Get geared up for Halloween this season with our fantastic collection of DIY tips, hints and decorations. Whether your entertaining littles ones or big ones we've got a handful of of delectable decorations that can be created on a budget.
1) Ghoulish Eyeballs
Simple and easy to make, these eyeballs are made from ping bong balls which can we acquired from
eBay as a pack of 12, as well as some goggly eyes also purchased from
eBay . To attach the eyes we used the
Stanley heavy duty glue gun . Hot glue guns are known to deliver a notoriously stronger hold, however if you're not feeling as flush or confident using one then the
Loctite Perfect Super Glue Pen is also a good contender. It has a super strong adhesive bond that dries within minutes.
2) Homemade Bunting
Why not go the extra mile this year and create your own Halloween bunting. For most of us we are used to buying cheap buntings from the poundshop that will last a day around kids if your lucky.
For this decoration we decided to go all out and create our own bunting that is robust and can be re-used year by year.
To start we used:
Galvanised Wire as the foundation for the bunting. We used this for two reasons. One the wire is malleable (can be bent to shape) and strong. So if your hanging it in an awkward spot in your home you've more control with regards the shape of the bunting. Two - the wire is galvanised so you can hang the bunting outside without it rusting. For the bunting shapes we took the heavy duty approach and used corner cuts of old ply lying about the timber yard. If you don't have this luxury or can't get your hands on something as heavy duty why not use laminated card or something similar. Because we used heavy ply cuts we had to add some
Loctite Super Glue Pen combined with
wooden pegs to ensure the shapes stayed on the wire.
3) Pump Up A Pumpkin
Ok so this idea wasn't all ours - It was just too good an idea not to mention, as I stumbled upon it on
Goodhousekeeping.com while doing some research for the article. The guys at Goodhousekeeping did a smashing job with this and it's fair to say that this medley of pumpkins will make a stunning center piece on any party table.
Due to the nature of pumpkins and their colour they can be hard to colour with lighter paint shades, so if you're thinking of doing this then we'd suggest using a heavy duty all purpose spray paint such as
Rustoleum White Primer to get a smooth white finish. If you fancy creating the other two pumpkins with the decorative ribbons then try using
25mm Solid Brass Panel Pins
4) Milk Jug Ghouls
Simple and easy to do, you can create these ghoulish fiends in a matter of minutes. In addition to this it's a great way to help reduce re-use and recyle. Simply collect some old milk jugs (cartons) and use a heavy duty
Suremark Black Marker to draw your faces. To add some illumination try rigging some of the cartons with
LED Christmas lights
5) Create A Ghost Town
If you want to go all out and stun your guests this Halloween, then this is the town for you ...
Now granted this decoration does take some time to make depending on the size, shape and design of the house you want. You're going to need some easy to cut wood. We would recommend a SqM cut of
3.6mm Plywood as it is hard wearing, easy to work with and more importantly cheap.
You'll need to draw out your designs on the plywood detailing all the individual elements such as walls, roof boards, turrets, staircases, doors etc that you are going to be working with.
Hansons carpenters pencils are specially designed for marking wood and provide a clear cut line. This will enhance your accuracy and prevent you losing the rag!
Once you have decided on the design your going to need an effective cutting tool. Jigsaws are particularly handy for applications like this. They deliver mm perfect cuts and are fast and effective. Because we are using lightweight plywood you won't need a heavy duty jigsaw. The
KS600E Jigsaw costs only £31.99 and is ideal for light applications around the home such as this.
The next step is assembly, depending on the size of the model home we'd recommend using
wood glue atleast. If you don't seem to think it's enough to hold your ghoulish house then use some small
wood screws to add some support. Finish with a universal black
spray paint .
