It can be really hard to get into the Halloween spirit when your dorm room isn’t festive. And if the decorations look cheap, you’ll only find yourself pining away for the harvest days of yore, full of pumpkin-carving, hay bales, and fake spiderwebs that made your heart pitter-patter with fright. So here are a few DIY ideas to beat the dorm-room blues and get you back into the autumn swing of things for $5 or less. (All materials can be found at a dollar store.)
Spider Web Wall Hangings
What you’ll need:
String, picture frames, stapler, scissors
Take the backing out of your picture frame so that it’s an empty frame, and cut various sizes of different pieces of string. Tie a small knot at the very end of the string and then staple the knotted end into the back of the frame so that the string doesn’t come loose. Tie a knot on the other end of the string and staple the other end to the opposite side of the frame to create a straight line across. Repeat this three or four times until the quantity of legs for the web look right. Next, cut a new piece, and tie it to one of your legs starting towards the center and start to connect the legs together. Wrap your string around each leg at least once, and tie your string once you reach the end. Get creative and wrap it in tiers or make one giant spiral! You can even add a toy spider by tying him into the web, or letting him hang from the bottom of the frame.
Don’t like the color of your picture frame? Paint it!
Mummy Door
What you’ll need:
White crepe paper, tape, scissors. Optional: construction paper.
Completely wrap door in white crepe paper. Either wrap it so that both sides of the door are decorated, or cut and tape on the sides if wrapping is a fire hazard. After door is covered, go back and add additional pieces sporadically in different directions to add layering in some spots. To embellish, cut out paper and tape to the top of the mummified door. Examples: Cut out two big white circles and two small black circles and tape them together to look like eyes coming out of the crepe paper. Or, cut black pieces of construction paper into bats, tape the body onto the door, and bend the wings out to look like they are flying.
Harvest Garland
What you’ll need:
String, scissors, paint samples, thick needle or hole puncher
You know those free paint samples that you can get in Walmart and basically any hardware store? Go in, grab all different autumn shades such as oranges, yellows, reds, browns, etc. Then cut out pieces of these paint samples and piece them together to create something having to do with harvest or Halloween. You can do pumpkins, leaves, candy pieces, etc. once each item is assembled, take a thick needle or hole puncher and insert holes on each side of your item so you can thread the string through to create a garland. Make sure the spacing is even as you go, and tie knots just behind each item so they don’t move. Once all your items are laced onto the string, hang that sucker up!
Potion Jars
What you’ll need:
Jars (either Mason jars, empty candle jars, or any interesting glass jar you have lying around), water, food coloring, Ping Pong balls, markers
Take ping pong balls, and draw on them to make them resemble eye balls. Create as many as you want that can fit into your jar. When done, place your ping pong balls into the jar, and fill the jar with water. Put a few drops of food coloring into the water so that the water looks like an old chemical. Place the top on your jar and place out in the open. You’re sure to send a shiver down anyone’s spine!
You can also get creative with this one. Fill your jar with uncooked pasta, or a small piece of cauliflower to look like brains. Or, to take it to the next level, pop in some doll heads. Add a label to the front of your jar if you like, or make multiple jars. The sky is the limit!