Using Your Box of Old Halloween Decorations

By Chris Kullstroem

We all have one in the back of our closet, down in the basement or underneath a pile of dust in the attic: a box of old Halloween decorations that we just don’t know what to do with. Not wanting to throw it out (I mean it is Halloween stuff), but also at a loss as to how it could all be used. But never fear! You can turn all kinds of old and new decorations into the perfect additions to your Halloween inside and outside décor.

Halloween tea-light holders: Use these in your outdoor haunted graveyard or jack-o-lantern light show. Buy a big bag of tea lights for just a few dollars and have a lit attraction each night when the sun goes down. You can also use the candle holders indoors.

Scatter them throughout your Halloween village collection to make it come alive at night; line the staircase with sugar pumpkins and these small candles; put the candle holders in the windows next to your Halloween window decorations or jack-o-lantern.

Small Halloween knick-knacks and figurines: Boy these can sure add up throughout the years. But they are perfect for adding to your Halloween village collection on a bookshelf or end table, or for creating a village on their own. Halloween knick-knacks can also be used if you’re throwing a Halloween party or dinner party, to be placed by each person’s napkin, place card, or set by the taper candles and put within the centerpieces.

Need some Halloween atmosphere at work? Bring some of the figurines to the office and place them on your monitor. Old Costumes: They still look great, but they don’t fit and no one needs to borrow them for a party. No problem. Create dummies to wear the costumes on the front porch, guarding the candy bowl at your trick-or-treat station. Or use the costumes on the characters for your own haunted attraction or haunted walk-through. Old Trick-or-Treat Bags and Window Decorations: Plastic or paper treat bags and window decorations are great for making Halloween cards and invitations. Cut out the pictures and paste onto a blank card for inviting friends to your haunted attraction or Halloween party.

You can also make refrigerator magnets out of the cut-outs, or use as place cards or prizes in a grab bag at your Halloween party. Autumn-themed cloth napkins and placemats: If these have started piling up with each Halloween, use them as a base for your centerpieces of candles, pumpkins and Halloween figurines on your dining room table and end tables.

They can also be draped across the top of the television or bookshelf, and put on the front porch as a base for your jack-o-lanterns and candy bowls. Halloween ribbons: Orange, black and other Halloween-themed ribbons can serve many purposes. Tie them around rolled up Halloween invitations that you’ve made on your computer to give to friends and family. Wrap them around pumpkins you’ve placed both inside and outside the house. Drape them in flower arrangements for your Halloween party. Tie them to the fence around your jack-o-lantern light show or to the trees surrounding your scarecrow show.

So don’t leave that box of old Halloween decorations in the closet, basement or attic anymore… dig it out and put some finishing touches on all your Halloween arrangements, props and haunted attractions you’ll be putting on this season.