Thirteen Eeeko-Halloween Decorations
Tami
Some eco-friendly decorating ideas :) from http://www.Care2.com a
great web site! Why not check it out?
Indiana Tami
Thirteen Eeeko-Halloween Decorations
Below are thirteen suggestions for Halloween decorations you can make
with reused and recycled items. If buying decoration materials, try
using non-petroleum based and/or recycled products with minimal
packaging.
SPIDERS
Instead of buying plastic, petroleum based spiders, make fake spiders
and cockroaches out of rocks, pipecleaners, and paint. Collect rocks,
paint them black, and use non-toxic, water-based 3D fabric paint for
eyes. Attach and wrap pipe cleaners around the rock and leave enough
hanging off the edge to bend into legs. Paste these spiders to
everything!
Take old string and paint it with non-toxic, glow-in-the-dark paint
to make a spider web.
DINNERWARE AND CENTERPIECES
Plates/Utensils/Glasses
To save trees and petroleum, avoid using plastic and paper plates,
cups and utensils. Instead, use real plates, or ask guests to bring
their own, perhaps with a theme matching their costumes. For example,
if a guest dresses as Mother Earth, he/she might bring a real plate
with a floral design.
Black, Red, and Orange Candles
Conventional candles are often petroleum based. Pure Beeswax candles
set an eco-friendly Halloween mood, and the natural smell is mellow
and compelling.
Creepy Crawly Vases
Glue spiders (see above) and Halloween shapes cut from fabric or
paper onto glass vases, mason jars, or plastic or terra cotta
flowerpots. Place big, dried twigs in the pots, and hang more spiders
from the twigs. One can even attach doll heads, or other doll body
parts found lying around the home. Adding cleaned and dried animal
bones (chicken, steak, etc.) also looks scary.
SKELETONS AND SCARY PEOPLE
Cardboard Skeleton
To avoid buying conventional plastic or virgin wood-based paper
skeletons, make one with old cardboard or posterboard, using an
anatomy or Halloween craft book for guidelines. Paint the skeleton
with non-toxic, glow-in-the-dark paint. Put a hat, some feathers, or
spiders on its head for decoration.
Scary Stuffed Guy
Make a scary person by stuffing old clothes with newspaper, and use
an old mask (from goodwill or your attic) for a face. Splatter non-
toxic, water-based red paint on the figure to make him scarier, and
stick a knife in him somewhere.
OTHER EFFECTS
Hanging Tin Lanterns:
Used tins (soda cans, olive oil tins, large tomato sauce tin) make
interesting hanging lanterns. Cut faces into the tins with a strong
knife. Glue a beeswax candle in the bottom with a glue gun. Poke
holes near the lid of the tin and thread a metal wire through to hang
the lanterns.
Vampire Repellant:
Hang garlic and crosses outside your front door.
Abandoned Building:
Board up windows with old plywood or cardboard painted like wood.
Attach spiders and maybe some green slime.
Cover furniture with white sheets and place ghosts (made of sheets
and pillows) on them. Splatter nontoxic red ink or paint on the
sheets for the "fresh blood" look.
Suspend old sheets or gauzy fabric from trees to look like ghosts.
Have a small radio in or next to a tree playing strange sounds (e.g.
someone screaming, moaning, or rattling chains). If using batteries,
make sure they are rechargeabl e.
Write scary messages backwards on the windows and/or mirrors with bar
soap or lipstick.
Take vines and drape them around the room.
Graveyard: Use handmade gravestones to make a graveyard outside your
house. Make gravestones with large rocks, old cereal boxes, or big
pieces of used styrofoam (do not buy it!) that you have shaped with a
sharp cutting tool. Paint the gravestones gray with a nontoxic, water-
based paint, and write guests' names on them.
great web site! Why not check it out?
Indiana Tami
Thirteen Eeeko-Halloween Decorations
Below are thirteen suggestions for Halloween decorations you can make
with reused and recycled items. If buying decoration materials, try
using non-petroleum based and/or recycled products with minimal
packaging.
SPIDERS
Instead of buying plastic, petroleum based spiders, make fake spiders
and cockroaches out of rocks, pipecleaners, and paint. Collect rocks,
paint them black, and use non-toxic, water-based 3D fabric paint for
eyes. Attach and wrap pipe cleaners around the rock and leave enough
hanging off the edge to bend into legs. Paste these spiders to
everything!
Take old string and paint it with non-toxic, glow-in-the-dark paint
to make a spider web.
DINNERWARE AND CENTERPIECES
Plates/Utensils/Glasses
To save trees and petroleum, avoid using plastic and paper plates,
cups and utensils. Instead, use real plates, or ask guests to bring
their own, perhaps with a theme matching their costumes. For example,
if a guest dresses as Mother Earth, he/she might bring a real plate
with a floral design.
Black, Red, and Orange Candles
Conventional candles are often petroleum based. Pure Beeswax candles
set an eco-friendly Halloween mood, and the natural smell is mellow
and compelling.
Creepy Crawly Vases
Glue spiders (see above) and Halloween shapes cut from fabric or
paper onto glass vases, mason jars, or plastic or terra cotta
flowerpots. Place big, dried twigs in the pots, and hang more spiders
from the twigs. One can even attach doll heads, or other doll body
parts found lying around the home. Adding cleaned and dried animal
bones (chicken, steak, etc.) also looks scary.
SKELETONS AND SCARY PEOPLE
Cardboard Skeleton
To avoid buying conventional plastic or virgin wood-based paper
skeletons, make one with old cardboard or posterboard, using an
anatomy or Halloween craft book for guidelines. Paint the skeleton
with non-toxic, glow-in-the-dark paint. Put a hat, some feathers, or
spiders on its head for decoration.
Scary Stuffed Guy
Make a scary person by stuffing old clothes with newspaper, and use
an old mask (from goodwill or your attic) for a face. Splatter non-
toxic, water-based red paint on the figure to make him scarier, and
stick a knife in him somewhere.
OTHER EFFECTS
Hanging Tin Lanterns:
Used tins (soda cans, olive oil tins, large tomato sauce tin) make
interesting hanging lanterns. Cut faces into the tins with a strong
knife. Glue a beeswax candle in the bottom with a glue gun. Poke
holes near the lid of the tin and thread a metal wire through to hang
the lanterns.
Vampire Repellant:
Hang garlic and crosses outside your front door.
Abandoned Building:
Board up windows with old plywood or cardboard painted like wood.
Attach spiders and maybe some green slime.
Cover furniture with white sheets and place ghosts (made of sheets
and pillows) on them. Splatter nontoxic red ink or paint on the
sheets for the "fresh blood" look.
Suspend old sheets or gauzy fabric from trees to look like ghosts.
Have a small radio in or next to a tree playing strange sounds (e.g.
someone screaming, moaning, or rattling chains). If using batteries,
make sure they are rechargeabl e.
Write scary messages backwards on the windows and/or mirrors with bar
soap or lipstick.
Take vines and drape them around the room.
Graveyard: Use handmade gravestones to make a graveyard outside your
house. Make gravestones with large rocks, old cereal boxes, or big
pieces of used styrofoam (do not buy it!) that you have shaped with a
sharp cutting tool. Paint the gravestones gray with a nontoxic, water-
based paint, and write guests' names on them.