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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Irvine chapter.

 

 

Here are three cheap and easy ways to get in your dorm in the spooky spirit this halloween- DIY style.

 

Candy Corn Garland

Materials:

Paper plates

String or ribbon

Orange, yellow, and white paint or markers

Tape or glue

Scissors

 

Instructions:

  1. Cut paper plate into triangles (like you cut a pizza).

  2. Paint or color triangles in candy corn colors- white, yellow, then orange at the bottom. Let them dry.

  3. Cut string or ribbon at desired length of garland leaving four inches extra at each side to tie a loop.

  4. Tie a small loop at either end of string.

  5. When your paper plate candy corns are done drying, attach the back of them to the string using glue or tape with the yellow base at the top and the white point towards the floor.

  6. Hang across your dorm window by either taping to the ceiling or by attaching mini command hooks to the ceiling and hooking the looped ends of the garland to them.

 

Tips:

  • To get desired opaque look when painting the paper plate triangles, wait for the first coat to thoroughly dry before applying a second coat so that the paint does not become patchy.

  • For a mismatched look, alternate different sized paper plate triangles.

 

 

Recycled Paper Pumpkin

 

Materials:

Pumpkin of choice

Modge-podge

Paint brush

Old assignments or any cute paper

Paint (optional)

 

Instructions:

  1. Find a cute pumpkin (not too big because we all know dorms are itty-bitty!).

  2. Rip old school work or cute paper into pieces.

  3. Paint modge-podge onto pumpkin and attach a scrap of paper. Paint modge-podge over scrap of paper.

  4. Repeat step three, layering scraps of paper on pumpkin like a collage until the entire pumpkin is covered.

  5. Paint the stem of pumpkin in color of  your choice (optional).

 

Tips:

  • After modge podge is dry, you can paint in fun letters any words, “Halloween” or otherwise, on the pumpkin. (ex. “Boo” or “Spooky”)

  • Don’t let the pumpkin sit in your dorm for too long because it can rot! For a forever cute pumpkin, there are plastic ones at craft stores.

 

 

Window Bats

 

Materials:

Black construction paper

Tape

Pencil

Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Fold construction paper in half and draw half a bat (part of body with one ear and wing).

  2. Cut out shape.

  3. Unfold to find a symmetrical bat silhouette.

  4. Fold piece of tape (so it is double-sided) and stick to one side of bat.

  5. Tape to window.

  6. Repeat steps as many times for desired number of bats.

 

Tips:

  • Create different sized bats and tape them to the window so that all the small ones are at the top corner and they gradually get larger as the bats point toward the bottom corner of the window. This way it looks like a colony of bats is getting closer.

 

 

Be creative and get spooky!

 

Photographer and writer studying art and literary journalism at UCI. I like food, fashion and photos.
Crystel Maalouf

UC Irvine '18

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