Embrace Halloween; Decorate with Fog!
If there’s one thing that Scott and I can agree on, it’s that Halloween is a really awesome holiday. Not only is it an excuse to dress up in fun costumes, but you have permission to create scary environments that people THANK YOU for designing! Oh, and there’s candy. What’s not to love about a holiday that involves all that?
Even before the kids were born we got into the spirit of Halloween. We would create a haunted house on the balcony outside our apartment and dress up in spooky outfits. Our dog even had an outfit to match. We scared the kids. And the adults. Most kids screamed then laughed. A few kids cried. Parents always thanked us for what we did. They thought it was cool and appreciated our interest in making the night memorable for everyone who visited. When we moved into a house, we used the garage to create an awesome haunted house. Using black lights, tarps, things hanging from the ceiling, creepy music and fog machines, we required trick-or-treaters to navigate a maze in our garage to get to the candy stash. Not interested in going into the darkness? Sorry. That’s where the candy was. It something we always enjoy doing.
When the kids were born, we dressed them up every year. As they got older, we made sure they understood that it was all in good fun. They would be frightened by a stranger sitting on his porch in a scary outfit but admitted it added to the intrigue of the evening. It’s cool to see how much they embrace the holiday now too.
Even when we don’t have time to do the full-on decorations, we still try to create the mood by blasting screams, creaks and scary tunes. We also run fog machines in a few different locations to give the feel of walking into a fog-covered graveyard. We’ve had a lot of people inquire as to how much we have spent on all these decorations. I’ll give you a little hint: our candy budget is more each year than our decorations!
We take advantage of promotions and sales to get items like the fog machine and 8.6″ Crystal Super LED Stage Light available on Amazon from 1byone. These types of items can be used for multiple years and multiple functions and aren’t very expensive to begin with. Unless you leave it outside in inclement weather, it should last you quite a while. When you factor in the current sale, right now at Amazon, it’s even better!
We always enjoy telling our friends some of our favorite ways to set the spooky tone for Halloween and here are some to consider for your home!
- “Christmas” lights with orange bulbs
- Fog machine
- Fog machine refills (because you’ll have so much fun you’ll find excuses to keep running it!)
- Specialty lighting such as a dome light
- Window coverings. It allows you to have your indoor lights on without impacting your tone outside.
- Music
- DIY craft ghosts
You can easily make your home the talk of the neighborhood with these very simple and inexpensive options. There’s even still time to get the 1byone fog machine and stage light in time for this year’s trick-or-treat night! Just don’t be surprised if some trick-or-treaters ask if they can use your yard for a photo opp!
What’s your favorite way to decorate for Halloween?
A fog machine is probably over my budget 🙂 Good ideas tho.
I’m a big Halloween fan. I am trying to find the money to build up to some good decorations along with the work of storing them. Just recently got a fog machine at a garage sale and managed to set off the smoke detectors in the house. It turned into a fire safety lesson.
I would love to get a fog machine. We love going all out for Halloween 😉
I’m totally not coming anywhere near your house LOL But I hope you all have a great time celebrating!
We don’t do a lot of outdoor decorations. My son frightens too easily. My husband would love to be over the top, if our boy wasn’t so afraid!
I just can’t get into Halloween decorating. But these are cute ideas. I love the fog machine.
Wow! Sounds like you have an amazing Halloween! I’m sure that those led lights and fog machine help to create a really scary environment. Having a maze is such a great idea!
I love decorating for Halloween, but since we just recently moved, I refuse to go dig in the boxes this year. Next year for sure I will have to use some of these ideas!
Whew–I am very glad I didn’t live near you when I went trick or treating–I would have been scared to death and left without the candy!! I’m sure all your neighbors and most of their kids love it!
A fog machine sounds cool. My husband and son would love to have one.
It would be such a blast to do this during trick or treat hours to spook the kids coming to the door. Fun, fun, fun!
I can’t believe that Halloween is already this weekend. My boys are so excited to get dressed up.
It would be so much fun to have a fog machine and appropriate lighting to add more spookiness! We’ll see if this will fit in our budget this year. I think we’ve gone over the top with candies and treats. 🙂
We love Halloween around here too and consider it one of our favorite holidays. Small things like lighting and fog machines really add the finishing touches to any display.
Very interesting!