How Do You Decorate For Halloween?

**hippytreehugger4ever** · 08-12-2008, 06:34 AM

I'll admit it, I LOVE Halloween! Actually I love fall all together, but Halloween is my favorite holiday. How do ya'll decorate for the big day? I'm trying to think of some creative, new ways that I can impress the trick or treaters without spending a ton of money. I already have my homemade headstones and orange and purple lights and everything, but I think this year I want to go more into the porch decorating with pumpkins and cornstalks.

**Ceashels** · 08-12-2008, 09:39 AM

I love the fall and decorate for the season. Greebo and I host a pumpkin carving party the week before Halloween so the back yard and porch get set up with spider webs spooky candles.

We usually get some dry ice and put a little in the pond to mist the back yard and that would be a relatively inexpensive way to greet trick or treaters. It only takes a small cube or two in some warm water to get the fog rolling and it will roll downhill (right off our porch here). We have also put a piece into a goblet and let the mist bubble over the edges. JUST DON"T DRINK IT!

You could make your trick or treaters work for their loot. Cut holes in some cardboard boxes and put the loot in box. If they are brave enough to reach in and grab it they keep it. If not they get a dumdum pop. You can always reassure them that there is nothing else in the box that will hurt them but then put in silly stuff like cobwebs, wet noodles (brains), peeled grapes (eyeballs) and things like that inside. LOL.

One year I cooked 6-8 pounds of spagetti and filled a plastic cauldron with the wet noodles. I put in non edible toys and trinkets for the kids to reach in and find. The looks on their faces was priceless. It wasn't for the faint of heart or weak of stomach though.

Mwahahahhaha!

**Momto2Boyz** · 08-12-2008, 09:50 AM

I'm not huge on decorating for Halloween (although it is one of my favorite holidays). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fall, so I go all out on fall decorations. So mainly, come September 1st, I put out my scarecrows, wooden pumpkins, real pumpkins, etc. and leave them out until just after Turkey day, when I put up Christmas stuff.

I always thought that if I added Halloween stuff, it would just look like a muddled mess between the Halloween and general fall decor! But the kids do have a Halloween "doorbell" that they put out every year. When you hit the button, it does an evil laugh...they think it is the funniest thing in the world!

Oh, you just got me excited about fall decorating!

**Suzy** · 08-12-2008, 10:13 AM

I love the colors of fall. I dislike Halloween. I enjoyed it as a child but the older I got (and get) the more I hate being home on that night. I put out pumpkins. Some decorated, some plain. sometimes flowers-mums usually.

**MysticEagle** · 08-12-2008, 10:16 AM

I do more of a fall decorating with a few Halloween touches. Fall is my favorite time of year and I can't wait change the decor.

I've thought about doing more for Halloween but since things wouldn't be up for long I always back out. Although if you checked out my porch you would see I'm getting an early start..shh spider webs. Maybe I should just leave them up for atmosphere. Lol

**Ceashels** · 08-12-2008, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by MysticEagle

I do more of a fall decorating with a few Halloween touches. Fall is my favorite time of year and I can't wait change the decor.

I've thought about doing more for Halloween but since things wouldn't be up for long I always back out. Although if you checked out my porch you would see I'm getting an early start..shh spider webs. Maybe I should just leave them up for atmosphere. Lol

I did that once, it freaked people out because it was at the porch light right by the door so they couldn't help but see it. ~ yeah, i'm evil, i know!

**momof42003** · 08-13-2008, 04:13 AM

This is what I do...

September 1st I put up the "Welcome back to school" apples, cardboard crayons and such... Then about the second week, I take those down and put up anything fall.. I have leaves from cardstock, scarecrows, and fall garlands and the fall wreath... About the second week of October, I incorporate any of my Halloween decorations, which include:reusable cardstock Halloween cutouts, pumpkins, jackolanters, mums, couple of welcome Halloween signs, and the light up jackolantern. Once Halloween is gone, I take down anything really Halloween like, I turn the jackolanterns around to make them seem like regular pumpkins, add a few stocks of corn, maybe some ornamental corn, my reusable cardstock Thanksgiving cutouts(these go on the windows and doors), and I have a few small figurines that come out. I also try to incorporate anything the kids have made at school. Once Thanksgiving is done, everything fall comes down, and I do all the Christmas decorating in about three days.

**Monner 1** · 08-13-2008, 10:27 AM

I love Halloween and fall better than all of the holidays. I am glad to hear that others like it that much also. I use to do a lot of decorating but now that I am older and nobody trick or treats out here in the country I do less. I put orange bulbs in my electric candle lights that are always in my windows but the color changes with the holidays. You know green for St. Patricks etc. I always decorate my mantle with the leaves and pumpkins and I have bittersweet (fake) around also. I have my pumpkins outside and sometimes I do the cornstalk thing on my porch posts. I do have a haunted house that is about 3 feet long and it is a 2 story that was a doll house many years ago at JoAnns Fabric for $20.00 and my husband and I turned it into a haunted house. It is real cool. I got rid of the table that it set on last year and I have no where to put it for this upcoming Halloween. I love hearing all of your ideas.

Happy Halloween

Monner

**Moor** · 08-13-2008, 11:20 AM

Halloween is my favorite holiday.

I put a bale of straw in the yard with a scarecrow on it.
I put spiderwebs in my maple tree out front.
I put spiderwebs on my fence and also put a bale of straw in front of it with some pumpkins, a couple of corn stalks and such.
I have headstones in the yard.
I change my porch lights to blacklights and I string up orange rope lights through the lattice on my front porch.
I use flurescent (sp) paints on my picture window and paint a halloween scene.
On Halloween, i will sit in an old school desk. I will have my cloak on, with the hood up. The candy will be on the desk. I have my fog machine under the chair. So when kids come close to the house, I start the fog machine so that it billows under my cload and starts to come out from the bottom, my hood and any cracks.
Then I open the cloak up and reveal the candy bowl and the fog just rolls out. The kids love it.
Not sure what I am going to add new this year, but I will. I will have to take some pics of everything.