Manic: Finding time to keep my promise to my daughter that we would fill our home, inside and out, with Halloween decor…and do it on a tight budget!
Managed: Making the time and listening to her ideas….and then letting her implement her thoughts into holiday decor. She came up with some great stuff! She also incorporated a lot of last year’s decorations to stay on budget and she made some fun homemade items using nothing but paper, scissors and crayons. Check out our Halloween themed home and be inspired to let your kids inspire you! We plan to do this again for Christmas! Here are the festive pics and click the pics to see the photo up close.
Inside Decor:
My girl made the cute witch sign that reads, "take a bite if you dare" and the candy mix inside is yummy! Our friend, Bridget, told us about this idea which combines peanuts with candy corn and tastes like a yummy Payday candy bar! Fun, tasy and festive!
Last year's haunted house item becomes this year's nifty napkin holder. We both love the ghost 🙂
She made little candy corns with a pumpkin menu in the middle that is taped to our pantry door. Food selections include "skeleton ribs" and "hard boiled teeth"....very creative! I was impressed!
One of my favorite things that she made was this sign called "Fun Halloween Jokes" with the answers hidden under paper flaps. My favorite joke -- "What should a witch never do?...Drink and fly!"
Using a prop from one of my 3TV segments, she turned a chess board into a haunted house. Clever!
Before we did any shopping, I made her look in the garage with me to see how much we could use from last year and this spider web worked great. Recycling is always good.
And if you are staying in our guest room, my girl's yum yum artwork greets you before you enter!
One of my ideas is to put out previous Halloween pictures from when the kids were little. Not only are the photos cute, but in the right frame, they add to the decor. I'll do the same with our Christmas pictures.
And even though I don't think this is that Halloweeny, this was my daughter's added touch, so I left it and I told her that I loved it 🙂
Outdoor Decor:
Also my daughter's idea to give our fountain eyeballs! I think she also learned this trick from our friend, Bridget and I love it!
- Together we decided to try putting the pumpkin sticks in our flower pot and it worked. We found the old sign and cat in the garage so more recycled items completed the look!
We've had this ol' witch for years and she doesn't stand by herself anymore, so we propped her up against the house and added last year's ghost with a new Trick or Treat sign and it works.
Old signs from years past fit perfectly in this plant. It was really fun to work with my child to see what items could be recycled before we bought anything new.
My girl's idea to make a grave yard, but I added the happy inflatable pumpkin to lighten up the scene a bit. Graves and fence came from Party City and the pumpkin inflatable came from Walgreens.
After using everything we could find from the garage, we did a little shopping. The hay and cute stick people came from WalMart.
And it was her idea to place the black roses on each grave. How thoughtful she is!
And we both agree that this giant Casper is our favorite find. He lights up at night and turns his head. We've been told by several passing cars that he is a neighborhood favorite! He was our splurge from Walgreens, where we paid $49.99 for him.
And we copied WalMart's idea of putting a costume on a scarecrow. My girl then added the candy bag and Spidy looks like an anxious trick or treater now!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVEYRONE! BE SAFE!!
Great ideas, Miss Rachel! I had a hard time ‘letting’ my guys do their own thing but when I did, it was impossible not to see the self gratification they had after. What a brilliant mom-daughter project.
Your daughter did an awesome job! I think it’s great how she is able put creative decor ideas together on a tight budget, she is learning a life lesson while having fun! Happy Halloween!
Thanks gals! Sherry, I agree with you about the value of letting your kids have some holiday decor control! And Goodwill Gal….a home decor compliment coming from you is huge because you are the Queen of brillant home decor and I absolutely love your blog!!
Thanks ladies! 🙂
What a cute and creative idea! She did a great job! My kids love to help me decorate and would enjoy doing this as well.
Thanks Tesa. And the time we spent together brainstorming and decorating is priceless. I can’t believe how fast my kids are growing up!
Super awesome ideas! Alexis is amazing:):) Please tell I said “She’s amazing!!!” these are great ideas!!!
I will tell her and I can’t wait to see her big smile when she hears that you called her “amazing”…..thanks Bianca!