The Clock is Ticking!

Only 4 more days ’til Halloween!  Here are a few last minute green Halloween ideas to help you put the final touches on your Halloween decorations, and your party.

Recycled Pumpkin

Here’s a great recycling idea!  This pumpkin decoration is made from an empty laundry detergent jug.  Just add some construction paper facial features and leaves, and a green pipe cleaner to complete the look, and this would make a cute table centerpiece.  You could also hang these recycled Halloween decorations from their handles with string.

Homemade Halloween Treats

Whatever you do, don’t forget about the treats, or you’ll be the target of every trickster in the neighborhood!  Homemade Halloween snacks are always a better alternative than prepackaged, trash-generating items.  Here are some fun ideas for decorating Halloween cupcakes.

Think Ahead!

Why not plan a costume exchange for next year?  What a waste to get only one use out of Halloween costumes!  Before you put everything away, invite the neighbor kids, cousins, co-workers,etc. over for a quick costume exchange.  You’ll be saving money, and reducing landfill waste.

Pumpkins are probably the best of all green Halloween decorations:  they’re 100% organic, they’re the perfect color for Halloween, and they are nutritious too.  Our favorite pumpkin decorations are Jack-O-Lanterns.  Every year we set aside an evening for making them.  Here are a few tips for carving your Halloween pumpkins:

1) Line your work area with old newspapers.  This makes cleanup easy, and allows you to reuse any old newspaper you have laying around.

2) For help with making the faces on your Halloween pumpkins, go through your kitchen cabinets to find just the right shapes.  Sometimes the bottom of a drinking glass, pepper grinder, or spice container is the perfect shape for an eye, or a mouth.  Just trace the bottom of the container right onto the pumpkin, and carve.

3) For more complicated designs, draw them on paper first, and cut out the designs.  Attach to your pumpkin with toothpicks or tape, and rub on a little cornstarch or baby powder.  When you remove the paper pattern, the powder remains, giving you a guide for cutting.

4) No-carve pumpkins:  Let small children use up scraps of old fabric, buttons, or shapes cut from colorful cardboard packaging by gluing on their own pumpkin designs.

5) What to do with your pumpkins after the carving is done?  For a nutritious snack, you can make roasted pumpkin seeds, or for a sweet treat, make pumpkin pie squares.  Also, used up Jack-O-Lanterns make great composting material.

As you search for green Halloween ideas, don’t forget about solar powered Halloween decorations to help create some ghastly fun and a spooky atmosphere for your Halloween party.  With these solar powered decorations, you won’t have to worry about wasting energy, running up your power bill, or adding disposable batteries to landfills.

The solar powered corpse above is 16 inches tall, and holds a solar lantern.  Place the corpse at  ground level to create the look the it is emerging from the ground.  A built-in solar panel charges the included rechargeable batteries during the day, and the lantern automatically turns on at night.  There is an on/off switch if you don’t want to use the automatic feature. The solar corpse is available at Oriental Trading Company.

Here’s more green Halloween décor.  This string of of solar powered LED lights will operate for up to 8 hours from one day of charging in the sun.  The strand of Halloween lights is 26 feet long, and is comprised of 60 individual LED light bulbs that are rated to last 100,000 hours.  I found the solar powered Halloween lights at Improvements for $24.97.

Soy candles are an excellent idea for green Halloween decorations, because soy wax burns much cleaner than the paraffin wax used in traditional candles. This Halloween pumpkin candle, from Beyond Making Scents, is made from 100% soy wax, and has a lead-free wick. It is available in many scents, including candy corn and pumpkin pie, to really spice up your Halloween party.

Here are a few green living tips on burning candles:

Soy Wax vs. Paraffin Wax: Did you know that paraffin is actually a fossil fuel by-product and it releases chemicals when it burns? According to GreenSpace Candles, paraffin wax releases petrol-carbon soot, which introduces toxins to your home. Soy wax is a natural product, and burns cooler and cleaner than paraffin.

Soy Wax is Renewable: Soy wax is a produced from soybeans, which are a renewable resource.

Soy Wax is Water Soluble: If you end up with a spill of soy wax on a coffee table or countertop, it will clean up easily with just warm water.

Here’s the best idea in green Halloween decorations I’ve seen yet- a wreath made from garlic. Not only will this garlic wreath make an all natural addition to your Halloween décor, but you will have a good dose of vampire repellent hanging right on the front door (just in case). Here’s some information on garlic and vampire folklore to share at your Halloween party.

And don’t forget about solar-powered Halloween decorations for great green Halloween ideas. This evil little gargoyle is solar-powered, and he’ll creep out your guests with his illuminated green eyes when it gets dark. One of these on each side of your front steps would make a very Gothic entrance to your Halloween party. I found the gargoyle at Online Discount Mart.