Ask An Expert: Decorating Your Home For Halloween
Brenda Mihalopoulos
Jo-Ann Fabric
1302 Washington St.
Hanover, MA 02339
(781) 829-0882
www.joann.com
Brenda Mihalopoulos is an avid crafter who manages a fabric store on the South Shore. She not only loves Halloween, but it is truly a religious holiday for her. That is why she is full of great ideas for decorating the house for Halloween. They range from requiring a bit of creativity to tips that could be managed by even the least enthusiastic reveler.
Mihalopoulos suggests buying festive fabric and stuffing it with a preferred stuffing material to make Halloween pumpkins instead of carving a real pumpkin. It's less messy and you can use it again next year! There are plenty of free patterns to choose from online. You can even put in a bit of fall-inspired potpourri with the stuffing so the pumpkins smell like the season.
Halloween means loads of fake animal skeletons for decorating. Mihalopoulos suggests adding an extra touch to these creepy critters. Instead of putting out just the bird skeleton, wrap it in a black feather boa so it looks like a half-rotted creature. With bones and feathers sticking out all over the place, it is sure to catch the eye.
Not everyone has the time or money it takes to get a load of new decorations for the holiday. That doesn't mean they have to skip it. Houses do not need elaborate decorations to look creepy. Instead of putting out new decorations, turn your house into a haunted house with just a few inexpensive items. Spread fake spider webs all over your knick-knacks. Place fake spiders strategically throughout the webs. Fake plastic puddles of blood are also inexpensive and much easier to clean up than gels.
They aren't just for Christmas! Crafters enjoy wreaths because they can incorporate a lot of little details and are a great outdoor decoration that is both tasteful and seasonal. Pick a branch wreath and spray paint it black before covering it in purple and orange ribbons, small ghosts and skeletons. Rest a skull in the center for a finishing touch. If you want to get really creative, spray paint the wreath in ombre candy corn colors.
Mihalopoulos says that people who have fairy gardens can make them spooky for Halloween. In fact, anyone who loves miniatures can create a haunted fairy garden for the holiday. If you already have a fairy garden, just add a few touches, such as ghosts and scarecrows. Then, drape it in cobwebs. If you do not have a fairy garden, all you need to start is a basket, bucket, small table or even a birdbath you can use to create a miniature garden. Fill it not with quaint cottages and pretty flowers, but with bones, graves and tiny haunted houses. This is a particularly good project for children.
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Shelly Barclay is a professional freelance writer and amateur author. She writes on a variety of topics from food to mysteries. She loves to share the culture and rich history of her birthplace and home, Boston, with the rest of the world. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
