Halloween can be SUPER complicated, for a holiday that is mostly for children. Let’s make a simple Halloween so that we can enjoy our family, vs stressing about all of it!
I hate decorating.
There.
I said it.
I always thought I would love it. But, the whole process of getting everything out, only to put it away is just a turn off for me.
My husband actually does all of our Christmas decorating. I actually like it DONE, I just don’t like the process of DOING it.
Oh, and picking it out and spending money on it — I don’t like that either. But, I have a daughter who ABSOLUTELY LOVES it. And I hate to deprive her of it entirely. Here are my lucky seven tips to Halloween for the lazy busy mom:
This post was originally written in Sept 2016, with an update in 2018.
Tips to Simplify Halloween:
Go for big. Instead of thousands of small decorations (think: tons of time to put up, and tons of time to put away) go for something big and fun. Something you all really like. A big wreath, a big thing on your entertainment center. Put it up, bring it down, boom.
Involve that kid. If she loves decorating so much, why don’t I give her the joy of picking some things out at the store? Supermom bonus points!
Go giant on the costume. That’s super-individualized and can take a lot of thought and is in public where people will see you. Making fun costumes was something I always enjoyed doing for my family (until my teenager ruined it by hating them).
What DO you like? I prefer activities, so if there is something fun we can go do or even a fun movie to watch I’d rather do that….
Window clings. She puts them up, she takes them down. A total win for me. And she LOVES them. AND, we have lots of WINDOWS!!!!
Shop thrift. If the expense of the season is what has you putting Halloween on the back burner, think about shopping at the thrift stores. The beauty of Halloween is that you can always cover other stuff in black paint and call it a Halloween decoration. AT least, that’s what I’ve seen on Pinterest. 🙂 #neverdoneit
Fake it with food! Cut that hot dog into an octopus, make witches fingers out of breadsticks. Very little extra effort, and yet — very Halloween-y (these cookies seem very festive!) Total win you witch! 🙂
Hopefully, these 7 tips have you dancing with your striped tights on.
Holidays, decorating and being the party-mom isn’t for everyone, but we can feel competent and excited to share the holidays with our family. All without a ton of our time.
If you liked this post, be sure to sign up for my Practical Parenting newsletter:
And be sure to check out all my other Halloween posts:
[pt_view id=”0726fa8b7b”]
Candace says
I used to like be decorating for holidays, but now it does seem like more of a hassle! I do love the big decoration idea. My DD should be able to handle big decorations.
Hilary says
Bigger is better, right?
Lynness says
I am with you, sister! I love the look, but it’s not worth the effort to drag it all out just to put it away a couple of weeks later. I have now delegated the Christmas tree lights to my oldest, and the younger kids do the ornaments. I don’t care if it looks like kids decorated it, ’cause I have 5 kids and I didn’t have to do it! Activities, food, thrift…check, check, check!
Hilary says
Yay! We’re so smart!
Stephanie says
Love this!! I love Halloween and always getexcited for it. But I just don’t have the Halloween bug this year. 🙁
Hilary says
Seems like it wanes every year for me. 🙂