Dress This Mess > Spooktacular Halloween Decor

If my kids had their way, our house would be "Halloweened" all year round. The chorus of "Can we decorate?" usually starts somewhere towards the end of August. In an effort to NOT give the neighbors the impression that we worship anybody other than the big G, I try to hold them off until the last weekend in September. After that, It's game on, or should I say, ghoul on. Oh, come on. That was funny! Here's some ideas to steal for your own Halloween haunt:

A flock of bats:

Use a bat template (download here) and trace onto a folded piece of black cardstock. Then find yourself some bored minions to do all your bidding bat cutting for you. I find that you get great results from them when bribed with dessert...

Add some fun spooky accessories and you have yourself a cool, bat flocked mirror. Feels very Edgar Allen Poe, doesn't it?

Or how about a little scare for your guests as a creepy skeleton peers out from what looks like an ordinary mirror?

You too can do this by taking a cheap mirror and removing the paper backing. First print out your image and decide where you want to place it on the mirror. Next, turn the mirror over and use a razor blade to gently and slowly scrape off the finish from the back of the mirror. Keep checking the position and how the picture looks from the front as you do this. You don't want to completely remove all of the finish from one spot, just remove enough that you can just barely make out an image, as you are peering at the mirror from the front. Once you have the desired effect, tape the image to the back and hang for a great Halloween effect.

Another great and easy way to spookify your home, is to take simple tablecloths and sheets and drape them over your furniture to give it that "abandoned" look.

You can even use it as a fun, Halloween party photo op!

Another great Halloween decorating tip to get the most bang for your holiday decorating buck is by checking out the dollar stores. All the big stores carry fun and pricey decor this time of year, but the dollar store has all the same stuff for, well, only a dollar!

Check out what you can do:

Lots more to come, keep checking back. Happy decorating!

~Angela