Depending on where you live in the world, Halloween is likely to be very different this year. Traditionally at this stage, most people will be making costumes for trick or treating and school, carving pumpkins to display in the window and getting ready for Halloween parties or Scarefests. So, whether you’re in a local lockdown and can’t see friends and family or something other than Covid-19 has derailed your plans, Halloween doesn’t have to be a total shocker! We’ve come up with some creative homemade Halloween decoration ideas and spooky-inspiration to keep you and your family occupied over the weekend.
Super-Natural
Not all Halloween decorations have to be garish and ghoul-based! If you’re looking to create some tasteful homemade Halloween decorations which don’t cost the earth, just look around you and you’ll find all the resources you need to create something special.
Looking past the fun for a second, Halloween is one of the most plastic-orientated days of the year! Plastic masks, cauldrons, banners, sweet wrappers, skeletons – why not look at more natural ways to decorate your home this Halloween?
Fallen branches are a simple and effective way to decorate your home for the scare-season. Paint them black, pumpkin orange, lime green, cat sick yellow – even purple.
Arranged in a vase as a centrepiece or adorned with homemade Halloween ornaments, branches are a sustainable Halloween decoration which won’t break the bank or the environment.
Dark Arts
Halloween is the new Christmas when it comes to looking through people’s windows to see their amazing decorations, so get them on display! Paper cut-outs are far less messy than pumpkin carving and are another environmentally friendly way to decorate your house this Halloween.
It’s difficult to be precise when you’re carving a sphere with a child-safe blunt object, but with paper cut-outs everyone can have a go! When you backlight dark shapes you’ll end up with the same effect as a pumpkin or lantern but you can get more creative and scale-up for added drama! If you’re not so great at drawing or need some inspiration, here are some ideas, or head over to our Homemade Halloween Decorations board in Pinterest.
Halloween Wraiths
If you don’t want to cover your house in cobwebs and are looking for tasteful handmade Halloween decorations, wreaths are easy and fun to make and don’t have to be complicated.
Wreaths were once seen as a symbol of eternal life. This year, we’re suggesting you make a Wraith. And make it gruesome! Wreath making is traditionally a Christmas activity here in the UK, but our brothers and sisters in the US are the masters of the wreath. They never pass up an opportunity to adorn their doors with something decorative and welcoming and Halloween isn’t an exception. There are some wonderful examples of autumn and Halloween wreath ideas out there to cheer up the dark nights when you get home.
You can find wreath forms online or you can make your own. You can make a form out of cuttings from the garden – old stems and trailing plants like Virginia Creeper are soft and easy to bend at this time of year. Bend lots of them into a circle, secure with wire or tight string and you’ve got the basis of your wreath. Then cover in ribbon and ornaments, or natural features like dried autumnal leaves or sprayed flowers. You can keep the same wreath form and reuse it for Christmas.
Again, head over to our Homemade Halloween Pinterest board for Halloween wreath/wraith ideas!
Feeding Frenzy
What could be better than edible homemade Halloween decorations? You get to have your cake and eat it! There are loads of homemade Halloween treats out there on the internet but we love this edible ghost bunting from the Biscuiteers.
If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, take a look at this amazing homemade Halloween Gingerbread House.
Fiendish Friends
You might not be able to socialise in the usual way this Halloween, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find some new fiendish friends!
Our tutors have a very dark side – take a look at tutor Ruth’s new zine, The Nottingham Horror Collective. October’s issue, The Tower, is out now!
We also asked NDA tutor and Master of the Macabre, Stephen Matthewman-Knowles for his top 5 haunting Halloween follows on Instagram. From artists to interior designers Halloween experts, these inspirational Instagram feeds will send shivers down your spine!
Check out these accounts:
