Easy peasy diy Halloween decorations

So ... I'm just going to say it ... I have a scaredy cat for a daughter ... not ashamed to admit it because, lets be honest, I'm a scaredy cat too (at least when it comes to ghosts ... still can't watch sixth sense ... yeaaa) ... well ... because of this (and because I don't own any decorations for any holiday) I had to create some kind of something to be festive ... oh wait ... did I forget to tell you that we are broke ... whellp ... we are ... give us some credit I just graduated college in May and R did the May before ... besides ... we live in Logan and that pays like crap ... anyway (man ... can you tell I've been grumpy recently! how sassy am I right) ... so anyway that was the task I sent out to accomplish ... create practically free kid friendly Halloween decorations that will work with a limited amount of space (R and I don't have a lot of space for a lot of decor ... we work with what we have).  I searched pinterest over and over again ... trying to see what I could paste together ... and this is what I came up with:

now ... I lucked out ... and all of these things I usually have on hand in my craft buckets ... and lucky for you none of what you need is expensive ... all in all I would say that this will cost you well under five dollars ... all you need to complete something like this is this:

1. black card-stock
2. white paper (even computer paper would do ... card-stock is best though)
3. Tissue paper
4. twine
5. sharpie
6. exacto knife
7. scissors
8. glue ( I used hot glue ... but you may not want to ... I'll explain why later)
9. cutting board

now ... to make the silhouettes I just looked at what Halloween houses looked like and free handed them ... here are what mine look like up close so you can copy these if you like:

sorry ... the picture is a little blurry

I cut the main frame of the houses out with scissors then used an exacto knife to cut out the windows and the curtains ... putting them on the cutting board to cut so I would not ruin the carpet or counter ... I wanted the silhouettes to be in one piece ... to do this I left little pieces to connect the door to the building ... as you can see. 

Ghosts are ghosts ... all you need to do is free-hand a little blob on white paper and cut it out ... using the sharpie to draw in eyes and a mouth ( I drew my mouth to make it look like the ghost is saying oooooooo ... ha!). 

Next is the banner ... I used a cup as a stencil to make the circles ... then free-handed the letters ... though ... it may have been easier to use a stencil ... I just didn't have one ... lame ... luckily they didn't turn out terrible ... now to the explanation of the glue ... To stick the letters onto the circles ... then the circles to the twine ... sticking the circles to the twine worked well with hot glue ... ish ... as did the letters ... but look what is did:

What you will notice when you look this close up are what look like perpetually wet marks on the letters ... on one hand you really can't see them from far away ... on the other, it really gives someone with OCD (like me) the twitches ... but I'll make do ... the other kind of glue I thought about would be a glue stick ... if someone tries this please let me know how it goes! 

I crumpled up my tissue paper because I thought that it gave it a Halloweenie look ... if you want it flat but can't get the creases out that come from it just being in it's package you can always throw it on the ironing board with a towel over it and iron it (don't hold it on there for too long ... the paper will probably melt) ... you can also punch holes in the circles and thread the twine through them if you don't like the huge glue globs  on the back! 

So that's it! Practically free, kid and budget friendly Halloween decorations! 

Other things I am wanting to try:

1. Mod podge-ing black lace onto pumpkins
2. spray painting a broom (the one we bought for three dollars at the DI [aka: Utah thrift store] is what this is for) to make it become a witches broom 
3. taking pallet wood (which you can get for free you know ... my father-in-law owns a nursery and they burn theirs when they are with them ... If you ask they will give) and making a sign for the door ... maybe I will actually do this for Thanksgiving ... use two pieces ... one that says "give" the other saying "thanks" ... I will totally do that now! great ... get excited for that craft on the blog!!! 

Ok ... have a good night my friends! Happy crafting!