I started off this Halloween season with costume shopping for little man, who was dying to be a ninja.  We saw a few ninja costumes at Walmart, all under $14 bucks.  I don’t know about you, but I remember them being $30 and up for little kids back in the day so I was thrilled to see the more budget friendly costumes this year.  We also started making a few simple & super budget friendly decorations like my Halloween Balloon spiders.  I also made some floating ghosts and trash bag balloon ghosts.  These are so easy to do. The cost is incredible and the Halloween how-to’s are below.

We decorated by hanging Halloween curtains, various bowls with candy (including the one in the video below), ghostly tablecloth, and little ghost & pumpkin tealight candle holders. LOVE the battery operated tealight candles, don’t you?

Two of Truett’s favorite things were the cups and blanket. He loved those!

He also really got a kick out of the bowl. Check out this short clip of him interacting with it…..

Trash Bag Balloon Ghost

For this, you will need a balloon, string & a large white plastic garbage bag. I would buy those cheap dollar store ones for $2 bucks and the balloons cost about a dollar.  Look for any string around your house; maybe some fishing string, yarn, or even old shoe laces.  Blow up the balloon and place it inside the bag. Gather the bag under the bottom of the balloon and tie it off with string to make the ghost’s head.

I suggest using permanent markers to decorate a spooooooooooky face!  Use another piece of string and add to the top of the ghost to hang it up.  Cost per ghost – .50 cents

Floating Ghosts!

These are always fun and make the little ones go stare.   For this craft project, you’ll need:

• a white helium balloon for each ghost
• markers
• sticky tape
• plus two white plastic grocery bags.

Cut the handles off the bags, then cut the remainder of each bag into one inch strips, cutting from the open end to about two inches away from the bottom seam.  Get it?  It’s gonna look like a fringe skirt so to speak.

Use the clear sticky tape to fasten one cut-up bag halfway around the bottom of the balloon. Put the second cut-up bag around the other half of the balloon.

Draw on a spooky face with markers – and don’t forget to tie a string to the bottom of the balloon to keep the ghost from flying away!  I suggest fishing line for this for a more real look.  Cost per ghost – .15 cents

I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program.  Join me and my fellow Walmart Moms (Domestic Diva, Wholesome Mommy, Frugal Upstate, MommyBrain Reports, Chic Shopper Chick, Consumer Queen, Sophistishe, Green Your Decor, Lille Punkin, and Being Frugal) as we try to have the best Halloween for less at Walmart.  Walmart has provided me with compensation to blog about Halloween Savings at Walmart.  Participation in this program is voluntary. As always, all opinions are my own.

When people walk in the door, they’ll see the Witch’s Cauldron which is awesome and when it get’s closer to Halloween, I’ll fill it with gory eyeballs and slimy worms.  Until then it will just have to stay empty because my kids would eat it all anyways.

The 8 foot Spider decoration and the Witch’s Cauldron can be found at Spirit Halloween. I found a TON of things I wanted from the site like their yard decor.  Wow, you talk about some scary stuff there!!  The half man coming “out” of the ground was really cool.  They have fog machines, inflatables, and even tons of body parts to ensure for a ghoulish Halloween!

I try to buy a few decorations every year to add to the collection.  Some other things we do our change tablecloths and placemats, put up pumpkins, pumpkin table decorations with lights, orange & black candles, and hang other smaller spiders & webs.

Time for some Halloween Safety Tips!

• •    Create safe costumes. Helping your child pick out or create a Halloween costume can be a fun, bonding activity, but it’s also important to keep in mind safety when selecting the perfect get-up. Make sure your child’s costume is made from fire proof materials and that eye holes in their masks are large enough for good peripheral vision. Always be sure your child carries a flashlight, glow stick or has reflective tape on their costume to make them more visible to cars.
• •    Equip your children with important information. Even if you plan to trick-or-treat with your child, secure emergency identification (name, address, phone number) discreetly within Halloween attire or on a bracelet.
• •    Know your surroundings. Use services like Neighborhood Watch or Intelius’s Property & Neighborhood Report to identify and locate sex offenders when charting your child’s trick-or-treating route.
• •    Don’t go off the beaten track. Be sure to tell your child to stay on neighborhood sidewalks and in well lit areas and avoid cutting through parks, vacant lots, fields and other places that are less populated. If you are another adult are not accompanying him or her, tell them to stop only at familiar houses in your own neighborhood.
• •    Decorate safely. Nothing beats spooky Halloween decorations to give your trick-or-treaters a harmless scare, but be sure to remove anything that could be an obstacle from lawns, steps and porches. It’s a holiday staple, but candlelit jack-o’-lanterns should be kept away from landings and doorsteps where costumes could brush against the flame. Keep indoor jack-o’-lanterns away from curtains and other furnishings that could be ignited.
• •    Inspect candy before doling it out. Instruct your children not to bring home any treats to be examined by you before they indulge. Cooking up a Halloween dinner will make them less likely to gobble up the candy they collect before you have a chance to check it for them.

What do you do to decorate in the Spirit of Halloween and do you have any safety tips to share?

Safety Tips courtesy of Intelius and the Spider and Cauldron courtesy of Spirit Halloween.