7 Fast and Easy Indoor Halloween Decorating Ideas

7 Fast and Easy Indoor Halloween Decorating Ideas

Even with only a couple of days until October 31, it is not too late to decorate. Pumpkins from the grocery store, leaves from the backyard and a couple of items around the house can change a table or mantel to Halloween central.

Family Portrait at Pumpkins

Forget carving. Forget covering the entire pumpkin using paint. Just put in a circle of leftover chalkboard paint to one side of each pumpkin and draw on some funny faces (anybody you know come to mind?) . Do the family, a group of friends, your pets or even Mr. Jack-o’-Lantern himself.

content coordinator Johanna Cookson found that painting all over made them spoil faster. So she came up with the concept of merely painting a circle on front with chalkboard paint and writing Halloween messages onto it. Not only does this brilliant shortcut conserve the majority of the pumpkins’ joyful orange shade, but we also believe it creates the perfect canvas for faces.

To produce your own pumpkin family portrait:

1. Select pumpkins in various shapes. Look for smooth sides without too many blemishes or deep ridges. Wash and dry your pumpkins completely.

2. Paint chalkboard circles using a paintbrush an inch or so wide. Apply three or more layers of paint, allowing the paint to dry thoroughly between each coat.

3. Rough up the end of a piece of chalk before drawing on the pumpkin. The square borders of a fresh piece of chalk can scrape off the chalkboard paint. Should this happen, simply touch up the mist using paint.

4. Erase any goofs or smudges using a moist paper towel. You can also fully erase your faces and attempt different people, hairdos and expressions.

5. Finish off your landscape with grocery store mums along with a vase of leaves and twigs, and candles if you prefer. (Do not leave candles unattended, and be sure to keep wicks well away from leaves)

Next: 6 quick Halloween structures for shelves, tables or mantels

Nevermore

Repurpose one of your chalkboard pumpkins (or simply use an unpainted one) for a Halloween screen with a touch of glam. Wire a faux crow from the crafts store on a classic candlestick and set it onto a bed of fall leaves and pumpkins. Add a Halloween card or a piece of clip art (in this case, Edgar Allan Poe) on an orange and black backdrop. Light the candle, dim the lights and pull out your copy of “The Raven.”

Layout and styling by Sara Jamison

Halloween Banner

Fill a pitcher with fall branches and arrange miniature pumpkins onto a bed of leaves in the base. String letters forming a Halloween message on a newspaper banner and pin it over your arrangement.

Layout and styling by Sara Jamison; banner by Cheri Williams

Rikki Snyder

Clip-on Shade

Walk down a tree-lined city road and keep an eye out for fall color, such as these walnut leaves. Pick up some fairly ones and press them at a book for an hour or two to sew them. Subsequently clip them to a string with mini clothespins from the crafts store and hang them over miniature pumpkins along with a vase of candy corn.

Layout and styling by Rikki Snyder

Rikki Snyder

Halloween on a Tray

There is space for Halloween at the tiniest of spaces. A miniature pumpkin, jam jars of cider and candy corn are a celebration when assembled onto a tray.

Rikki Snyder

Go Bare

Starkly bare branches and a pair of white pumpkins are no less effective for their simplicity.

Rikki Snyder

Give the Apple Its Because

You may already have lovely red apples in the kitchen, waiting to become a part of your fall lunches, snacks and desserts. Before dipping them to caramel, turn them into star attractions on a tabletop or shelf.

Are you currently decorating indoors this year? We would love to see your picture in the Comments below!

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