A tour of our FUN and playful basement Halloween decor.
I decorate our main living areas for fall every year (fall decor tour coming soon!), but the outside of our house and basement family room is where I have FUN with Halloween decor.
I started going all in on the Halloween down in the basement a few years when one of my sisters and I started a Hocus Pocus movie night tradition with our kids. Her kids are younger so I go crazy with Halloween decorating.
Nothing too spooky, and nothing is perfectly styled just so. We did our movie night last week and I thought it would be fun to share how I decorate this space for the month of October.
The large ceramic ghost was a Michael’s find earlier this year:
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The little skull and bat garland was Michael’s a few years ago, and the sparkly wall bats were from Kirklands last year:
I always pick up a little something for the kids…I found these adoyable (as they say) Halloween cups at the Target dollar spot:
The food for our movie night is always easy and fast — delivery pizza and dessert, Shirley Temples and of course, popcorn!
You can make the most basic food look festive on a themed plate!:
I’ve seen people DIYing these everywhere, and I was about to do the same when I found this set. It comes with everything you need — from the cauldron to the lights and the bulbs.
I was confused what the dried branches were for till I looked at the directions and saw it’s supposed to look like the cauldron is sitting on a fire…duh! So cute! It comes with the battery-operated lights for both parts.
It is SO fun and I was impressed with what we got for the price.
We’ve collected both Halloween and Christmas village items for years, and it’s a tradition to find a new item for both each year. For a long time that was the only Halloween we displayed down here, but now I go all out in the family room.
When you walk down the stairs, our ghost and Oogie Boogie (holding hands of course) greet you:
Again, everything is cute spooky, not scary spooky. 😉
Changing out light bulbs is another inexpensive way to make a room feel festive without spending much money. (I reuse them every year.) We quite like the orange and purple lights! They feel calming and definitely create a vibe down here.
I found some cute Halloween canvas prints but didn’t get around to putting them in frames, so I just tacked them to the wall with some sticky putty:
Speaking of ghosts, I made this window ghost with contact paper 15+ years ago and he’s still hanging in there!:
You can grab contact paper at the dollar store and make a bunch of these!
I’ve had a bunch of these black crows from the dollar store for years, and I like perching them in fun spots, like on top of a lamp:
These are a fun project to do with kids and you can make a bunch for a few bucks!
I have the supplies to try a DIY version of these but haven’t had the time to try it out. I’ll let you know how they turn out when I do!
The Halloween and Christmas villages are displayed on the long bench I built under our TV. I place black tulle down first, then add the pieces on top. When everything is set, I drape lights around the whole thing:
Do you spy the big googly eyeballs 👀? Those are so fun and I’ve found all of ours at the dollar store over the years.
We are basement people (that sounds weird) for sure…but the cooler months are our absolute favorite down there. It’s so cozy and fun!:
This is your reminder that not everything has to be perfectly curated, especially if you have kids! Our youngest will be 18 in a few months and he still loves when we bring all of this out. Who wouldn’t?
I’ll still do it when he’s off at college (no, I don’t want to talk about it 😂) because it’s fun and festive for all of us. We love the holidays and it should be enjoyable to decorate for them, not a chore.
