Dollar Store Halloween...

Originally posted 10/6/10

Hi everyone!  Welcome back.  Are you getting ready for Halloween?  Or did you listen to my husband who says it is still too early.  Boo on him-It is October, and it is high time everyone gets out their Halloween splendor?  What’s that you say?  You don’t have any?  Never fear!  I have some really easy, and CHEAP, decorating ideas to get you started.  It may not actually total a buck, but not much more than that.  How, you ask?  It involves my favorite store…..after Target, Michael’s, Nordstrom, Macys, White House Black Market, etc……The Dollar Store!  There are many versions, The 99 Cent Store, Dollar Tree, One Hundred Pennies ( I might have made that one up), but they are all the same things.  Lots of stuff that you don’t need, and some gems, all for one dollar or under!  It is a great, great place.  Maybe my “happy place?”

At the end of every summer, maybe mid-August, the stores start putting out their Halloween stuff.  And I start planning.  Do I want to go creepy?  Retro/Vintage?  Cute?  It’s a tough call.  This year, I decided to go mildy creepy with a dash of cute.  As creepy as I can get considering I have small children.  I have to keep the blood and gore to a minimum.  So of course, I was prepared to decorate Labor Day, but I held my pants on until last week.  I am so excited to share what I have done with you!  I really hope that you take my ideas and run with them. 

Like I said above, I visited the local Dollar Store, which will be referred to from now on as “the best store ever.”  Is that too long?  Ok, how about the $ Store?.....So anyhoo, I visited the local $ Store to stock up.  These stores can be a gold mine if you can use your imagination and creativity.  If you have none, feel free to use mine.  I will show you what I got this trip, and I will mix it in with what I have gotten from the $ Store in previous years.  Oh, BTW….always take your kids with you.  Give them $3 and turn them loose.  They will think you are “mom of the year” because they can get 3 things!  I pull that trick a lot.

Starting at the top left….a gray cheese clothy type curtain type thing.  I hang these out in front of my house, but they are great table cloths too.  Next, 3 white picture frames and one black and gold one.  Below is a skull, 2 goldish candlesticks, a skull garland, a wreath form, a black clothy type thing, spider web, Halloween ribbon, and 2 scary masks.  Grand total of $15.  I guess you could have done that math;)

To start, I busted out my trusty black spray paint, which I had on hand.  You don’t?  Weird, I swear I am not a crazy tagger, but I do like a good can of spray paint.  I spray painted my wreath form…..

Check out those spray painting skills…..

Then I sprayed the skull, candlesticks, and the three white picture frames.  I didn’t spray the black and gold frame because it already fits in with my motif.  You could also use a gray or silverfish paint too.

After I sprayed the wreath form, I hot glued on some dry moss that I also bought at the $ store in the dried flower aisle.  See what I mean?  You have to be creative and venture out of the Halloween aisle.  There is good stuff all over!  And no, the $ Store is not paying me to say this ;)

After the glue dried (BTW-any glue will work, not just the hot variety, but if you use regular glue…..be prepared to hold things in place until it dries), I glued on the skulls, which I had cut off of the skull garland.  I added some black ribbon, and voila, a creepy Halloween wreath! 

Next, let’s move on to my buffet in my living room…….

View of the whole thing…..See the newly black frames and black candlesticks……I topped the buffet with a black lacy table cloth and a gauzy bloody cloth that I got at the $ Store last year.  I have it on good authority (my own) that they still have them there.

Up close and personal……

I used some candle sticks that I already had.  They are black wrought iron, so I thought they matched the motif.  Look around your own house.  So many things that you would never think of as Halloweeny work when you just change one thing, or add a little somethin’ somethin’.  I added black crows that I got at the $ Store last year.  Again, on good authority, they still have crows there.

I added red candles (purchased at where?  The $ Store!!) and dried red roses that I sprayed black.  I am just gettin’ all sorts of use from that one can;) 

This is my favorite part of the whole scheme.  I downloaded “Victorian Mourning Photos” off the web to fill the picture frames.  I am not going to explain to you what they are.  If you are curious, google it.  I can’t tell you because you will think I am super weird and morbid…..

Now let’s move on to the all important mantle.  Please, if you have a mantle, for the love of Pete, decorate it.  A mantle begs to be decorated.  For real, I have heard mine.

This is my mantle post Labor Day, but pre-Halloween decorations.  Yeah, I have separate fall and Halloween decorations….what of it?  With a few simple additions, I take it from fall/harvest to Halloween fabulousness…..

Now I don’t expect all of you to have an extensive witch and pumpkin headed creature collection…..because you don’t have a mother-in-law willing to lend you her amazing collection.  She “lent” it to me a few years ago, and I “never gave it back”J

So here is what I did….I added masks to the pumpkin ($ Store, duh) and black feather and dried black flower sprays.  It is sitting on more black lace….All from the $ Store.  Do I still need to be telling you that?  See how easy it is to change up your mantle?  Do it, I promise you will be a hit. 

Heading outside…..This next picture is my favorite because it literally cost me $4.

$ Store witch’s hats which I glued a feather boa on ($ store costume aisle).  Add a broom and sign that I made out of cardboard.  How easy is that?  (Shout out to the Barefoot Contessa!  How bad can that be?;)

These next couple of pictures involve a lot of glitter.  Please, if you love your family, do this outside.  If you glitter inside, you and your loved ones will be covered in glitter for weeks.  Not a good look, especially if you are a male.  Unless you are at a rave, then rock it.

I bought a bag of bones and glittered them.  You take your bones, paint them with glue, and then put them in a bag filled with glitter.  Seal that bag, and then shake, shake, shake, shake your baggy.  Lay them out to dry.  I put mine in a planter box with lots of spider webbing. Ooooooohhhhhh-creepy;)

These are pumpkins and skulls that have been sprayed and glittered.  ‘Nuff said.

This is my last and favorite trick….

I hate, hate, HATE, carving pumpkins.  I avoid it all costs.  Mine never look like they do in magazines, the smell and let’s face facts…..they make a huge mess.  So I found masks, for a buck, and I think they make for a super creepy pumpkin, or maybe just super silly.  Also, if you carve your pumpkins too early, they will get rotten.  Masks solve a multitude of problems.

So now you have seen the majority of my decorating.  Please, use these ideas!  With a little spray paint and glitter, you can take ordinary, run of the mill Halloween decorations and make them just a little bit fancier.  I think that should me my credo.  A little spray paint and glitter makes everything better!  But seriously, scope out your local $ Store.  Look down every aisle.  I promise you will find so many fun things that will work for Halloween.  And if they don’t, save them for Christmas!  So get out there and get your decorate on!!