Helping With Halloween 2021
Halloween 2021 is creeping closer!
The holiday has seen a huge surge in popularity in the UK over the last few years, almost catching up with the fervour of the USA’s passion for the holiday. Between outfits, parties, food and sweets for the little visitors, it can become an expensive time, so we have some tips to help with Halloween.
Last year, we gave a few tips and tricks to help you along the way, so let’s delve a little deeper…
Halloween Origins
Over 2000 years ago, the Celts believed that 31st October, the night before their new year began, was the end of summer. Known as ‘Samhain’, this was also when the borders of the living and dead were believed most faint. During the ensuing festival of Samhain, they lit bonfires and wore costumes to scare away ghosts, believed to cause mischief and damage crops.
By the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated 1st November All Saints Day (aka All Hallows), with the evening before known as All Hallows Eve. This date soon began to include some of the Samhain traditions and over time All Hallows Eve became shortened to Hallowe’en.
And so, Halloween as we know it was born – an evening of ghostly goings-on, dressing up, spooky affairs and trick or treats!
Before you do anything, be sure to set a budget and stick to it. Plan what you need and stick to it, making sure you don’t overstretch yourself financially.
Costumes
Kids very quickly grow out of clothes, what fitted last Halloween is unlikely to fit this year.
- Ask around their school friends’ parents and see if they are happy to swap if they have kids of a similar size or age.
- Stores such as B&M, Asda, and even online stores such as eBay have some great outfits at reasonable prices.
- If you are a member of a local Facebook group, it is worth enquiring there if anyone has an outfit to give away or sell for a small fee.
- If you are a dab hand with a needle and thread, see what local charity shops have for sale and see whether you can turn an old top into something worthy of Halloween 2021!
- Pinterest and YouTube have some fantastic ideas and tutorials for makeup to finish the look.
Decorations
Not everyone decorates their homes the same. You’ll notice some go all out and some keep it very understated – it’s all personal choice, and also potentially budget related.
Luckily, there are many ways to keep the spending low! Get the kids on board and have an afternoon making decorations, such as bunting or drawing scary faces on balloons (with a marker, not a sharp pencil!). Get in the autumn air and collect twigs to make a Halloween tree, with cardboard cut out bats and spiders. Once again, YouTube and Pinterest are superb sites for ideas.
Pound shops and discount stores are perfect for buying coloured card and paper, spider webbing, skeletons, and so much more. Think orange, black and white for your colour scheme – coloured card for bunting and cut-outs, making streamers, decorating balloons, and even using fairy lights! Plastic pumpkins are great for a window display and can be reused year after year.
Party time
Whether you’re keeping Halloween simple or arranging a big party to celebrate the end of 2021, you don’t have to break the bank.
If you and your kids simply want to visit neighbours for a trick and treat evening, remember, others may want to visit you too, if you or another family member is home. Use a large plastic pumpkin and put multipacks of sweets or mini chocolates in so that kids can dive in and grab a handful. If you’re extremely mindful of Covid, make up some mini gift packages, sweets wrapped in orange or black tissue, and hand those out – kids will really enjoy unwrapping them later.
If you’re more of a party animal and are hosting a Halloween get-together, ask if your other guests could bring something each. After the last year of lockdowns and financial struggles for so many, everyone would be more than happy to chip in to have a great night. Bake spooky cookies, hot dog mummies, even jelly eyeballs! Just type a search into your search engine and you’ll find thousands of ideas and will be spoilt for choice.
It is worth remembering that stores such as Iceland have some great Halloween-themed snacks if you feel cooking and baking is too time consuming, and offer great deals on mix and match party snacks for your guests.
Family Night In
Of course, there is nothing to say you have to go all out with Halloween in 2021, or any year for that matter-
. If you prefer a quiet night at home, grab some popcorn, blankets and refreshments and settle down to enjoy a family movie evening. There are plenty of child-friendly films to choose from, such as Monster House, Hocus Pocus, the new Muppets Haunted Mansion, The Addams Family and The Little Vampire.
Halloween is all about having fun. If you don’t budget, it becomes very easy to spend too much and get into debt. Simply plan, plan, plan – with Christmas yet to come, try to make your budget as important as your shopping list, and don’t overstrain either part.
