When I was younger, Halloween wasn’t really a ‘thing’ in our home. I grew up in a fairly religious household so rather than celebrate Halloween, I used to go to these ‘Light and Laughter’ parties held at the church which always felt a little bit like a poor man’s substitute. When I was old enough to do my own thing, it never really held much appeal to me – seemed like a lot of hassle… but now I’m a parent? I’m ALL OVER HALLOWEEN. The chance to dress my child up in novelty items and work on a themed party? Yes, please. The problem is, I obviously don’t have that much past experience to draw on, so I’ve needed to hunt out some ideas and here’s where I’ve discovered are the best places to hit for Halloween inspiration.

Cute but Scary Bat

1. Pinterest

I don’t know why I’m even saying this, because surely this is everyone’s top place to go to for inspiration for any occasion, right? Obviously, Pinterest is a treasure trove of ideas – some more elaborate and expensive than others (and I always think everything on Pinterest should be attempted with lowered expectations… normal people can’t make everything looks Pinterest-Perfect!), but I’ve been tracking down some fun, easy and cheap tips for Toddlers this Halloween that genuinely look do-able.

I’m definitely going to attempt some jelly worms – which could end up disastrously, but also found a easy looking skittle type game idea by making white paper cups into ghosts and using a pumpkin looking orange ball. What could do wrong with that? Pickle LOVES throwing stuff.

2. Duck Tape Crafts

Did you know that Duck Tape have a whole section of their website dedicated to craft ideas? It’s really opened my eyes just what you can achieve with enough ambition with simple tape! You can even filter the ideas by how much time you have or your skill level.

Halloween Sweet Dispenser with Duck Tape

I took some inspiration from their Pumpkin Sweet Dispenser box and made my own spooky monster version, complete with a waggly tongue and googly eyes! I’ve got quite a bit of tape left over, so I’m tempted to push the boat out and try and make a Halloween Tote bag – how impressive would that be?

3. Bits and Pieces in your own Home

Although I’m trying to declutter, I’m a hoarder at heart. Especially when it comes to crafts. I’ve got boxes and boxes filled with paper, cards, ribbons, threads, fabric scraps – you name it, I’ve probably stashed it away. Every time I see the boxes I thinkĀ I really ought to get rid of most of that but I can’t bear to throw anything away when itĀ could come in useful in the future. There’ll come a day when I’ll be kicking myself that I didn’t keep that straggly scrap of purple tissue paper – mark my words. To try and be economical and see what I already had, I pulled some craft boxes out to see if I had anything I could make good use of…

I found:

  • orange felt
  • googly eyes
  • lots of glitter and sequins
  • some PVA glue

The perfect makings for some spooky stiffened ghosts – I keep seeing videos of PVA-glue soaked cheesecloths draped over balloons and I’m wondering whether I could achieve the same effect with some of Pickle’s old muslin squares? Only one way to find out!

Art and Craft Supplies for Halloween

4. Hit the Bargain Shops

There’s nothing like a good mooch in Poundland to get your creative juices flowing. I always seem to end up buying some kind of glassware item that I have great plans for (and have made some pretty cool things in the past… glass painted vases and a bubble bath decanter spring to mind!). I got these Halloween themed stickers from Flying Tiger which isn’t something I’d have thought about buying, but now I’m really excited to have something non-sugary to offer to Trick or Treaters.

Flying Tiger Halloween Stickers

And that little orange pumpkin tealight holder in the background? That’s a paint your own pumpkin from Flying Tiger too. LPD has been working on that – he’s only done a base coat of orange so far, but he assures me that he’ll continue to layer it up until it looks spectacular. I’ve also placed a mahoosive Wilko order which I’ll be making the most of next week so stay tuned for some further Halloween inspo then!

5. Scary Movies & Their Soundtracks

I’m really not one for scary movies. At all. I just know I don’t like them and can’t imagine anything worse than settling down for the night with a horror film. But, if you can stand to watch one (or more!), you’re sure to get some horrible ideas. From costume ideas to eerie decor inspiration, there might be lots of visual stimulation but I’d recommend pulling up some soundtracks on Spotify too – not least because it gives me an excuse to listen to some Tubular Bells, The Exorcist style!

This has inspired me to make a whole Tubular Bells atmospheric playlist for our toddler Halloween party next week… I’m not the little ones will take a blind (or should that be deaf?) bit of notice but I think it’ll set the atmospheric tone perfectly. Now, I just need to go back to Pinterest and find a suitable gruesome looking drink that’s toddler friendly…!
Halloween Spooky Pumpkins
Disclaimer: we were sent a mixture of decorative tapes from Duck Tape, and a selection of craft goodies from Flying Tiger to help us prepare for Halloweeen. All opinions remain my own, and as always, 100% honest.