Seven Budget-Friendly Halloween Hacks for Costumes and Decor

Combine four cups of corn syrup with red food coloring, added a few drops at a time, stirring until you reach the desired consistency. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to deepen the color for a realistic homemade blood.

Fill a rubber glove with water, seal it, and freeze it for a few hours to create a chillingly realistic severed hand to drop into a punch bowl.

Dress in black from head to toe and use white masking tape to create stick lines on your limbs and torso. Paint a paper plate black with a stick-figure face, attach a popsicle stick to hold it, and practice a stiff stick-person walk for laughs.

Stuff two pool noodles into striped leggings and top them with witchy-looking shoes for a pair of “witch legs” that can stick out of a planter or garbage can on the porch.

Drop inexpensive plastic spiders into an ice cube tray, a soap dispenser, or a popcorn bowl for a creepy surprise around the party.

Turn an old white T-shirt into a cereal box design, attach a blunted dagger as if it's stabbing the box, and add homemade fake blood splatters and a scar for a costume that's funny and spooky at once.

Add a bit of black food coloring to boiling pasta for a visually unsettling side dish to serve as “worms” at a Halloween party.