Are you just dying to have a fabulous Halloween, but the size of your bank account is scarier than Nightmare on Elm Street?  Never fear!  Try out these last minute tips for having a fun and stylish Halloween on a budget!

Mini Party/Decor

Throwing a small Halloween party for watching horror movies, telling scary stories, or getting ready for an even bigger party is an easy way to get in the spirit of the creepy season.  But who said the decor had to be gross or expensive?  This is when stores like Walmart and Target are life savers.  Over last weekend, Colton and I had a Scream movie marathon and I really wanted to get into the Halloween-y mood.  Walmart has some of the cutest plates and cups for events like this so I stocked up! Here are the pieces I bought, along with a few others you might want to include in your bash!

Black table cover | Striped ice cream cups | Polka dot paper plates | Polka dot flag banner | Polka dot Happy Halloween banner | Paper straws | Bat & pumpkin confetti | Don’t Drink & Fly napkins | Halloween cat napkins | Striped treat boxes (mine had pumpkins on them) | Black plastic tray (not listed online, but was about $5 in store) | Here’s a tip for the candy: the closer to Halloween you buy, the cheaper they’ll be!

The skulls you see above are from Home Goods (crackled silver skull: $7, glass skull: $9.99).  The cat bowl is from Hobby Lobby ($9.99) and guess what?  All fall/Halloween decor is 40% off this week at Hobby Lobby!  This is not a drill.  And don’t forget to try a little DIY and create your own glitzy pumpkins!

Trunk or Treat/Fall Festival

As I’ve said before, Trunk or Treat festivals are gaining popularity among churches and communities to create a safe environment for kids to trick or treat.  If you have volunteered to have a booth or a trunk at a festival, here is a fun and cheap way to decorate!  My church’s Trunk or Treat turned into an indoor festival due to rainy weather, but I was able to create a cute table with a cowboy theme on a budget!

For a table: cover the table with a country-esque table cover and add fun props like straw bales or swirled bandanas.  Then, tape western images to the front of the table.  Finally, turn cowboy hats upside down and fill with candy.

For a trunk: hang a country-esque table cover from the inside roof of the trunk so it drapes down to shield the inside of the car from view.  Tape western images all over the front of the table cover.  Fold bandanas diagonally over a string and hang with tape in front of the table cover so it drapes down the edges of the trunk.  Sit straw bales on the floor of the trunk and prop the upside down cowboy hats next to or on top of them.  Viola!  A fun trunk or table for your community’s festival!

Foam cowboy hats | Red & navy bandanas | Straw bales (funny story..my table/trunk was supposed to include two straw bales but I forgot I bought them) | Plastic bandana table cover | Sheriff badge print out | Cowboy boots & hat print out | Wagon wheel print out | Cactus print out

Costumes

Finding the perfect costume each Halloween can be a huge challenge.  If you’re like me, you’ll procrastinate until it’s too late to find (or pay for) a nice one from a Halloween store or painstakingly make one from scratch.  Here are a few last-minute, easy, and cheap Halloween costumes to try!

Sandy from Grease

All you need for this outfit is tight black pants, a black crop top, silver hoops, sky-high heels, and crazy curly hair!

“A” from Pretty Little Liars

Have a little black dress and red duct tape?  You got it!

Joel Goodsen from Risky Business

Raid your boyfriend’s, brother’s, dad’s, guy friend’s closet for a white shirt,

throw on some spandex shorts, tall white socks, and sun glasses and you’ve got this famous scene nailed!  (This was my costume last year!)