Halloween 2020

I am so excited – it is almost time for Halloween again! I really don’t know why I like this “holiday” so much. Maybe it is the playful aspect, the chance to be a bit scary or the opportunity to play around with budget friendly DIY decorations. Well, not going to try and figure this one out. I am just going to have fun with our house and yard again. Anything to bring fun back to 2020, right?

Trick-or-Treat while Staying Apart

This has certainly been a year to remember so far. Most of us have avoided all types of social events and gatherings. And those of us that did attend some, did so with masks and plenty of hand sanitizer (I hope!!!). Trick-or-Treating is certainly the main event of a good Halloween and this year will not be that different from previous years in our neighborhood. Our HOA set some ground rules and encouraged all who participate to do so while staying safe. If costumes in stores are any indication, face coverings will be incorporated and even the DIY costume makers should not have a problem working one into their designs.

During previous Halloweens kids would ring our doorbell and I would present the candy bowl for them to pick their own “handfuls” of candy. That part is going to look the most different in our neighborhood this year. We’ve been asked to comply with social distancing and have a way to give out candy while staying apart. Well, challenge accepted!

Decorating for Halloween 2020

This year, we decorated the side of the garage that faces our main street and created a nice focal point here with a candy pickup area. The candy itself has been prepackaged in Halloween-themed bags (while I wore gloves) and we created a no-touch way of delivering this treat bag from the window of the room above the garage. Yes, we made a candy chute! More on that a bit later.

There is a pathway from our mailbox all the way to our candy pickup area. This is a one-way path and will have plenty of scary signs indicating this. Once the Trick-or-Treaters have collected their candy, they will have the option to exit to the left or to the right to continue on their candy collection journey. Along the path are more Halloween-themed decorations which will not only serve as scary reminders of the season but are used to block the way to the front door and our firepit area.

On Halloween night, we are planning to make a big fire and sit around our firepit and enjoy our Trick-or-Treat visitors’ costumes from a safe distance – safe for them and for us!

The Project List

• Pathways
• Directional Signage
• Candy Chute
• Table Decorations
• Garden Decorations
• Window Decorations

Pathways with Directional Signage

We used plastic pipes and tiki torches from our back deck to create an outline for our pathways. We found lightweight pipes at Home Depot (for a very reasonable price) and spent a bit of time this past weekend cutting them to size and giving them a light coat of black spray paint.

These were just pushed into the lawn (and tapped into place with a hammer) to form our path outline. We used caution tape – also from Home Depot – and tied it to the pipes to complete our pathway.

Coming down the street you will see the entrance right away. The torches will be lit at night and will create that bit of Halloween drama we are looking for. I have not made any of the spooky signage yet. We come from the Signage Industry (the family business still exists back in South Africa) and I’m going to spend some time this coming weekend on getting it “just right”.

We are letting the lawn grow a bit longer and will mow our two pathways on the morning of Halloween. I think that will be a nice touch.

Candy Chute

The candy chute was a lot of fun to make. I used a large PVC pipe from Lowes and gave it a light coat of black spray paint. I decorated one end with some hot glue, and black spray-painted feathers and created a tongue with red felt and eyes from foam balls. It will rest on a ladder covered in white sheets, that we will have up behind our candy table.

Table Decorations

The table is from our patio set and we covered it with a black plastic tablecloth. I added a big candy bowl and for added effect, some additional Halloween-themed decorations. I created some super creepy floating eyeball pieces and placed them on black candle sticks. In case you missed it, here is a post all about them.

The prepackaged bags of candy will slide down the chute and land right in the bowl. Our Trick-or-Treaters can easily collect them here and most importantly, we will all be more than six feet apart.

Garden Decorations

Our headless guy is actually a costume from a previous Halloween – 8 years old already. I usually prop him up with a long broomstick, add some shoes and use him in the corner of my foyer. This year, along with some caution tape, he is blocking off the path to our front door. I used a rake with the handle facing upwards. I tied the plastic headpiece to the handle using cable ties and used edge stones to weigh the rake head down. One stone in front and two at the back to keep him upright.

A ghost, some bats and spiders were hung from a tree along the main pathway. They offer that last bit of much-needed Halloween creepiness as you walk down the path.

Window Decorations

I’ve created some Halloween cutouts out of black paper over the past couple of years and have them up in all my upstairs windows. This continues to be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to decorate your house for Halloween. You can reuse the individual pieces and create a new layout/order for them every year. Or you can switch it up and create a new centerpiece yearly. I’m reusing my witch from last year in our main window above the front door.

I did change it up a bit for one of the garage windows this year. I found some large colorful plastic eyes at Dollar Tree and we created a curtain out of black trash bags. With proper lighting from behind, it looks like you are being watched by some large, strange creature as you come up to the candy table.

I removed a lot of our garden decorations for now (my family insisted) but cannot wait to put it all back on the day of Halloween. My DIY Halloween Wreath will stay up till the end of October – I’m displaying that DIY craft project proudly on my front door. Did you miss that post? Read all about it here.

On October 31st we’ll be ready with all the other smaller projects. Fingers crossed for nice weather and a glimpse of this year’s Halloween full moon.

Are you still missing decorations for Halloween? Here is a list of Halloween Must Haves that are available online this year!