For many people – young and old – half the fun of any holiday or celebration is decorating.
Whether that means decorating your classroom, office, or home, Halloween is likely one of the “funnest” times to decorate.
Although scary and creepy are the order of the day when it comes to Halloween decorations, there is a great deal of latitude with decorating styles, themes, and materials for capturing that Halloween “vibe.” And that’s all part of the fun!
In fact, for some decorators, Halloween is a prime time for breaking out the arts and crafts supplies – or, better yet, purchasing some new ones – and turning their home or classroom into a truly spooky venue for Halloween fun.
And that can mean lots of construction paper, day-glow paints, and glitter glue!
The Ancient and (Somewhat) Mysterious Origins of Halloween Decorating
The origins of Halloween celebrations in the United States are fittingly murky. Some sources state that “while Halloween originated in Europe, the holiday became the celebration we recognize today when it was brought to America by the early settlers.”
Other sources claim that the celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the prevailing Protestant belief systems there. However, Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies.
The Halloween traditions that most of us are familiar with today seem to have sprung up from those introduced in this country in the late 1840s.
According to History.com,
“In the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally.”
By the late 1800s, the trend in America was making Halloween a holiday more about community and get-togethers than ghosts and witchcraft. At the turn of the last century, Halloween parties for children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide Halloween parties as the featured entertainment.
And, of course, Halloween decorations!
Fun and (Slightly) Frightening Halloween Decorating Ideas
While we certainly realize that there are tons of resources available with decorating ideas for Halloween, like Pinterest and Etsy, we have a couple of favorites we’ve found for you here:
Halloween Monster Magnets
Not every decoration must be large, expansive, or super-scary. Little Jack-o-lanterns or ghosties lurking here and there in the room will add a simple sense of Halloween spirit. And these little guys are easy and fun to make.
What you need:
- smooth rocks
- paint
- paint markers
- flat magnets
- strong adhesive
- clear coat (optional)
- Choose smaller, flatter rocks – less than 3 inches across. Bigger rocks won’t stay put. Paint them as Halloween creatures, such as black cats, ghosts, mummies, and monsters.
- Finish with a clear coat if you want. It will make the paint last longer.
- Use a strong adhesive to stick the magnet to the back of the rock.
Construction Paper Bats
Halloween without bats is like Thanksgiving without turkeys! And making bats is one of the “funner” decorating projects kids and adults can get into.
What you need:
- black construction paper
- bowls for tracing
- pencil
- scissors
- googly eyes
- white crayon or colored pencil
- glue
- Cut out two circles from black paper using two different-sized bowls and two triangle bat ears. Use the smaller one for the bat face and the larger circle for the wings.
- Fold the larger circle accordion style. This gives the bat wings a great texture. When you are finished folding the circle, cut it in half. Now you have two bat wings.
- Glue your bat wings onto the sides of your other circle. Glue your bat ears onto your paper bat. Glue your googly eyes onto your bat.
- Finish your paper bat craft by using your white crayon to draw a mouth and some spooky vampire teeth onto your bat.
Glitter Glue Spiderwebs
Along with creepy bats, another Halloween decorating staple are spiderwebs. And this Halloween decoration craft project will thrill those kids (and adults!) who love to play… uhm, work with glitter glue.
What you need:
- Glitter glue – or
- Elmer’s School Glue
- assorted Glitter
- plastic page protector sheets (or large plastic baggies)
- Use the glue to draw a large spiderweb on top of the plastic page protector and sprinkle it with glitter. Or, if you have ready-made glitter glue, simply draw your spiderwebs with that.
- Let them dry for 16-20 hours (or a whole day)
- Carefully remove the spiderwebs from the plastic sheets or baggies. The center may still be wet, so turn the spiderweb over and let it dry for another 4-6 hours.
- Once they’re dry, these glittery and spooky spiderwebs are ready to decorate your home or classroom for Halloween.
Make This Halloween a Crafty and Spooky Extravaganza with Fundemonium
At Fundemonium, you’ll not only discover tons of great art supplies and arts and crafts products for Halloween decorating, but also tons of toys, games, and hobby items. That’s because Fundemonium is more than just a “toy store.”
Once you step into Fundemonium, you’ll see that we’re a fun family experience where families, artists, and crafters of all ages can meet and play.
And Fundemonium also offers a safe and friendly place where adults and children can enjoy creative fun. In addition to arts and crafts projects, art supplies, and materials, we also stock a huge selection of toys, games, models, and hobby products for your entire family.
Got questions? Our friendly and knowledgeable staff makes it their business to help you have fun.
One way we can do this is by always doing our best to quickly respond to your questions and website inquiries about arts and crafts (and toys!), and you can also find answers to your questions by calling us at (707) 540-0701.
So, if you’d like to speak to one of our Fundemoniacs, just give us a call during our business hours.
Thank you, and we hope to see you soon!
