Decorating 101: Halloween DIYs For Your College Dorm

So you’ve figured out a costume idea and the perfect prank to play on your roommate. Now it’s time to decorate your boring-looking dorm into the perfect setting for Halloween! Of course, double check that your dorm hall allows decorating and don’t forget to make sure your roomie is up for it. Once you’re in the clear, check out these creative and simple ideas for Halloween decorations.

Spider Webs & Plastic Spiders

Spider webs and spiders are one of the easier (and cheapest!) ways to add some solid ick factor to your room. You don’t want to make your room look like Spiderman lives there so make sure to keep it subtle, and focus on one area. Try to stretch some artificial spider web over a window or a door. Also try hanging fake spiders on the web to add to the affect.

Pumpkins

Jack o’ Lanterns made out of real pumpkins can be a mess and can stink up a home. They are traditional Halloween decorations but most of us would rather not have to deal with all the cutting and carving every year. Here how to make reusable Jack o’ Lanterns made out of artificial pumpkin that you can carve and light, and best of all, store for next Halloween.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Purchase an artificial pumpkin for a craft store. They come in several different shapes and they’re usually under $10.

2. Use an Exacto knife to carve a small hole at the bottom of the pumpkin and carve the design on the front.

3. After you finished, place a small flashlight or electric candle through the bottom to make your pumpkin glow.

4. If you’re not artistically inclined, you can use a stencil to create the design. These free stencils are perfect.

Black Lights

Set the mood with some awesome black lights! Anything white will glow under these lights and make everything look extra spooky. You can change the bulb of your lamp to a black bulb or buy a pluggable black light.

Drinks

Here’s a delicious-looking cocktail that goes perfect with the setting.

The Vampire Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

1 oz. triple sec

1/2 oz. white crème de cacao

Drizzle of grenadine

Preparation:

Blend all ingredients except grenadine until smooth, pour into a stemmed cocktail glass. Drizzle grenadine over top.

Still need more inspiration? Here are 12 more easy DIYs.

1. Put white sheets over your furniture as no one lives there.

2. Cut out paper bats and hang them from your ceiling or tape them on your walls.

3. Design your own bottle labels to decorate your booze.

4. Make floating ghosts by blowing up a balloon and drape a sheet over it and insert a safety pin through the sheet and the tied end of the balloon to suspend the ghost from the ceiling.

5. Make spooky silhouettes of cats, witches, etc.

6. Go on Pandora and play some spooky tunes.

7. Get red, orange, and black food coloring.

8. Make mini Jack O’ Lanterns out of oranges.

9. Wrap fruits and other things in toilet paper to make mini mummies.

10. Cut out paper fangs and tape them on to pictures.