Easy & Sustainable Halloween Decor
Holiday decor is so fun to shop for and browse, but it can quickly become overwhelmingly expensive, take up too much room in storage, and add to trash bin at the end of the holiday season. I try to opt for more budget friendly and sustainable Halloween decor.
SUSTAINABLE HALLOWEEN DECOR – FREE BAT, CROW, & SILHOUETTE DOWNLOADS
Halloween kick starts the holiday season for me. It seems like we transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years and then we have a long dark pause for winter with Valentine’s Day that tries to unsuccessfully cheer us up out of our winter slump. When Halloween hits, I love to decorate to spark that holiday joy. Instead of shopping for new decor, every year I try to use sustainable Halloween decor.
When it comes to decorating I have three big rules. Holiday decor should be:
No big trip to Home Goods to buy plastic decorations that I have to store in my basement for next year.
I prefer quick things that I can make with what I have on hand, which in this case was just some black cardstock and my printer!
Access the Free Sustainable Halloween Decor Downloads
I’ve made all of these images as PDFs and SVGs all available in my freebies library, accessible by joining my mailing list!
Paper Bats
These paper bats are a go to Halloween decoration. They seem so magical all together, fill a large space, and are so simple. Just throw on a spooky movie or show (Sabrina is my favorite!) and cut away! The SVG files are great if you have a cutting machine, like a Cricut or a Glowforge. (All file downloads available by signing up for my email list! )
Paper Crows
Just like the bats, these crows are super easy to cut out of black cardstock and instantly add a bit of spookiness to any room. I added the perched sitting crows to some branches that I found outside and some flying crows on the wall behind. Try printing them out in different sizes and switching which direction they face to make them more interesting.
Silhouette Printables
I love a good Silhouette, as you can probably tell from the holiday ornaments I used to offer on Etsy. The more vintage looking ones are perfect for Halloween. I quickly drew up three different ones (last one featured on my mantle photo below), printed them out, and stuck them in some frames that I had. Instant spookieness!
You could also make these look a little more spooky by distressing them with black tea! Or adding them to more vintage looking frames.
Jack-O-Lanterns
I love to have pumpkins as fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving decor. They can last for quite awhile indoors. I like to invest in some of the more heirloom pumpkins from a local farm. The large ones work great as statement pieces and are easily composted at the end of the season.
I don’t want to cut my precious pumpkins up just for Halloween, so instead I just free hand cut a jack-o-lantern face out of paper and taped it onto the pumpkin. After Halloween I can simply recycle the paper and enjoy my pumpkin for another holiday.
You could also color a jack-o-lantern face on with Sharpie and simply turn the pumpkin around after Halloween so you can still enjoy it for Thanksgiving.
Tie in Fall Decor
An easy way to decorate for Halloween is to just add bits to your fall decor. I had this autumn wreath that I added a crow to and I kept my little wooden calendar up. Together I think it all ties together our great room.
Utilizing fall decor allows you to decorate for multiple occasions with the same supplies. Just think about how you can tweak or add to your existing decor to give it a bit of Halloween.
If you’re interested, I also wrote a blog post on Sustainably Decorating for Fall.
More Ideas to Sustainably Celebrate Halloween
Whenever a moment in time truly feels like a particular holiday it is more than just about the visual decor. When celebrating any holiday I encourage you to start some traditions. They are something to look forward to all year and make the season/holiday so special! Here are just a few ideas:
- bake pumpkin bread
- watch ET and eat reeses pieces
- watch another spooky movie
- check out Halloween books at your local library
- go trick or treating or pass out candy
- carve jack-o-lanterns
- have a bonfire
- eat candied apples
- make brownies with fun candy or sprinkles in them
- eat popcorn balls
