Halloween is one of the most-loved traditions celebrated in the USA – and it’s not hard to see why! It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the fall before the cold weather sets in by dressing up, exploring the neighborhood, having fun and eating far too much candy. Here are a few ideas from our Dallas and Fort Worth real estate team to help you get you in the mood to have the best Halloween ever!
Tips for Decorating Your Backyard for Halloween
Of course, some families go all-out for Halloween, transforming their homes into spooky castles and dungeons that look like they’re right out of Hollywood – but there’s no need to spend a fortune to achieve a spook-tacular backyard! Here are some of our favorite budget-friendly and easy décor ideas.
- The cemetery: This is a Halloween classic, and it’s easier than you think! Get your hands on some old cardboard packing boxes and cut them into differently-shaped tombstones. Go for variety – it’s surprisingly easy to trace out some more elaborate ones too, like angels. Remember, these need to look old and crumbly, so you don’t have to get them exactly right. Paint them with gray paint (using different shades will give them a more stone-like texture) and use a Sharpie to write different messages on the tombstones. You can go funny, spooky or both! Glue a wooden stake onto the back and stake them out in rows in your yard. You can make them even more realistic by mowing graves into your lawn in front of each marker, adding moss to your graves (you can find this at loads of craft stores), and setting out spooky lanterns, fake spiders and webbing around them.
- Giant spider forest: Speaking of spiders, you can also create a spooky spider forest in your back yard. Get a bunch of black trash bags and something to stuff them with, like leaves or old newspaper. Fill one of the bags and tie it to make a big, round spider body. Take 8 more trash bags, filling them with rolled up newspaper and twisting them to make legs that you can glue onto the body. If you want a more rigid structure, you can use craft wire wrapped in newspaper inside the legs to shape them. Use polystyrene balls (from any craft shop) painted red or covered in glow-in-the-dark paint for the eyes. Set them in shadowy spots in your garden, on your porch or in nearly trees along with draping webbing.
- Haunted trees: You can also haunt your trees themselves using modeling clay and some paint! Simply make scary noses, eyes and mouths and glue them to your tree trunks, painting them for extra effect or lighting them with Halloween lanterns for a spooky glow. You can also use a remote speaker to play eerie music near your haunted forest.
Celebrating Halloween at Home!
After exploring the neighborhood and trick-or-treating with the kids, home is the place to be for Halloween. Here are some ideas for celebrating at home:
- Scary movie marathon: There are spooky movies for almost every age, from the classics like Halloweentown and The Nightmare Before Christmas to the more adult movies like Scream, Halloween, and the Exorcist. Invite some friends over, make some Halloween treats and get ready for an old-school pajama party!
- Host a BBQ: Sure, it’s getting chilly out, but who can say no to a good, old-fashioned BBQ? Invite friends and neighbors so everyone can have a night of trick-or-treating and spooky fun, dress up your backyard in Halloween décor and give your food some Halloween flair. Being outdoors on the spookiest night of the year is always fun!
- Host a themed event: Halloween is at its best when friends and family are together, so invite everyone around for a party. Your theme can be simple (dress in your Halloween best) or more complex (Day of the Dead, or Dead Celebrities), and you can go wild decorating your home to match.
Whatever you do, stock up on plenty of candy for trick-or-treaters and remember to have fun!
And one last thing to remember – Blue Halloween buckets are going viral this year. They’re part of a Halloween project to raise awareness about autism and to help kids with autism really enjoy the holiday. You can read up on this great initiative, so you know just what to do to help a child with autism feel included!
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