Decorate for less this holiday season

These days, it seems less costs more. Whether you're buying groceries or clothes for work, you might have noticed the higher price tag, trying to stretch every dollar a little bit further.

Repurposing things you already have, things you might normally throw away, to decorate for the holidays means you can spend more money on candy and costumes for the kids. Not only that, reusing and recycling help the planet!

Here are some ideas to get you started on making your own Halloween decorations.

If you have a cardboard box:

The world is your oyster! Corrugated cardboard has lots of DIY uses. You could cut it in half circles and hot glue them together to make cardboard pumpkins.

You could also trace and cut out shapes on a flat piece to make whatever you (or your child) can think of. With a little acrylic paint (you can get some cheaply from Walmart), cardboard becomes a black cat, a spooky pumpkin or even Bluey, depending on your artistic ability.

If you have empty toilet paper rolls:

I recently saved a video from instagram user Tina Le Mac (@tinalemac) showing how she took the cardboard part of a toilet paper roll and turned it into garland! By flattening the rolled cardboard into a diamond shape, she created triangles similar to a store-bought banner, but paintable and fully customizable.

If you have some leftover candle wax:

Someone on the internet recently shared a video about her family's tradition. Each year in fall, they gather pretty leaves from outside, melt the leftover candle wax they've accrued over the years, and then dip the leaves in the wax. Doing this preserves the leaves (and makes them smell nice), and then they string the leaves in a garland and display them.

This could easily be done with unscented wax from Michael's if you want to be able to add your choice of scented oil to the mix. I could also see tying the leaf stems together to form something like a bouquet and displaying them that way.

If you have this paper:

You can make papier-mache and create anything! You'll also need some school glue, which you might already have if you have young children.

Cut this paper into strips and dip in a 1:1 mix of school glue and water. Drape the wet paper onto a form - you could use a balloon for this, or I found a pumpkin-shaped wreath frame at Dollar Tree I was going to use. What you use as structure determines how the papier mache will dry.

Once dried, you can paint over the newsprint, punch holes on the edges to tie string and make a face mask. You could hot glue something like a pipe cleaner to your creation to add texture. The options are endless.

If you have the time but not the resources:

This has happened to me more times than I can count.

For Halloween specifically, I saw a video on Instagram by @rachelteems.art where she made Pillsbury Halloween cookie coasters. I wanted to make my own because they're so cute, but I couldn't find the wooden coasters she used at any craft stores. I wondered about water staining on the wood, but I couldn't find any ceramic coaster shapes in stores either.

Imagine my delight to find out that Sumter County Gallery of Art offers open pottery studio time on Fridays. For as little as $8, I was able to start on my coasters and ask all my pottery-related questions of the wonderful volunteers. Because of how I'm making these coasters, I'm going back over the next couple of weeks to paint and complete them, but I'm excited! Visit their website for more: www.sumtergallery.com.

Happy crafting!