How to spook up your home on a budget this Halloween

It's the orange, black and purple time of year for home decor

Halloween has become a big event in the British calendar, with the shops full of a frightening array of tricks, treats, dress-ups and home accessories.

Pumpkin farms do a storm this time of year, but if you want to create a house of horror with a weird sense of attraction, there are many ways to do it on a budget.

Online searches for 'cheap halloween ideas' are up by 120 per cent on last year, so for those who are seeking to spook out their home with chilling decor - here's how to do it without breaking the bank.

To help those who want to add an eerie chill to their home, Leanne O' Malley, a home interiors expert at Studio, has shared her five top tips to freak out visitors.

Craft a creepy mummy with jars

A cheap DIY hack for Halloween, which is both eco and family-friendly, is to create your own mummy glass jars. Take an empty glass jar and wrap masking tape around it, to mimic a mummy’s bandages.

Leave enough space, about a third of the way down the jar, for the eyes. Either draw these on with a black marker pen or stick on some googly eyes.

These makeshift mummies are perfect for inside or outside your home on Halloween. For added spookiness, pop a tea light or LED candle in the jar for an eerie glow.

Make a mummy or two using glass jars and bandaging.

Gruesome paper chains

Making paper chains is a cost-friendly craft, perfect for injecting Halloween colour into your home. Take several sheets of orange and black paper and cut equal-sized strips from it, using a ruler and scissors to cut strips.

To create your first link of the chain, glue the far ends of a strip together to make a ring. If you don’t have a glue stick, then tape or a stapler will work. Then, thread your second piece of paper through your first link and stick the ends of this strip together too. Repeat this step to make your chain.

Be sure to alternate the colours of the links for a striking effect, and drape across rooms or windows.

Create simple ghosties and ghouls from paper cups.....

DIY paper cup ghouls

Get all ghoulish by transforming a stack of paper cups into mini ghosts.

A speedy DIY hack this Halloween, is to take a paper cup and turn it upside down, then using a pencil, draw a pair of eyes, mouth, and any other features you want your ghost to have, on to the cup. Colour the pencil markings with a good-quality black marker.

Dot your paper cup ghosts around your home. Alternatively, pierce a hole in the middle of the flat surface of your cup and thread some string through. Then, tie this string from a high point in your home to create the appearance that your little ghoul is flying.

Balloons and paper chains in Halloween colours have a striking effect

Create atmosphere with candles

Candles can really add to the success of your fright night indoors.

Black candles and tea lights, in particular, are an affordable and effective addition to your Halloween decorations. Another idea to help create a Halloween atmosphere is to place candles with a pumpkin scent throughout your home.

Mystify your mirrors

If you have any mirrors lying around or stored away that you don’t use often, then this Halloween is the perfect time to get creative and make the most of them. Alternatively, you can purchase an affordable one online or buy one second-hand.

Take a red pen or lipstick and write a spooky message on your mirror – either make this up yourself or borrow a memorable mantra from an iconic horror movie. To take this to the next level, you could drape the mirror with some black cloth or cover it in cobweb spray.

All aglow: candles are a Halloween must.

Place the mirror centre stage in your hallway or any room in which you’ll be hosting people throughout the Halloween season.

Blow up the balloons

A must-have for events such as birthdays, baby showers, and hen parties, balloons could be your secret, budget-friendly weapon to elevate your Halloween décor this year.

Create on-theme balloon arrangements by opting for colours such as orange, black, and deep purple. Blow up your balloons and then tie them together in fours, for a simple arrangement.

If you’re feeling crafty, create a stencil of a suitable shape on a piece of card, such as a pumpkin or ghost, and staple the balloons to this card. You can either blue tack or pin this stencil to the wall, or rest it against a surface in your home.

You can also personalise your balloons by drawing spooky designs on them, for example, a ghost, spider, or bat. This doubles up as a fun activity for any little ones to try their hands at.

Swap your soft furnishings

A quick and easy way to decorate your home for Halloween is to swap out your soft furnishings.

If you decorate your home every year, purchasing Halloween-themed bedding and cushion covers is a cost-effective way to transform your home, time after time. Plenty are available at an affordable price, or you can replace your current covers with ones that are orange or black in colour.

Fake spider webs, spiders themselves, and carved pumpkin lanterns are always popular choices to ramp up the atmosphere at Halloween, along with black cats, witchy brooms and pointed hats which can all be crafted as silhouettes in card or paper.

For more ideas, browse Studio’s Halloween collection at: www.studio.co.uk/shop/gifts---jewellery/gifts-by-occasion/halloween-gifts?beginIndex=0