light Displays

    The jack-o’-lantern is part of time-honored tradition for a reason. Each creation is unique, and young kids (and not-so-young-kids) enjoy being part of the creative process. Plus, once the tea light or battery-operated votive is added, the carved display gives off a decidedly creepy and mysterious vibe. Real Simple adores the traditional carve-and-scoop method with a classic design. Of course, the jack-o’-lantern design transcends illuminated pumpkins on the porch or walkways. Real Simple also encourages using the iconic design on cupcake candles, chandelier shades, and lit bean bag tosses.

    Spooky Porches

    In addition to the spider webs, creepy music, and haunting character displays, Better Homes & Gardens recommends raising the spooky factor with a DIY black candle urn. The project is surprisingly simple, using black “foam pipe tubes and battery-operated tea light candles.” It’s a big hit not only for its design but also because battery-operated candles offer a safer display option than open flame when decorating with lights – a critical thing to keep in mind when welcoming guests to your door for Halloween. 

    Ghostly Centerpieces

    If you want something simple when decorating with lights that still makes a statement, the Blue Neon Ghost Light from FUNPENY is bound to be a conversation starter. You can keep it in your window, set it on a nightstand, or use it as a party-table centerpiece. It has a sleek design and a pronounced glow that continues long after Halloween has faded into memory. Its style and the fact that it can be charged by battery or USB port are among the many reasons Southern Living includes it among their favorite ways to decorate this Halloween.  

    Haunted Mirrors

    For a thoroughly creepy mirror image in your entertaining space, Martha Stewart Living’s “ghost hands” mirror is a must. At the center of the startling image is a print-and-adhere template of hands seemingly pressing against the mirror’s glass in an attempt to escape. Light it from below with a simple lantern, votive, or flashlight, and watch with glee as guests jump when the light flickers and the ghostly hands come into view. 

    Spirited Wall Décor

    The editors at Southern Living know that you might want your interior décor to be in the holiday spirit, but not necessarily filled with horror and gore. The Magazine suggests that when you begin decorating with lights for Halloween, consider adding Spiderweb Lights to indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces. Affordable and engaging, “[their favorite] cheeky spiderweb has three different light modes that the kids will love to change each night.”  

    For a more ghostly effect in your entertaining space, a fake window might just do the trick. Southern Living recommends trying the Lighted Ghostly Tattered Curtain Halloween Decoration from Wayfair.com. Why does it make their “go-to” list? The Magazine explains: “This fake window with tattered curtain has an unnerving ghost shadow, and comes complete with ghostly lights and haunted house sound effects—perfect for ramping up the scare factor.”

  • Halloween – BHGRE Season of Sharing

    Halloween might look a little different this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a Spooktacular time! From fun ways to celebrate at home to costume ideas perfect for a mask, we have you covered. Check out our scary good recipes and compilation of great Halloween movies.  

    Boo-tiful Crafts 

    • Use balloons to create fun ghosts and creatures. You can draw a ghost on white balloons, Jack-O’-Lanterns on orange balloons, or create silly monster faces using sharpies. Step it up a notch by adding googly eyes or ribbons as hair. Remember not to use a hot glue gun, or it might pop. 

    • Transform your house into a Halloween world and give every room a theme! Turn your kitchen into Frankenstein’s lab with test tubes and fill different shaped glasses with different color food coloring. Fill the room with spooky fog using dry ice. Make the living room into a pumpkin world with orange streamers, pumpkins, and Halloween decor. Convert a bedroom into a witch’s room with candles, a fake spell book, and of course witch hats. Wrap purple or green ribbons around a broom handle in case a witch wants to fly. Here are 36 free Halloween printables you can also download right now to help you decorate! 
    • Create your own monsters with the kids using empty tissue boxes. Flip them upside down and paint the outside to make fun little creatures. Try painting one green for Frankenstein, an orange one with a pumpkin face, and a white one with a skeleton smile.  
    • Click here for more clever and fun craft ideas.  
    • Make a giant spiderweb on the wall with black string.  
    • Take old white candles from your linen closet and give them a spooky twist. Take red crayons and melt them so it looks like blood is dripping down the sides.  

    • Take old ping pong balls, paint eyeballs onto them and place them all over the house.  
    • Make your own family Frankenstein. Since Frankenstein is a creation assembled from an assortment of humans… do the same. Each person in your family can contribute an article of clothing and stuff it with newspaper. Set all the “body parts” up in a chair and draw a face on a pumpkin to be the head. You will have a silly family Frankenstein. Don’t forget to give it a name! 
    • Hang spider webs all around your home. Cut out little spiders to hang in the webs and glue pictures of your family’s faces on them for some added fun.  
    • Create your own bats! Cut old coffee filters in half and paint them black. Glue a small black circle on the straight side in the middle and glue eyes onto the head.  

    No Tricks, Just Treats

    Just because you may not go trick–or–treating doesn’t mean you cannot have something good to eat. Here are some easy to make Halloween treats you can enjoy with the whole family. 

    Scary Fun Activities

    • Schedule a zoom so you and your loved ones can carve pumpkins together. Maybe make it a contest and let your friends vote for the winner on social media. 
    • If trick-or-treating is off the table instead of just giving your kids candy, try to make it fun with a candy scavenger hunt! Hide candy all over your home and give them little cards with clues written on them. Here are some to help you get started:  
      • We usually come in a pair, we go with sneakers that you wear, so come and find us if you dare (Hide candy bars in their sock drawer) 
      • I am somewhere you go to get clean, where rubber duckies can be seen (Hide candy in the bathtub) 
      • When it’s dark I make it bright, I can help you see when it’s night (Tape candy to a lamp) 
      • I am where cold things get hot, come discover what sweet treats we got (Place some candy in the microwave) 
      • I am hiding somewhere that you eat, I’m also surrounded by many seats (Tape candy under the kitchen table) 
      • Find me where you dream at night, and the bed bugs never bite (Hide candy in their bed)  
      • You can find me underneath where you like to brush your teeth (Put candy under the sink the bathroom)
    • Have the kids strut their stuff on a Halloween runway! Lay out towels or sheets and make a “red carpet” for the kiddos to rock their costumes. Don’t forget to film it and send it to your family.  
    • Costumes are meant to be seen so schedule a zoom costume party and let everyone take turns showing off their costumes.  
    • If you are not comfortable leaving home, talk to your neighbors about setting up a safe trick-or-treating situation or neighborhood block party. Everyone can set up a table outside their doors in the fresh air and have candy laid out on the table so kids can touch only the candy they are taking. People can make little individual candy grab bags as well. That way you can avoid ringing doorbells and reaching hands into candy bowls but still trick-or-treat. 
    • Tape a bunch of small orange balloons onto a wood sheet outside in the shape of a pumpkin and play darts.  
    • It will be hard to keep your laughing under wraps as you make your family members into mummies. All you need… toilet paper.  

     Hauntingly Great Costumes 

    Here is a list of costumes that work great with a face mask underneath. By wearing masks under their costumes or helmets, children might feel that Halloween is still “normal” while also staying safe. 

    • Power Rangers  
    • Astronaut  
    • Super Heroes: Spiderman, Black Panther, Iron Man, Hulk  
    • Transformers 
    • Robot 
    • Ninja 
    • Mortal Kombat characters: Subzero, Scorpion, Kitana, Milenna, Jade, Ermac, Rain 
    • Buzz Lightyear 
    • Star Wars: Chewbacca, Darth Vader 
    • Pumpkin Queen/King 
    • Knight – with helmet 
    • A Lego character   
    • Pokémon 
    • Gladiator with helmet 
    • Sonic the Hedgehog 
    • Minecraft character 
    • Bubble Boy  
    • Gorilla 
    • Alien 
    • Mummy 

    DIY Costumes and Mask Ideas

    For those of you who don’t want to wear a helmet or full-face mask another option would be to decorate your own and incorporate it into your costume. Below are some ideas you can create or spend some time making with your family. 

    • Make a mermaid mask! Glue little confetti circles on a mask slightly overlapping to make them look scales. 
    • Paint any mask to look like an animal’s mouth. Paint a dog’s mouth, a cat nose and whiskers, or cute bunny teeth.  
    • Paint the mouth like a Dia de los Muertos skull mouth and then just paint the rest of your face as you normally would.  
    • Here are some ideas for no sew halloween costumes.   
    • All fairy’s need fairy dust… so why not cover the outside of your mask with glitter? Make sure you use a non-toxic glue and that it’s completely dry before wearing it.  
    • Create a robot with an old box, flip it upside down, cut the flaps off and then glue two straws on the top as antennas. Cut out a rectangular window for eyes in the front. For the body do the same thing with a larger box and cut out two holes for the arms on either side. Paint the boxes silver or cover them in aluminum foil. For buttons and added details you can paint different colored bottle caps and glue them on the front. You can cut out gears and other things using construction paper. 
    • Here is a great DIY Lego Costume  
    • Make an Astronaut Space Helmet and blast off! 

    Pet Costume Ideas

    We all knows pets are part of the family. Do a photoshoot of your four-legged friends in their costumes so you can share them and put a smile on other people’s faces. If you don’t want to buy a costume here are a few DIY pet costume ideas. 

    • Business Pup: Take any fun fabric and cut out a cute little tie that you can attach to their collar. Add polka dots or stripes to kick it up a notch.    
    • Beanie Baby: Take red construction paper and cut out a heart. Then paint a TY in white on the heart and tie it their collar so they can be the cutest Beanie Baby on the block. 
    • Ride Em Cowboy: Repurpose an old harness and glue a small stuffed animal or lightweight toy on the back of it so it looks like it’s riding your dog. If you have an old cowboy toy even better. 
    • Martini: Find an old cone and add some olive props.  
    • Out of This World Doggo: Have fun crafting with the kids while transforming your dog into an alien. Glue googly eyes onto an old harness or take pipe cleaners and any other materials you have and attach them in fun ways.  
    • Pumpkin Poodles: Take orange felt and cut out a piece large enough to wrap around your dog’s waist. Draw a Jack-o-lantern face on the top using a black sharpie or fabric markers. Use green felt and cut out a little leaf and stem to glue or sew onto the top of the pumpkin. To attach it to your dog or cat add strings to either side of the fabric and then you can tie it around their tummy. You can also buy Velcro and adhere that to either side so you can adjust the size as needed.  
    • Super Hero: Take fabric or an old t-shirt and cut out a cape for your pet. Add a string so you can tie around their neck or attach it to a collar. As a family come up with their very own superhero name and using fabric markers write it on the top of the cape.  

    Spooktacular Halloween Movies

    Create a scary movie watching zone to spook up the experience. Hang cobwebs all over your living room and use orange or purple lights to add ambiance. Cut out a few black bats to attach to the wall and create some ghosts out of white sheets or towels.  

    Here is a list of family friendly movies (that won’t result in the kiddos crawling into your bed scared): 

    • Hocus Pocus  
    • Halloweentown 
    • The Addams Family  
    • Toy Story of Terror 
    • Twitches  
    • Hotel Transylvania 
    • Casper 
    • Super Monsters Save Halloween 
    • It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 
    • Under Wraps 
    • The Haunted Mansion 
    • Corpse Bride 
    • The Nightmare Before Christmas 
    • Double, Double, Toil & Trouble    

    Scary movies for adults 

    • A Nightmare on Elm Street  
    • Halloween (all 900 of them) 
    • The Shining  
    • Get Out 
    • The Exorcist  
    • A Tale of Two Sisters 
    • The Blair Witch Project 
    • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre  
    • A Quiet Place    

    Ways to Give Back

    Although it’s been a tough year there are a variety of ways you can give back to your local community this Halloween.  

    • As we all know – kids grow fast. Instead of just putting old Halloween costumes in a box in your closet, donate them to those who might not be able to afford their own. 
    • If you have time and enjoy crafting, sew costumes for those who can’t afford to buy them. If you’re not an expert sewer try creating simple pieces such as super hero capes. For some costume ideas that don’t require sewing, visit the DIY costumes section above. 
    • Donate your left-over candy. Operation Gratitude is a Halloween Candy Give-Back program where you can donate candy to deployed troops, veterans, and first responders.  
    • Offer to help your elderly neighbors decorate offer their front yard. Make sure you’re following the proper safety guidelines while decorating.  
    • Some families might want to decorate their yards but not be able to afford it. Try cutting out pumpkins from simple construction paper and attaching a string so they can hang them up outside. You can repurpose old sheets or towels to make spooky ghosts. 

     

    Click here to view all the Season of Sharing articles.

        

     

  • How to Decorate for Halloween Without Being Kitschy with Interior Design Pro Jennifer Adams

    Instead of the usual kitschy Halloween decorations you’ve done over and over again, try something new and chic this year. These classy yet playful DIY home décor ideas will inspire and create just the right Halloween ambiance.

    Go With a Spooky Wreath

    The entryway or porch is where most of the action happens when trick-or-treaters and guests come knocking at your front door. Adorn your door with a spooky wreath, like one made out of dried twigs, vines or dark-colored flowers. Add black bats or spiders hanging from their webs to create an eerie vibe.

    Decorate with Lights

    String up seasonal lights around your porch or front and backyard trees. You can also have carved, miniature gourds or pumpkins with tea lights inside lighting up your outdoor walkways and stairways.

    Scary Black Cutouts

    For a creepy front yard, use cutouts or decals for your windows. For a stylish look, don’t overdo them. Instead, keep the look simple and minimal—for instance, a couple of well-placed ravens, bats, or a ghastly ghoul or witch.

    Create a Gothic-Inspired Table

    Hosting a Halloween dinner party? Decorate your dining table with a gothic flair. Create a color palette of deep reds, blacks and purples, as well as gold; use textiles like velvet and silk. You can arrange your table with a gorgeous velvet table runner, vintage candlesticks, and a bouquet of dark red roses. For additional drama, play with black or red glassware and plates with accents of gold.

    Black and White Pumpkins

    Instead of the standard orange and black, go with white and black. Rather than carving your pumpkins, you can paint them!  Create spooky faces or whimsical patterns in contrasting colors to make them really stand out. 

    Monochromatic Décor

    If you want to go simple, then decorate your home with only one color, like white, black or orange. You can create a fun yet classy monochromatic ensemble for your entryway or around a fireplace and mantel.

    Haunting Floral Arrangements

    Experiment with unconventional arrangements by using feathers, dried and fresh plants and flowers, twigs and vines. Keep the color palette dark and rich with pops of bright color. Look for unique vases or containers.

    Dia de los Muertos

     For a twist, celebrate Halloween by using the Mexican Day of the Dead as your décor and party theme. Display vibrant and colorful sugar skulls, candles and folk art, like a paper cutout string banner called a papel picado. Have skull masks for your guests to wear, or even better, turn it into a party activity by letting them decorate their own masks. And don’t forget to serve up traditional Mexican foods and drinks!

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