15/10/2026
🎃 Can we please start treating Halloween as a chance to get your creative juices flowing, rather than an excuse to empty your wallet? One walk around your local B&M or supermarket and you’ll be greeted by a sea of orange and black plastic, with tacky decorations in every conceivable spooky form, all designed to part you from your hard-earned cash. It won’t be long before the flimsy plastic breaks and you’re chucking it into landfill.
I’ve got the answer, and it’s wood. Obviously I’m all about wood, so it’s easy for me to say, but let’s think about the environment a bit, people. You don’t have to kill the fun to avoid killing the planet.
I made a signpost of wooden arrows pointing to scary place names, and I get it out year after year. Mine is laser engraved, but you could easily paint your own.
You can get creative in so many ways, and it’s much more fun. Take Norman, our lovable ghoul hidden in the trees. He’s made from a coat hanger and wire, draped in torn-up hessian sack, and he’s always making people jump. Here he is alongside some homemade bunting, cut from old red, black and white fabric.
Halloween is also the perfect excuse to upcycle. This old mirror was destined for the tip. A bit of chalk paint later, it’s ready for the party.
One year we were given a load of surfboards that had been left broken and abandoned on the beaches of Devon and Cornwall. We meant to use them to insulate our unit, but we had a few spare, so we painted them grey and turned them into gravestones. They’re far bigger and far superior to anything you can buy. The bones scattered in front are just sticks painted white, and every year we make our own fake blood. You can find the recipe here…
If I haven’t convinced you to make your own decorations this year and you’d still like to buy some, then buy something lovely and ethically made from me. This year I’ve come up with ghost and skeleton magnets that pull out of their hiding places, and they’re great fun. 👻
However you choose to celebrate, I wish you a very Happy Halloween!
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