Holy Budget Decorating for Halloween by Katie Kimball

My darling 4-and-almost-a-half-year-old son is head-over-heels for holiday decorating, and since Halloween is the first holiday since Easter, he’s gaga for the pumpkins, witches, and orange lights. We’ve been having fun stuffing and hanging ghosts and stretching spider webs this week, among other things. Halloween is a fun holiday to decorate for, because there’s not all the pressure of Christmas decorations, and hey – I’ve been waiting all summer to decorate for a theme, too!

The décor is so cheap and easy to find, too. I shopped years ago during the sales at Walgreen’s and picked up bats, a door-covering witch, spider webs and plastic spider rings, and a few odds and ends. Along with the front door plaque that I grabbed at an after-season sale for a buck, I have probably spent $10 or so on Halloween decorations, and they’ve lasted us Buddy Boy’s entire life so far! We received some orange lights (like Christmas lights, but orange) as hand-me-downs from my in-laws, which really helps the ambiance.

Holy Decorations Too

I also think it’s important to highlight the All Saints’ Day part of Halloween. At its origins, "All Hallow’s Eve" is holy because it’s the night before a feast day in the Church. We honor the dead who live forever with Christ in Heaven on November 1st, then pray for all the dead that they may be saints on All Souls’ Day November 2nd. We tacked up saint holy cards and made a sign saying "All Saints and Angels Please Pray for Us!":

The sign was a good day’s craft project for Buddy Boy, who had to color my bubble letters (drawn none too well, I’ll admit – it’s been years since my margin-doodling high school cheerleader days!), copy the words below in his own handwriting, and then cut out the words. He took pride in his work, and it underscored the meaning of the holiday. (He added the "please" in the phrase!)

I also keep some dollar-store wheat and a bunch of grapes around during the harvest season. This is to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and His call to us in the Last Supper to "do this in remembrance of me". The Eucharist is the ultimate Thanksgiving meal, so this centerpiece is the least I can do to honor Him amongst the scarecrows and harvest gourds.

wheat centerpiece

So. The house looks cute. The costume is picked out (he is giddy about being the same thing as last year, and who am I to fix what isn’t broken by suggesting something new?). Now what do we do about the sugary trick-or-treating candy?