Quick and Easy Halloween Decorative Lights
Wrap Windows, Mirrors, and Doorways in Natural Halloween Lights
Sep 9, 2009
As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, it's always fun to dream up ways to scare up some good old-fashioned Hallowe'en fun.
Instead of, or along with the traditional carved Halloween pumpkins on the front porch or steps of your home, chase away the beasties with illuminated doorways and windows lined with strands of miniature holiday lights, with each light covered with dried Japanese lantern (Physalis).
Where to Purchase
- These dried Japanese lanterns are available at all your local farmers’ market as well as grocery and floral stores. Depending on your project, you may only need a few stems of these autumn beauties to create your decorations. Slipped over a miniature fairy light, each one gives off a ghostly, orange glow that is sure to frighten away any ghoul.
Displaying your Halloween Lites
- Get creative when it comes to displacing these spooky lights. String this garland around a hall mirror, a fireplace mantel, your windows and doorway, or wrap a couple around a twiggy cone-shaped garden trellis. Place the trellis on your front porch and plug the lights in for an untraditional but still spooky, Halloween look.
- Or, you can pile them high in glass bowls or on top of a black cake stand to light up the Halloween treats table or your evening feast. If you don’t have a black cake stand, you can easily make one by gluing an inexpensive plate on top of a glass candlestick (use ceramic glue) and spraying these black. Let dry thoroughly before using.
- As well as piling up the lights, you can also create festive, seasonal wreaths by twisting the lengths of lights around a store-bought twig or straw wreath form. These strings of light will last well past Halloween and will be just as attractive for Thanksgiving.
Tip: For safety’s sake, please ensure that the lights are turned off periodically to cool the bulbs. Turn them off if you are leaving the house unattended.
Materials and tools
- A few stems of Japanese lanterns
- Strings of miniature holiday lights
- Scissors
Instructions
- First ensure that the lights are all working by plugging them into a wall socket. Replace any burnt out bulbs.
- Cut off the ‘lanterns’ from the stems, leaving a bit of stem on each one. Ensure that the lanterns you have chosen are slightly longer in length than the lights.
- Make a small slit in the base of each lantern and gently push the bulb inside. Continue until all the lights are covered. Hang up or place in glass bowls.
- Variation: A battery-powered string of covered lights twisted around a twig wreath would look spectacular on a door or above the fireplace.
Add even more Halloween decorations to complement your ghoulish, glowing lights by looking what you have around the house..
The copyright of the article Quick and Easy Halloween Decorative Lights in Interior Decorating is owned by Stefanie Gabrych Fraser. Permission to republish Quick and Easy Halloween Decorative Lights in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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