Celebrating Halloween 2014 on a budget Part 1

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Since we moved to a larger home and a home that faces out to a common road, I felt the need to decorate the outside of the house. My previous post was a taste of the the things I used as my inspiration this year. So here are the pictures of what I ended up making and displaying. The best fun I think was the packing tape ghosts. Lots of fun, and great effect, though in the end I didn't end up displaying them quite the way I had hope I would. I bring that down to my husband being absent on an overseas business trip for most of October!

The way it worked out for me this year, was a Halloween Party the week before Halloween for family and friends. Then we celebrate on the 31st and welcome trick or treaters. Then this year, we had a trunk o treat the day after halloween. So it was really stretched out for our family and we have more lollies than we know what to do with!!

For the family and friends party this is what I did.

This was my arty farty wall!! The Monster Melodies is a vinyl record cover I scored at a Vinnies for $1. The book pages come from Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and I stuck and painted them down with PVA glue onto canvases. Then the wicked picture is a free printable I printed up and put in a $2.50 frame from BigW.  All these items can be packed away for next year.

I already have the cake stand, which is always handy. I recommend if you don't have a cake stand but like to do parties or entertain, get one. They are invaluable. The styrofoam skulls were $4 each. They are great and the cheapest ones I could find. The table cloth was some black lace material I picked up a couple years back on the discount table from Spotlight. Can't remember how much but I am sure it was less than $10. We have an 8 seater table. All these items can be reused for next year.

This decoration is one of my favourites. A packet of black garbage bags from BigW cost me $1.90. I cut the sides apart, taped it to the window frame and cut vertical strips, the worse the better!! Has a great affect.

A friend of mine had a halloween party last year and had the syringes filled with Grenadine. I had a super hard time finding Grenadine this time, so settled with some sour cherry syrup (Italian) from my local fruit market. The colour matched the amazing taste! Kids squirted the syrup into their lemonade. I found syringes on Ebay and purchased 50 for around $30 including postage. I have washed them up and will reuse them next year or for other fun events! This idea went down really well, everyone loved the novelty and it was amazing to see them displayed on the table.

Finally, you maybe wondering what did I wear that day? Well, if you aren't on my personal FB page, here it is. I decided to invest in some body/face paint. Having 4 kids, it will come in handy no doubt!The only thing I purchased for the outfit was the hat and some stockings - which were not one size fits most for adults! I think the label got mixed up and should have been for kids, because they didn't get past my knees! I am 5ft 9, so I know I am a little but taller than the average, but still! Unfortunately i don't have a picture of the stockings, I should have for comedy purposes, but I didn't think of it at the time! I just cut the stockings off so they looks like individual socks! Waste not want not right!  I had my own black top and skirt for the outfit and now I have a hat to use again. What do you think?

Well, that is it for Part 1. Stay tuned for the outside decorations and what I decided to do for my Halloween night costume.