Here are a few ideas for indoor decorations if you are planning a Halloween get together this year.  I usually have a “cheap & easy” rule when it comes to decorating the house for Halloween.  I try to have a focal point for each room- not a ton of little things spread throughout the house (fewer items are easier to put up and take down, and take up less space in my already burgeoning crawl space the rest of the year).  The biggest challenge for me, is reigning myself in to either make only very inexpensive purchases, or re-use things I already have in a different way.  This could be re-purposing the “normal” things around my home or re-using Halloween decorations from previous years.  Here are a few ideas…

Decorate your wine bottles!  Here I have used labels that I printed using clip art of a skull and crossbones that’s a lot less expensive than buying pre-made labels.  Also pictured, are two wine bottles are wrapped like mummies.  I used cheesecloth that I soaked in tea, to give it an aged look.   I found the inspiration and the “how-to” for these at http://www.marthastewart.com/264244/mummy-spirits.  You could glue on little “googly eyes” peeking out from the opening in the wrapping for a little added fun.  You can find those at a craft store.

Add these uninvited little guests (wired to the light fixture) above your food/appetizer table!  No party leftovers!

On the dining room wall, above the “buffet” cabinet, are a bunch of bats (a flock?, a herd? a gaggle?) – what ever you call them, they are flying this way.  In this case the bats are made from construction paper, folded at the wings joints to give it a 3-D look on the wall.  The bats are stapled to the wall (I used a swipe of black magic marker on the staples to eliminate reflection off the staple).  This was inspired by a project in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, Halloween edition.  (Could not find an online photo of theirs).  For my project, I added a full moon in the background.  I cut out a big circle on yellow poster board and painted it like  a “blood” moon.

This was the centerpiece for my dining table at a Halloween dinner party a few years ago.  The “tree” is a bunch of branches from my yard, spray-painted black.  The “shrunken heads” are made from dried apples that have a little faux fur glued to the top to simulate hair.  The inspiration for these came from here: http://www.marthastewart.com/268080/shrunken-apple-heads  Normally the drying process can take up to 2 weeks, but you could probably speed that along with a dehydrator or your oven.

Instead of just adding Halloween stuff to your room, try temporarily replacing the normal stuff with the creepy stuff.  In this case I have used a painting, painted by my mother (an artist in Phoenix).  It is given the prominent spot above the fireplace temporarily replacing the wall clock I usually have in that spot.  If you are not artist or have a friend who can paint something “Halloween-ish” for you, you could alway use a grouping of photos (either your own or some free stock photos online).  Maybe something like black and white photos of gnarly trees or Victorian head silhouettes.

Okay- so this one broke the “cheap & easy” rule this year.  But it was fun!  This is my Halloween tree, reminiscent of the costumes and the trick or treating of my childhood.  The tree is topped with a witch’s hat.  There are pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns under the tree. Feather boas act as a garland.  Masks, novelty head dresses, black birds, spiders, & miniature plastic pumpkins filled with candy corn act as ornaments.  There are strings of purple and “candy corn” lights to make the tree glow.  I also made colorful “crackers” filled with wrapped miniature candy bars.  Not only do they add a little color to the tree, they can also act as party favors for guests. Variations on the theme might include using a Halloween village or train set under the tree…  maybe next year.

Here are a couple of my favorite places to find inspiration for Halloween decor.  But I think it is always more fun to put your own spin on the projects inspired by others.

www.bhg.com, www.marthastewart.com, www.hgtv.com, and Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine (fall editions)

Happy Hauntings!