HOME IS WHERE THE HAUNT IS
Experts share tips for finding Halloween ideas and decorating without bleeding money
Whether you like fright or delight, there are a lot of ways you can get creative for Halloween.
Some people like their Halloween decorations scary: Christina Gibson of La Habra, Calif., began collaborating on Halloween parties with a friend over a decade ago, with themes ranging from mutant spiders to a circus inspired by the movie “Killer Klowns From Outer Space.”
But Halloween decorating doesn’t have to just be about the fear factor: Aimee Steinberger, an animation storyboard artist in Santa Clarita, Calif., isn’t into horror. She has 7-year-old twins, one who likes scares and one who doesn’t.
“I like Halloween from a whimsical standpoint,” she says, so this year she was inspired by Venus flytrap decorations at Target to work with a spooky plant theme in her own home.
The point is, you can make the kind of Halloween you want.
We asked our sources for tips that can be applied to anything from personal Halloween displays to neighborhood events.
Do your research
Check out local home haunts to spark your own creative fire and give you ideas for possible themes or DIY props that work in your own home and yard. “The most important thing I think people can do is spend a Halloween season going out, driving around and enjoying it, at least once,” says David Markland, executive director of an annual Halloween convention in Southern California.
For Markland, home haunts are “the most fun part of the Halloween season.” It’s also, he says, something that people might miss when they’re busy preparing their own homes for Halloween.
If you’re preparing to do a fullblown experience at your home, Markland says, you can get involved with groups like SoCal Valley Haunters, where members can connect and learn from each other.
Once you’ve checked out the neighborhood, dig into Halloween ideas online. Steinberger and Gibson use Pinterest when preparing for Halloween.
“One of the most fun things for me was looking through Pinterest and trying to see what theme I liked the best and then trying to figure out where I could get things to fit that theme,” says Steinberger.
Similarly, you can find a wealth of inspiration on Instagram by following hashtags like #halloweendecorations and #halloweenmakeup. Search YouTube for tutorials on everything from pumpkin carving to building large props.
When shopping, look beyond Halloween section
Steinberger points out that, while Target and other stores pull together a variety of interesting Halloween collections, buying everything from one source isn’t quite as fun as scouring multiple sources for your home look.
Outside of Target’s Halloween section, she found fake plants at the store that she was able to incorporate into her own creepy, indoor garden. She also likes thrifting items like crockery that she found at Goodwill and painted black for her Halloween mantle.
If you’re looking for budgetfriendly alternatives, it helps to go beyond the Halloween shop and craft supply stores.
Since Gibson uses a lot of fake blood, she’ll buy some of the components of the recipe in bulk.
The year she worked with a mutant spider theme, Gibson used toddler-size socks and tights to make spider eggs.
She filled the socks with cotton balls, a low-cost method of stuffing.
Make use of what you already have
Before you start shopping online or in local stores, look around your house and see what you can incorporate into your theme. Steinberger’s mantel includes a few “Star Wars” items that worked with her indoor garden, as well as a tiki mask she got on a trip to Maui.
Plus, since Steinberger is an avid costumer, she had supplies left over from previous projects, like fake leaves, that she was able to use in her Halloween decorations.
Now that Gibson and pals have been at work on Halloween scares for several years, she says, they have big items that they use regularly, like a fog machine, as well as props like homemade tombstones that they can revive when needed.
Get friends in on the fun
Steinberger likes to throw theme parties and has creative friends, so she organized a get-together to make “creepy plants” at her home. “That gave me an excuse to get the decorating done,” she says. Plus, Steinberger’s friends had a chance to flex their own imagination, making characters like a mandrake with a wrinkly face.
Gibson’s scare skills come to life as part of a collaboration and that helps with a large-scale project, where everything from planning to breaking down the haunt benefits from extra hands.
She says that even when you’re starting out with something smaller, you can bring in a couple of friends to play parts in your haunt.
Hit the sales after Halloween
For Gibson and her cohorts, Halloween plans begin Nov. 1 as they’re breaking down the set from the previous night. They take inventory of what is good for reuse and what needs to be replaced. Then they hit the postHalloween sales and clearance aisles. Here, they look for deeply discounted items that can work with any theme and general supplies that they need to replenish, which helps them get creative on a budget.
“We’ll buy those right away,” says Gibson.
No need to wrack up scary, expensive debt, right?