Dollar Store Decor for Halloween

The kids are heading back to school, and that means Halloween is just around the corner. It's time to break out the fall decorations and start thinking about holiday crafting. If you want to dress up your home for the holidays but your pocketbook won't allow for spending at department store prices, try decorating your home for Halloween using items found at the dollar store.

Halloween Centerpiece Ideas with Dollar Store Materials

A festive centerpiece is one of the quickest and easiest ways to add holiday spirit to your dining room, kitchen, or anywhere else you have a table or surface that needs some decorating. Dollar stores are a great source for supplies to use in making a Halloween centerpiece. Most dollar stores carry seasonal merchandise, and around Halloween there are dozens of decorative items such as plastic skulls, foam pumpkins, and rubber bats that you can work into centerpiece designs.

Choose one larger item to be the focal point of your centerpiece, such as a plastic jack-o-lantern. Surround this featured item with smaller embellishments in a Halloween or fall colors theme. Both the holiday section and the floral section of the store should have plenty of options to choose from. To make your centerpiece more permanent, buy a small wooden cutting board from the dollar store and use glue to attach all of the parts to the cutting board.

If you want to make a candle centerpiece, choose an orange or black candle and place it inside a glass vase, drinking glass, recycled jar or any other glass vessel. Fill the area around the candle with stones or sand - dollar stores should have something appropriate available in the craft supplies or floral department. Decorate the glass vessel with a ribbon tied in a bow for a pretty finishing touch. Surround the candle holder with things like silk leaves in fall colors and decorative Halloween items. Just be careful to avoid placing items near the candle flame.

Dollar Store Halloween Wreath Ideas

Many dollar stores carry wreath forms, especially around the holiday season. Buying a wreath form at the dollar store is an excellent value; craft stores charge $5 or more for forms very similar to the ones you can find at Dollar Tree and other dollar stores.

Decorating a Halloween wreath can be as simple as attaching a big bow or as intricate as gluing on hundreds of pieces of candy. Other common dollar store items ideal for wreath decorating include leaf garlands or individual silk leaves in fall colors, silk flowers, and small seasonal items similar to what you might use for a Halloween centerpiece.

Halloween Banister Garland Ideas Using Dollar Store Supplies

If your home has an open staircase with a banister, take advantage of this dramatic architectural feature with a Halloween banister garland. To make a banister garland, you will need things that come in long strands, such as ribbon or a leaf garland. Attach one end to the banister at the top of the stairs and wrap it around the railing all the way to the bottom of the stairs, where you will secure the other end. For a simple look, make one wrap all the way down the stairs; for a more intricate design, make multiple passes down the railing or wrap it using several different materials.

Further embellish the garland by attaching small Halloween items to the wrapping. For things like small plastic skulls or pumpkins, use a dab of glue to attach a twist tie from a bread bag or garbage bag to the back side of each item. Once dry, use the twist tie to place the items along the banister, twisting around the wrapping material. Decorate the post at the bottom of the stairs with a large bow, a plastic skeleton, or other Halloween decorations.