it’s that spooky time of year again and as you know, we here at becothings are rather partial to a bit of a party… and there is no better party than a halloween party. you get an excuse to dress up, eat lots of candy and play pranks on the teddy… what’s not to love?! here is a snap of all of us dressed up in our costumes… as you can see, we decorated the jungle so it was suitably spooky. don’t worry though, we made sure all our decorations were made from recycled bits and bobs. just because orange is the colour of halloween doesn’t mean you can’t still be green!
if you’re still planning for your fright night then here are some great green ideas we found useful:
need a costume? well then, make like the parrot and elephant and go for the easiest costume of all, a ghoulish ghost… all you need is an old white sheet and a pair of scissors and you’re good to go! if you fancy something a bit more adventurous [and flattering!] then how about a bat costume made out of an old umbrella? check out this great how to guide. if you have some old boxes you haven’t got round to recycling yet then you have the perfect raw materials to make a witches hat [like i did] or use with an old sheet dyed black to make a dracula style vampire cape. the teddy and the cat put their cardboard engineering skills to good use and made some great devil masks… though the teddy did go a tad overboard with the glitter! we also had fun with face paints… a fun way of adding to your costume without buying a bad for the environment rubber mask. if you don’t have any you can make your own by combining cornstarch, solid shortening and food colour.
if you are off trick or treating [free candy!] then why not take one of our becobags to carry all your spoils in? haven’t got a becobag yet? well don’t worry, you can easily make a treat bag from an old pillowcase or fabric… have fun decorating them with fabric paint, cut-out shapes, stickers and glitter [again, we had to prise the glitter pens out of the teddy's paws!]. you can design the treat bag to match your costume and re-use it next year… much better than those plastic treat bags sold in stores that often break and aren’t always recyclable.
looking for some spooky decorations to make your place look freaky and fun? the giraffe suggested we just didn’t clean for a few weeks to let some cobwebs build up… though i think he was just being lazy! if you’re after a less dusty halloween then cardboard is your friend here… you can make tombstones, hanging bats [old egg cartons are ideal] and spiders [use some old straws or pipe cleaners for legs], skeletons and even a 3D coffin! carved pumpkins are also fantastic, as well as being loads of fun to carve! just make sure you don’t waste any by making some yummy pumpkin soup or cake. if you like getting down and dirty then use old newspapers to make some paper mâché decorations… maybe a spooky severed head or a giant spider. got some old sheets or clothes lying around? shred them up into strips to make door hangings or stuff the clothes with straw and wrap with shredded sheet to make a life size mummy. old tin cans can be decorated to make candle holders for some ambient lighting or tie then together with some string and old bottle tops and hang in a window for some haunting wind chimes.
finally, just remember to reuse and recycle… the only limit is your creativity. we hope you have a freakishly fun-filled halloween… if you see us trick or treating then we are rather partial to chocolate treats… and the dog has asked if you could stock up on scooby snacks for him!
natalie the bunny. x.
