With Halloween just around the corner, we decided this would be a great time to teach you how to make your holiday decorations innovative and original. No one likes looking like a copycat, and especially not when it comes to holiday decorations. But at the same time, few people are willing to break the bank to show off their creativity. Here, we break down a few tips to make your decorations unique and affordable.

1) Buy Cheap

Look at this Halloween wreath from blogger Beth Connelly. This is a perfect example of working with what you have to be creative.beth-connolly-wreath

As you can see in the picture, she starts with a simple Halloween wreath, but works some Dollar Tree magic to make it look fantastic. Spending just $10 at stores like Michael’s and Paper Source was enough for Beth to pull together a demonic, eyeballed wreath. She said it took her 10 minutes to add all the decorations, and the results speak for themselves. Decorating doesn’t need to break the bank: keep it simple and cheap.

2) Work With What You Have

Many people forget just how much random clutter and stuff they have around their houses. It gets stuffed into boxes, then shoved under the bed where you promptly forget about it. So take the time to look around! For example, if you have an old CD collection somewhere, go grab it. Odds are that you don’t even have a CD player anymore, and CDs can make great Christmas ornaments. That’s just one example, and we’re sure you have plenty of other items that you were planning on throwing away anyway. Not only is this free, but it declutters your house as well!

3) Dumpster Diving

Do we mean literally jumping into an industrial trash can? Of course not. But there’s a lot of truth to the idea that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Ask your friends if they’re looking to get rid of anything. If they are, ask if you can take a look through it. You’d be amazed what you can find.

Of course there are other ways to decorate without breaking the bank, but these are a few of the techniques we have found particular success with. So, what are you waiting for? Halloween is two days away, so you still have time to get fancy in the studio with some spooky decorations. And we all know that Thanksgiving is just weeks away, with Christmas just around the corner. It’s time to buy a tree, turn your brain into creative mode, and make your house extraordinary.