October is one of my favorite months of the year, partly because I love searching for Halloween decorating ideas! Shopping at antique and thrift stores is a great way to save money on Halloween decor and pick up unique pieces you won’t find anywhere else. I’m sharing all the details on how I gave my fireplace mantle a spooky witchy look by shopping almost entirely secondhand.
Halloween is also a special holiday for us because we closed on our new home on October 31 of last year (not sure if that’s good luck or bad luck??). We didn’t have a chance to decorate last year so I’ve been dreaming of turning our lovely new home into a spooky haunted house ever since! Since this is the first year we really decorated, I’ll continue to collect over the years and I’m sure next year we’ll go bigger and better.
How to save money on Halloween decorations
If you’re starting with absolutely nothing, like I was, it’s a smart idea to shop secondhand for Halloween decor because it’s usually easier on the budget, and you can find unique pieces that won’t look like the newer, mass-produced items at other retailers.
I started looking at antique malls and thrift shops in early August. Vendors were still trying to clear their summer stock so it was slim pickings. However, I was determined to buy mostly secondhand items so I checked almost every weekend for anything that caught my eye. Most shops set out Halloween decor in late September.
I also purchased items I knew I would use every year for Halloween and long after. Antique malls and thrift shops are great places to pick up candlesticks, old photo frames, old photos, old books and other items that aren’t specifically Halloween decor but can be styled with other items for a spooky look. These items can be used all year in different parts of your home, too.
You can also pick up gently used items for a great deal at Goodwill and other secondhand stores. You may also find unused, unopened holiday decor items for half the price or less.
Garage sales are another place to look for affordable Halloween decor, though I didn’t visit any while on my search. The perk here is that you can bargain with the seller or ask to bundle items and negotiate a better deal.
Vintage Halloween decorating ideas
There are a lot of themes you can go with when it comes to vintage Halloween decor. I prefer a haunted Victorian manor vibe with witchy elements. Here’s what I decorated my fireplace mantle with:
Victorian cabinet cards
The first items I picked up were old photo cards from a local antique shop. Part of what I love about shopping for vintage items is that I always learn something new! Through online research I found out that the cards are called cabinet cards and were widely popular during the Victorian era. Often portraits of families or individuals, cabinet cards measured 4.5 x 7 inches, were mounted on a thick cardboard mount and usually had the photograph company’s mark on the front and/or back.
The reason they are called cabinet cards, explains ancestorville.com, is that they were larger than their predecessor, the 2.5 x 4-inch CDV, or carte de visite photograph (translating to “visiting card,” the small size and paper material allowed them to be easily mailed and collected), and could be admired in the cabinet from a chair across the parlor.
I love old photographs and these cabinet card photos had a mysterious look to them that I thought would be great additions to my fireplace mantle. They were $6 each and I bought two of Victorian-era women (creepy old dolls and babies are not my thing).
Antique candlesticks
I found a few antique gold candlesticks, one for $6 at an antique mall and one for $1 at a thrift store. The latter was mildly corroded which I thought would add to the spooky, old effect I was going for. I purchased taper candlesticks to use with them at Joann fabric and craft store. If your mantle is large enough you might be able to fit a full candelabra, or you could go with black lanterns that fit larger candles or flameless candles. I left a few travel candles in gold and silver tins and a large light green candle that I already owned.
Old books
Books are a great decor element because you can stack them to add height for candlesticks and other pieces, or line them up with cool bookends.
I found an old copy of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens circa 1867 with a black cover and just the right amount of wear, purchased for $13 from an antique mall. Though this was one of the pricier items, I was excited about it because I knew eventually I’d actually want to read the book! I learned later that this book pretty much shot Dickens to fame.
The other old book is A Prairie Rose by Bertha E. Bush that I found at another antique store; I know I’ll also read this one at some point because it was published in 1930, right around my favorite period in history.
I also looked around my local bookstore and found a used copy of The Witching Hour by Anne Rice on sale. I took off the dust jacket since the book itself is black so it was just the thing to set next to the wand I got from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando a few years ago.
Spiderwebs / Cobwebs
An essential element to any Halloween decor are lots of (hopefully faux) cobwebs! Whether black or white, they add the right amount of spooky and are one of the more affordable Halloween decor items. While on my hunt I scored an unopened package of dark gray spider netting at Goodwill for $2, half of the original price.
Pumpkins, birds, bottles and more
I found a straw broom end for 50 cents at Goodwill, a round, black “poison” bottle for $2 at an antique store, orange vases for $1 each and a framed image of cursive handwriting for $1.50 at a thrift store.
I found the branches to put in the orange vases for $5 at an antique store. You could use real branches if they’re thin and long enough, but I thought the faux ones were more sturdy and that I’d get more use out of them. I also put in a mix of real pumpkins from the grocery store and faux pumpkins from an antique mall that I’ll be able to use for years to come.
As for the birds, I found the owl for $7 at an antique mall and the crow from Joann.
I also added The Necronomnomnom creepy cookbook inspired by the stories of H. P. Lovecraft to my basket. It reminds me a bit of the book of spells from Hocus Pocus!
Overall, I spent less than I would have had I bought everything new, and I had a much more fun and rewarding experience while hunting for treasures.
In addition to decorating, I love dressing up for Halloween, and guapo and I go all out on our costumes (at my insistence). If you’re looking for Halloween couples costume ideas, visit my last post where I shared photos of our best couples costumes throughout the years.