Halloween yard decorations are really appealing and exciting for people of all ages. It does not matter whether you have a small yard or a very large yard. You can unleash all the creativity of yourself and allow the others that reside in the home in order to create a lavish yard full of decoration and spookynite spectacular fun this Halloween! Here, I will offer some basic tips and techniques on how to make the most of your Halloween Yard decorations without having to invest a lot of money and time into the endeavor.

One of the first things that you have to keep in mind is the overall theme and intent of Halloween outdoor decorations. These decorations can be scary, or simply represent the fall season. The choice is yours.

One of the most basic Halloween yard decorations are the fantastic pumpkins that are common to the fall season. You can line your yard with basic pumpkins, or with a little bit of work, you can carve the Halloween pumpkins in order to create ones that reflect the “spooky” Halloween theme.

Many individuals may simply take a bunch of pumpkins and line and stack them in one section or corner of the yard. If you elect to decorate in this manner, you may choose to throw in some hay for an added dramatic effect.

In addition to pumpkins, you can use hay and even an assortment of carefully cultivated gourds in order to create an outstanding visual effect this Halloween. If you really want to make things interesting, then you should consider mixing up all of these items and creating a spectacular scene that will be very attractive to others!

The next Halloween yard decorations I will discuss are scarecrows. Believe it or not, these handy little items can be really practical when it comes to setting the scene for spooknite spectacular haunts and fun this Halloween. In addition to this, paper, table cloths, shower curtains, and even sheets can be used in order to create ghostly scenes in the yard for Halloween. As you can see, there are many creative methods and supplies that you can use to decorate your yard for this spooky night.

All it takes is a little creativity, a theme, a little bit of time, and some basic supplies and you are all set! There are many store bought decorations that you can use in order to add ornamental design to your yard, but it is not nearly as fun as unleashing your own creativity!

By: Daryl Plaza

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You can turn any home into a haunted house for Halloween by adding the right Halloween decorations. Here are simple do-it-yourself suggestions for Halloween decorations that you, your family, and the neighbors will enjoy this fall.

Gourd candleholders
Dim lighting is essential in creating the right Halloween mood so work on that as the first of your Halloween decorations. Create a low light atmosphere in your home by using candles instead of overhead lighting. To create a spooky candleholder, cut a hole in the center of a gourd, squash, or miniature pumpkin. This might be hard to do so start by gently rocking the knife back and forth until you create a slit. Keep moving the knife carefully until there is an open section large enough to hold a candle.

Safety warning: Make sure you put the candleholder on a tray with aluminum foil. As with all Halloween decorations, advise your children to stay away from the flame.

Witch’s cauldron
To create the ultimate witch’s cauldron you will need a large bowl, dry ice, and water. You can purchase dry ice from a local ice cream parlor or grocery store. Put the dry ice in a container with a tight lid. Then submerge the container in water. Warm water will produce more smoke that will disappear rapidly while colder water will produce less smoke that will last longer. You can put the cauldron at your front door or as the centerpiece on your dining room table.

Safety warning: Do not touch the dry ice with your bare hands. Either use tongs or thick gloves. Make sure that children do not play with the dry ice.

Glowing ghosts
A glowing ghost is the perfect example of how simple and fun making Halloween decorations can be. Activate a mini glow stick, slip it inside a balloon, and blow up the balloon. Position the knot of the balloon at the top center and use a black marker to make a face. Use a thin or transparent white cloth to cover the balloon, cut a small hole in the cloth and push the knot through so you can tie a string to it and hang it from a tree, your door, or a lamppost in your front yard. Your glowing ghost will blow in the wind, letting all your neighbors know that Halloween has arrived.

Halloween’s just around the corner. It’s that time of year again when ghosts and goblins roam the streets. Here are some ideas for Halloween costumes that are easy to execute.

By: P. Banas

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There’s an ever increasing variety of Halloween-related decorating choices to add spookiness to your home. The sky is darkening. You feel chill and ghostly horrors in the air as the moon shines brightly on this cloudless night… But where do you start in planning your Halloween decoration?

There are a lot of ways to decorate for Halloween. With some people concentrating on witches and monsters and others concentrating on graveyard sites and zombies. Take a ride around town and look at all of the great decorating ideas. Most people just decorate to entertain their neighbors and for the trick or treating kids that stop by. You too can turn you home “boo-tiful” with few decorations.

Plan to buy your pumpkins early to get the best selection. By selecting a variety of shapes and sizes of pumpkins, you will be able to make a variety of interesting jack-o-lanterns ghosts. And don’t forget about those miniature pumpkins, they can make great party favors or Halloween decorations also. And the day before the party, carve your pumpkins and double check you have enough candles or use small flashlights to show off their ghostly grins.

Add hauntingly spooky background ghost music or a collection of sing-a-longs for the kids. Also, you might want to incorporate some Halloween special effects outside with spooky horror sounds as your guests walk up to the front door. There are a lot of special music tapes or CD’s available to purchase.

Then, if you have railings on your porch, you can also find Halloween-colored garland to thread through the rails at the same store where you found your Halloween lights for the tree. It can be especially potent when combined with your spooky decorated Halloween tree.

By: Roger Wilco

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Here’s a favorite tradition of our family in outdoor Halloween decor:

RING OF GHOSTS

Materials: 3 Twin-sized Sheets 3 Four foot lengths of flexible 1/2 inch PVC Piping, Wooden Stakes or Dowels 3 Small White Plastic Garbage Bags Masking Tape Newspaper String or Twist Ties Black Marker (optional)

Instructions: 1. First, determine a good location for your ghost gathering. Find a wide open area, or you may decide to group them around a tree or light pole.

2. To make the ghosts’ heads, crumple up newspaper and stuff the three small plastic trash bags to the desired size.

3. Stick one of the PVC pipes into one of the bags and wrap the neck with masking tape to secure. Repeat for the other ghosts.

5. Cover each ghost head with a sheet, gathering with string or a twist tie under each head. The head should be in the middle of the sheet, so the outer edges can be attached to the neighboring ghosts.

You can make taller or shorter ghosts, but you must adjust the size of sheet you use to accommodate. Our ghosts will be just under 4 feet tall.

4. Push the PVC piping into the ground in a circular formation about 1-2 feet apart. The sheets should touch the ground and cover up the support. You can also use wooden stakes or dowels, but your ghosts won’t have as much movement as they will with the PVC piping.

6. Finally, knot the ends of the sheets together to give the impression the ghosts are holding hands. Because the PVC is flexible, your ghosts will now bob and sway in the wind!

7. If desired, make Casper-like faces on the sheets with black marker.

We have 3 children, so we always make 3 ghosts, but you can connect as many ghosts as you wish!

They’ll look like they’re playing a spooky game of “ring-around-the-rosy”!

Click here to view our Ring of Ghosts

FLAGPOLE SPOOKS

These spooky decorations are easy if you have an angled flagpole attached to the front of your house.

Scary Flagpole Ghost: Hang a “Scream” style mask off the end of the flagpole. Tie a white sheet or a generous length of white tulle around and behind the mask. This scary creature will appear to be flying as his white garment flutters in the wind.

Flagpole Frankenstein: Hang a Frankenstein mask off the end of the flagpole. Tie a dark colored trash bag tied behind it. Shredding the trash bag around the edges will add to the spooky effect.

Flagpole Witch: Hang a witch mask off the end of the flagpole. Attach a witch hat to the mask, then tie a dark colored trash bag tied behind it. Shred the trash bag to make the witch’s robe flap in the wind.

By: Patricia Jensen

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Pull out your Halloween decorations. Any and all skeletons, bats, spiders, snakes, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, witches hat, spider webs, black cats, etc. will do. But don’t stop there.

Black tulle draped over furniture gives an eerie effect. White tulle draped gives a ghostly effect. Stuff the tulle to form a ghostly shape and hang it up where the breeze can make it flutter. Hang up several ghosts and hide a rotating fan out of sight to blow on them. For a party use helium balloons for the ghost head. Drape one layer of tulle over the balloon, gather it then tie it closed. Tie the balloon strings to the back of furniture so the helium balloon ghost won’t float away. Helium will only last for the evening so save this tip for party time.

Bales of hay look great and provide extra seating. Fog machine, strobe lights, and black lights provide more eerie effects. When using black lights try to have them in an area that has no other light source.

If possible designate a room where the door can be shut. Glow in the dark paint also works well with a black light. Paint butcher or brown wrapping paper and tack that up on the walls, rather than painting the walls themselves. Dry ice put in containers or hollowed out pumpkins is great fun. Just add water and watch the fog start rolling in. Kids are amazed by it. Keep it where the kids can’t touch it because the ice itself can give you a bad burn if touched with bare hands. The ice is so cold it freezes skin.

Large black garbage bags cut open make an affordable black out cover for windows or you can use them on your walls.

Don’t forget to play spooky music. Music or spooky sounds can only add to your parties.

Here are a few creative ideas for outdoor decorations: cut ghost shapes out of quarter inch plywood with a jigsaw. Then ***** in a painted stake to the back of the cut out, be sure your screws are screwed in from the front of ghost. Paint white then use black paint to make eyes and mouth and push into the ground. Using the same idea cut out shapes of a tombstone and use spray paint with a faux stone finish in grey. Let dry, then paint RIP with black paint. Foam board can be used instead of plywood but it won’t last more than one season. The plywood will last for several years and since it’s flat it doesn’t take up much storage space.

Make a headless man using an old pair of jeans, shoes, gloves, shirt and jacket. Stuff jeans with rolled towels, newspaper or plastic grocery bags. Arrange jeans “legs” on a chair that has a back support or on a bench up against a wall. Then stuff the T-shirt and stuff the arms. Place the shoes and gloves where they should be. To arrange the limbs sometimes takes some finessing. Use fake blood around the neck and you are finished. I sometimes have my headless man hold a jack-o-lantern as his head. On Halloween night or party time, spread raw hamburger where the neck should be and use ketchup for more blood.

Don’t overlook your tablescapes. Try to use “cute” plates and balloons so the kids aren’t overwhelmed with a scary atmosphere but I still incorporate spooky items like rubber snakes, eyeballs, skulls, etc.

Use your imagination and you can come up with fun and easy Halloween Party Ideas for Kids.

By: Dee Power

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Halloween crafts, games and decorations – Halloween brings to mind a variety of Halloween images and sounds that can be scary as well as fun. Halloween is the night of ghouls, little witches, ghosts and sneering Jack O’Lanterns perched on the porch of creepily decorated haunted houses. It is an opportunity to turn your house into a haunted house and to dress it up as much, or as little as you want, and to invent a selection of Halloween games, activities and crafts to entertain the young, and young at heart, for the entire spooky evening with Halloween lights, Halloween special effects, and use a variety of Halloween decorations outside too.

One of the most important jobs for a Halloween party host is creating the perfect Halloween atmosphere. Strategically placing the Halloween props, producing a creepy atmosphere by using a wide range of horrifically ghoulish decorations, playing eerily spooky background music, and providing a variety of frightfully freaky food and devilish drinks all help to guarantee that the guests at the Halloween theme party will have a great time.

Halloween Decoration Ideas for Outdoors

Putting Halloween decorations outdoors will convert any plain house and front yard into a wonderfully weird and scarily spooky haunted house! If you have a particularly large yard you may want to erect some horrendous Halloween head stones with a dilapidated graveyard gate or similar haunted house scenery. You can finish the whole creepy effect off by dangling spooky skeletons, cob webs, or ghosts from the branches of trees. Or if you live in a condo, or an apartment, then you can always use other types of haunted house decorations such as a frightening warning sign, or mini orange pumpkin lights around the door and windows.

Halloween Decoration Ideas for Indoors

Once you have decorated the outside of your house with Halloween decorations, then you can move onto the inside. It is extremely easy to recreate a haunted house atmosphere filled with floating witches, ghosts, goblins, and other spooky shapes. All you need is some imagination, and a few props. There is no need to spend ages decorating either, because you can easily create the perfect haunted house party atmosphere with some spooky displays and Halloween decorations, a few scary Halloween special effects, and some deliciously devilish Halloween food. You can use some haunting Halloween lighting, including candles, black or orange light bulbs, or indoor mini-lights. Fake cobwebs are also great for adding that terrifying touch. Always bear in mind the age group that you are catering for when you are planning your indoor Halloween decorations, because you want it to be a fun evening, and not give them nightmares for weeks to come!

Halloween Crafts Ideas

There is a wide range of Halloween crafts that are perfect for any Halloween party. Actually planning your Halloween activities for a kids’ Halloween party is almost as much fun as watching the little monsters working on them. Kids love being creative and showing off their creepy Halloween craft creations, and it is a good idea to plan some Halloween crafts for them to do at their Halloween party. You can make things easier if you set them up before hand, and make them quick to clean up afterwards. It is important to make sure that you consider the ages of the kids who are going to be doing the Halloween crafts and make sure that you pick them at the right level. If they are too difficult, or even too simple, then the little ghost might really turn into little monsters! Always make sure that all of the materials that you use are non-toxic, especially the pens, paints, and glues, and that they are washable too.

Halloween Party Games

Everyone loves Halloween games; not only are they popular with the younger guests at your party, because they love getting prizes, but the older Halloween party guests also enjoy them because they can show off their skill and have some fun. You can adapt traditional favorites into Halloween games to keep the little ghosts and ghouls occupied. For example, you could transform an Easter egg hunt into a Halloween treat hunt, or a spooky scavenger hunt, or play pin the mouth on a Halloween pumpkin instead of pin the tail on the donkey. Older kids, and adults, would enjoy a game of charades with a Halloween theme, where all of the items acting out have to have a Halloween twist to them, such as scary movies, or books. You can adapt almost any game to cater for any age group and turn it into a Halloween party game.

By: Daryl Plaza

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It’s a scary world out there, and so it is no wonder that the popularity of the holiday formerly known as All Hallows’ Eve has risen in recent years, ensuring continued healthy product sales of wholesale Halloween decorations, endless recordings of screams from cheap horror films, bulk seasonal candy closeouts, and all the other trappings that go with the one holiday devoted to scares and outlandish costumes. But why is a holiday devoted both to fright and fantasy so enduring?

Fantasy and horror are, if you think about it, mostly about control. Fantasy, like the Harry Potter books and Lord of the Rings, are often about largely powerful beings, sometimes with the help of seemingly less powerful creatures, working together to fight a very powerful evil. Horror is mainly about powerless, ordinary humans fleeing, and only occasionally defeating, an all but unstoppable evil force. The fun part is that’s it’s only a story and, in real life, we’re very unlikely to have to flee brain eating zombies, vampires, or superhuman murderers, and the enduring success of horror comedies like the cult hit Shaun of the Dead play off that real world/unreal world dichotomy.

No one enjoys being actually frightened for any extended period, but from our earliest ages we love safe, short-lived, scares – a trusted friend or relative sneaking up behind us and saying “boo” is fun because the result is actually a kind of reassurance that our terror was groundless, after all – our momentary lack of control provides the tension, and the fact that we were fine all along provides the release. Thrill rides are similar in that we willingly subject ourselves to something that appears to be extremely dangerous, while actually being much safer than crossing the street. And so, there is a reason that every classic fairy tale, and most great family films, includes an element of terror. We’ve heard rumors that theater owners used to have to spend a fair amount of money to replace a certain number of urine-soaked seats whenever screening Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She might have caused countless nightmares for little ones, but without the terrifying, witch-like Evil Queen, there would be no one for the once powerless heroine and her diminutive friends to triumph over.

And so, Halloween celebrates both side of the fantasy/horror equations, and what the products we buy to celebrate mirror that dichotomy. Just as horror films range from once horrifying but now enjoyably dated monster classics like the 1930’s productions of Frankenstein and Dracula, to innumerable more recent ultra-disturbing opuses produced on the cheap, so do popular costumes range from superheroes (power fantasies), to **** nurse outfits (celebrating a different kind of power), to masks resembling political figures (depending on your opinions, a different kind of horror, perhaps), to the budding make-up wizards who try to turn our stomachs in the style of famed gore make-up genius Tom Savini.

Of course, while adults have been increasingly co-opting Halloween for their own purposes, it remains very largely a children’s holiday. It is therefore the more fun and cartoony bulk products and cheap items that prevail at sellers of wholesale Halloween decorations or that you see at the drug store closeout discount counter – scary/silly false teeth, coloring books, and themed bulk candy in various shapes that give little ones a sense of empowerment over their most fanciful fears. What better way to show your mastery over a monster than to eat it?

By: Marc Joseph

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Store your Halloween decorations so they will be easily accessible and in one piece year after year. Here’s the scoop on how to do just that.

Designate a special color marker, such as the Halloween color orange, to use when labeling the outside of your Halloween decoration storage boxes and containers. This color-coding technique will make them easier to locate.

When you buy plastic storage containers for storing Halloween decorations, ornaments or costumes, make sure that either the lids or the entire container is a Halloween color (usually orange, purple, black or grey). That’s another easy way to find your Halloween items at a glance in your garage, closet or attic. Obviously, you’ll mostly find these colors at walk-in retailers sometime between September and November. But if you look around, you can problem find them at some online retailers year-round.

Original boxes and containers, including the custom shaped Styrofoam, work best for storing Halloween decorations. But if you don’t have these, you can still wrap items in newspaper, tissue or even soft paper towels. Store the really fragile or breakable Halloween decorations in smaller storage boxes and tins for extra protection. Then put those smaller boxes into your larger plastic container.

Store candles in a box with a lid in a cool, dark, dry environment so they don’t fade or melt. Store long, tapered candles on their sides so they don’t warp.

Halloween decorations that normally hang by cords, including fragile ones like thin cardboard scarecrows or even bulky ones, can hang from a wall hook in your garage. You can hang these decorations one in front of another. That will take less room because you’ll be hanging several on the same “large” wall hook (such as a hook used to hold bikes, ladders or hoses). Cover these hanging Halloween decorations with old pillow cases and plastic trash bags.

If you’re storing Halloween masks (or some Halloween costumes) that you plan to keep for a long time or that have sentimental value, be sure to check their care instructions or ask the store where you purchase them about this. If you don’t do this, next Halloween you may be surprised to find your Halloween mask crumpled and cracked due to improper storage.

You may want to put all Halloween decoration hardware such as wreath hangers or other special Halloween ornament fasteners in one small box (that goes into one of your larger containers). Put it near the top for easy access and label it “Halloween Hardware–Open First”. That way you can get started right away next year with your Halloween decorating.

By: Karen Porter

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Well it is that time of the year again and if your little ones are anything like mine, they are probably getting pretty excited about carving pumpkins. Pumpkin carving is a very entertaining hobby but as with most hobbies you need to take precautions so that you and your little ones have a fun and safe experience.

Here are a few recommended safety tips so that everyone has a happy and fun filled Halloween.

Artificial Lights

Looking for a safe and secure way to light your pumpkin? Artificial lights make great alternatives for candles. Wal-Mart and many other great stores have inexpensive battery operated lights that are designed specifically for pumpkins. If you are unable to find the battery operated lights there are also pumpkin lights out there that you can plug into a wall. Just cut a notch out of the back of the pumpkin that allows you to run the electrical cord to the wall.

Sharp tools safety

We all probably already know that sharp tools like saws and knives are needed to carve pumpkins and that taking precautions when using the tools is a necessity. However, with that being said, if you have little ones that are going to get involved with the carvings this year, extra precaution needs to be taken.

The general rule here is safety first. Always supervise your young ones if you feel that they are old enough to participate with the actual carvings this year. Just remember to take your time when carving and be mindful of the sharp tools.

Properly gutting the pumpkin

One of the most important safety tips is to make sure that the pumpkin has been gutted properly. You want to insure that there is not any hanging pulp inside the pumpkin that could possible catch on fire (especially if the pumpkin was dried out).

Candle safety

Here are a few safety tips you may want to use if you plan to use candles in your pumpkin.

1. Never leave the lit candle unintended.

2. Create a chimney in the pumpkin – Basically a chimney is a hole that is cutout from the pumpkin’s upper back. The function of the chimney is to create an area that allows the heat from the candle’s flame to escape from the pumpkin.

3. Place the candles in a glass jar and the glass jar inside the pumpkin. The glass jar should provide additional stability for the candle.

4. When you gut the pumpkin, make sure that the bottom of the pumpkin is completely flat. This will provide a more secure base to put the candle on.

5. Cut the bottom of the pumpkin out verses the top; you can place the candle on the floor and sit the pumpkin over it. If you do decide to cutout the bottom of the pumpkin, make sure that you are placing the candle on a secure floor that does not have a chance of catching on fire.

6. Never use a candle in an artificial pumpkin. They are flammable and artificial light should be used when lighting the pumpkin.

Carving pumpkins is a fun activity for the entire family. I few extra safety steps can help insure that everyone has a fun and safe holiday.

By: Gerald Gore

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Everyone uses pumpkins and orange lights during Halloween, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find unique Halloween decorations to use both inside and outside of your home. Sick of seeing every house on the street put up the “crashed witches” or huge garbage bag pumpkins? Here are some ideas to keep your neighbors talking about your neat decoration ideas!

Masks: Masks don’t have to just be for your face-they can be some great Halloween decorations as well! Try lining and entryway with scary masks or even hanging one on your front door. This can also be an inexpensive way to decorate, since you’ve probably collected a number of masks over the years. Put a mask on your scarecrow, on your garden features like statues, and even your kids’ dolls. If you’ll be using the masks outdoors, make sure that they are weatherproof. Glass vases: You can fill glass vases with almost anything! Orange, red, brown, and gold are the traditional colors of fall, and you can use strictly black and orange right around Halloween if you wish. Try filling vases with colored leaves, marbles, or orange and black candies. If you want to really get gruesome, you can also use unusual things like plastic bugs!Spider webs: Most people use the fake spider webs outside, but they’ll last longer inside as well. The added bonus? It’s ok if they get a little dusty! Spider webs are supposed to be spooky, so put away your cleaning products for a few weeks! Make sure that you spray your spider webs with repellent to deter any live inhabitants from making a home! If you want a less scary, try spraying the webs with spray glitter for a pretty touch. Murals: Let your kids go crazy by painting a huge Halloween mural or banner. Buy a large piece of white cloth or even a white bed sheet and allow them to use paint or markets to create something your can display along your wall or even in your front yard. Allow your kids to be creative or, if your children are still young, outline the words “Happy Halloween” or “Trick or Treat” in big, black letters so that you’ve created a big coloring book page for them to color. Small Changes: You can really make a big impact with just a few small changes. Put up orange and black curtains. Use a Halloween-designed throw rug. Cover the pots of your indoor plants with plastic Halloween containers. These little changes can really make a big difference in your overall holiday spirit!The bottom line is that Halloween decorations can really help you to enjoy the holiday. You don’t have to go overboard or even spend a lot of money to decorate your house. Choose a few key items both inside and outside, and you should be well on your way to a great Halloween. Every year, add a few more items to really build up to a wonderfully decorated house.

By: Colin Joss

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