Wait, my house has Halloween decorations?! I NEVER do this

Is it super spooky to anyone else that October starts tomorrow?! I really am freaking out about how fast time's flying, but it's also one of the BEST times of year, so I'm here for it! One thing I've never really “been here for” though… is Halloween decorations. Anyone else?

My girls beg for them EVERY year, and I always tell them, “We just do fall decorations at this house!” BUT this year they really pulled at my heart strings saying they'd use their own money to pay for the Halloween decorations… they wanted them THAT BAD!

So instead of letting them do that and picking out their own (which might have turned into huge spiders and crazy green and orange colors and all the things I reeeeally don't want in my house for 31 days, ha!), I thought I could come up with something cute that had a black and white Halloween color scheme. That way we're ALL happy!

In this post I'll share what I decided on, and how I saved A TON of money on these super chic and spooky decorations. If you're like me and care about having a pretty aesthetic, but want to make Halloween really fun for your kids, too, you might really love all of these options!

How to make it affordable

When I first was looking into it all I was SHOCKED at how expensive Halloween decorations were from a few different retailers! I did a good long search and, come to find out, JCPenney had a lot of decorations that looked super super similar for WAY less.

If you compare JCPenney's prices to other decor retailers, you'll see that JCP wins the “hidden gem award” for all decor, but especially Halloween decor!

Trunk or Treat

Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, and for personal reasons my family and I don't participate in recreational activities on Sundays. So this year we're doing our church's Trunk or Treat event on Saturday the 30th instead of going classic trick-or-treating on Halloween. Which means I really have to amp up my “trunk” Halloween decorations this year!

I always feel bad every year during the Trunk or Treat because I never have fun things to decorate our trunk with – so I figured we could finally go all out. With the same Halloween decorations we're decorating our mantle with, we'll decorate our trunk with for this year's Trunk or Treat!

Spooky, but make it pretty

When I was picturing what I wanted for these decorations, I was thinking the “spooky” would come through in all of the black items I picked out, with lots of glowy lights to make it pretty and a little eerie all at once. Some of the items I grabbed had lights attached to them already (like this super cute witch hat, and this pumpkin!), but I also added a lot of candles and tea lights as well. The VERY best looking ones, undoubtedly, were the flickering flameless candles from JCPenney. The little flame moves and looks SO realistic. And how fun are these light up items going to be in our trunk at Trunk or Treat?!

With the lights against the black I think it made for a really pretty (but totally Halloween-esque) space! I also added specific Halloween-like decorations like pumpkins (obvi) but make them black, lanterns, a cauldron (perfect to put candy in for Trunk or Treat!), a feather garland, etc. They all have a classy quality, but give the spooky vibe I was going for.

Scary good quality

It's different when I'm buying Halloween party decorations… But when I'm buying decorations that are going to be displayed in my home for a long period of time, I do care about the quality. Everything I got from JCPenney is SUCH great quality.

For example, the candle holders and lanterns are all a really nice metal that we'll be able to use forever, and for tons of seasons, too. I could use them for table centerpieces (are you hosting Thanksgiving this year?), on my front porch, again on my mantle for Christmas, etc. I always try to look for versatility and neutral colors when I'm buying “holiday” decorations, and I totally found that with JCPenney this year.

Bottom line is – I don't feel like my house looks like a kid's Halloween party with these decorations! This decor fits my style, but I love that my kids get to enjoy the super fun Halloween theme, too.

You've got this in the (trick or treat) bag!

I couldn't be more thrilled with the fact that I found super cute Halloween decorations this year that'll also transition into our Trunk or Treat, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and more! Not to mention that my girls are ecstatic that we have some Halloween decor in our home this October. And make sure you head to my Instagram today to see a reel on how I arranged everything on our mantle!

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A post shared by corrine stokoe (@corrinestokoe)