According to Forbes, the average American spends an average of $75.03 on Halloween candy, costumes and decorations each year. While this figure pales in comparison to Christmas spending, it’s still a pretty substantial chunk of change, especially if you are pinching pennies. Thankfully, there are plenty of inexpensive Halloween decorations that pack a ton of cute into their tiny little price tag. Today’s DIY Halloween decoration is no exception. You’ll love these adorable Halloween Tissue Ghosts!

Halloween Tissue Ghosts have everything you could want from a Halloween decoration. They are easy and fun to make, they are seriously cute, and you can literally make them for pennies. You can make them as far in advance as you’d like since they don’t go bad, and they are easy enough to make that your kids can help. You probably already have all of the materials on hand, so they don’t require a trip to the store. Make one or make a whole room full–they are quick and easy enough that you can make as many as you want!

Halloween Tissue Ghosts

Materials Needed:

• 2 Tissues (per ghost)
• String
• Scissors
• Marker
• Tape (optional)

Directions:

1. Take one tissue and wad it up into a ball.

2. Place the first tissue in the center of the second tissue.

3. Flip the whole thing over so the loose ends of the second tissue drape over the tissue wad.

4. Tie a string around the ghost’s “neck” to secure. (The length of the string will depend on where you want to hang him.)

5. Draw a face. Spooky or cute–it’s up to you!

6. Hang the ghost wherever you like! You can tape the string to a wall or tie it around a ceiling fan to make him “fly!”

**Optional: If you want the ghost to hang upright, you may need to tape the string to the back of his head. If you are hanging him from the ceiling fan, tape won’t be necessary.

Alternate Suggestion: Cut up white plastic shopping bags or trash bags for ghosts you can hang outdoors!

Related: Scary Ghosts Halloween Craft

Are you decorating for Halloween this year? Will you be buying decorations or making your own?

Affordable Halloween Party Favors

No holiday demands more decorative detail than Halloween. Actually, scratch that, Christmas might have it beat, but that depends on the decorator. Some people get crazy with the Yuletide spirit (blame it on the eggnog), while others prefer to get all spooktacular at Halloween (blame it on the peanut butter cups).

If you’re throwing a Halloween party, your three main expenses will be food, decorations and party favors. Today’s entry blog entry won’t help you save money on food or decorations (another time, perhaps), but it does focus on party favors. Specifically, party favors for the most demanding of party guest – kids.

The following three ideas are not only simple to make, they’re affordable, too. And more money saved on favors means more room in the budget for food and decorations!

• The bag of creepy crawlies – Plastic spiders, snakes and other thingies are pretty cheap. Put an assortment of them in cellophane bags (feel free to throw in some candies), and presto! You’ve got yourself a spooky surprise.

• The bag of slightly less creepy crawlies – For a more girl-friendly take on the previous party favor, buy some fabric on sale and cut it into 4×8 inch strips. Then fold the strip in half (making a square) and sew the two sides (making a pocket). Attached some ribbon for a handle and then fill the pouch with candies and spooky trinkets.

• Paper plate masks – This party favor scores points because it’s cheap, but it’s also simple to make. Actually, it’s really simple to make because the kids make the masks themselves! All you need are paper plates, markers, ribbon, and a hole punch. The hole punch is used to make holes on the sides of the plate where the ribbon will be tied to make the mask wearable.

What are some other affordable Halloween party favor ideas for kids?