Thrift Shops, Junk Stores, Yard Sales and Swap Meets: Find the Best Halloween Decorations

My best Halloween decorations that get compliments year after year did not cost much. Most didn't even start their lives as Halloween decorations, but they're very effective, giving my home a chilling atmosphere. They have something I found you just can't buy at party stores and Halloween outlets: an air of authenticity.

Think about it: if you're decorating a Chinese style room, would you go to a toy store? Novelty shop? Buy plastic dragons, Great Wall posters and Chinese New Year party favors?

Can we say, "cheesy?" You want your room to feel like you're in an exotic spot in the Orient, not the back room of the Good Fortune take-out restaurant. You'd buy real furniture, authentic artwork and fabrics for a more sophisticated look.

Same thing when it comes to Halloween decor. In a haunted Victorian manor, you wouldn't find garbage bag spiders, plastic smiling skulls and Frankenstein wall stickers. A skeletal chandelier with glowing red eyes may be well made and look cool, but I doubt the Victorian residents would have had such a fixture.

But a rusted wrought iron chandelier from the junk yard that holds candles- now we're talking!

Second-hand outlets are a great place to find Halloween decor. Real stuff. Stuff that will lend authenticity and sophistication to your look.

Things To Look For:

Fabrics: All kinds. You Drape them over anything. Hang them from walls, throw them over tables, cover furniture with white sheets to make the house look abandoned.

Jars and bottles: Excellent props. Old perfume bottles, cookie jars, mason jars, storage jars, medicine jars- any kind. Fill them with odd liquids or gross objects. Make labels for spell components, potions or mad scientist experiments.

Trays: A great "anchor" for other Halloween props or, stood up and leaned on a wall, a nice contrasting background to "spotlight" something. Metal and wood in particular are great.

Frames: From large wall frames and small table-top frames in varying sizes, They can be used for a collection of creepy old-fashioned looking photos, a cracked or warped mirror or whatever your imagination devises

Lamps, fixtures and candle holders: candelabras, sconces, chandeliers, table lamps or lanterns, etc.- great for a little mood lighting. You don't even have to use electricity or fuel. Remove electrical components from an old chandelier and put candles in the bulb holders, or a glow stick in an old oil burning lamp.

Books: Get Big old aging tombs. Even better if they don't have titles. A little paint and you can give them odd titles. Great for shelf props, or stacked up to add a little height to your other displays.

Appliances, tools and household items: Almost anything vintage can be an inspiration: tricycle, rocking horse, hedge clippers, bed warmer, fire place tools, hand-cranked meat grinder (oh, the possibilities!), radio, telephone, clock- lots of potential, even if they don't work.

Glasses, tableware, pots: Cast iron or copper pots makes better cauldrons than any plastic do-dad. Old wine goblets or tea cups make a beautiful table settings or candle holders. Of course, it always helps to have a platter around in case you want to put a severed head on it.

Pillars, pedestals, stands: Great basis for displays. Adds height and levels to your set-ups. Cover them, paint them, or leave them old, rusted and peeling.

Mannequins or dolls: Old parts, wig holder or an old dress form, body parts and shapes always come in handy this time of year.

Anything ugly: It's amazing what people once considered beautiful: Tacky knick-knacks, folk art or toys with painted faces that could star in nightmares. Some old masks and dolls have twisted expressions that would make your spine tingle.

Things To Consider:

Look for the potential. Try and look past what the item is and think about what it could be. What would it look like with some distressing techniques, a coat of paint, covered in dust or cobwebs?

Another effective way of turning everyday common items into great spooky Halloween props is to group them. A lace tablecloth yellowed with age, teacups, an oxidized aluminum tray and a couple of ratty dolls are not much individually. Arrange them on an end table, add a few dabs of blood tears, scatter a few rubber roaches on a cookie plate, sprinkle it with a light coating of powder (dust)- you now have a really eerie looking tea party.

Choose a Halloween theme. Themes really help you focus your Halloween decorating efforts so you end up with a complete look, rather than a junk shop. It also helps prevent you from wasting time and money on things that don't fit in.

Start early. You never know what you'll find. Sometimes you have to make painful choices to stay within budget, other times nothing rings any bells. Don't wait until October. Collect items throughout the year.

Re-use, repurpose and recycle. Some things easily fit from one year to the next, like fabrics or candle holders. Other things might have to be changed, like jar labels or photos in frames. Tweak items, set them up in different ways, give your Halloween decor a fresh look every year. Trade what you don't need anymore. Some shops give you credit for selling items back, or grab all your old stuff and find a local swap meet. As a side benefit, if you are concerned about the environment, second-hand shopping and used decorations are the best way to have a green Halloween.

Above all, use your imagination. Think of yourself as a movie set designer and go for an element of exaggerated realism for spectacular Halloween decor.