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Trick or treat, or recycle and reuse? Australians are set to spend $450m on Halloween this year, including on costumes, confectionery and decorations for trick-or-treaters and party goers.

But if you want to avoid new or single-use items, you can get sustainably spooky this October – and save money at the same time. Here, a home stylist and reuse expert share their tips for low-waste Halloween decorations that won’t cost the earth.

1. Homespun spiderwebs

Many off-the-shelf fake spiders are made from plastics or synthetic fibres, but the same effect can be achieved with natural fibres such as wool, cotton muslin and hessian. Photograph: werxj/Getty Images

Fake spiderwebs are the go-to Halloween decoration, but many off-the-shelf products are made from plastics or synthetic fibres.

You can, however, achieve the same web effect with natural fibres such as wool, cotton muslin and hessian. At a pinch, old woollen insulation, stockings or a potato sack can be chopped, frayed or retied into cobwebs.

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“If you’ve got some old white stockings that no longer fit your kids … just chop them up and into strands, and then just drape them,” says Chantel Mila, a Melbourne-based home stylist and organisation expert.

To minimise the risk to wildlife, drape the cobwebs loosely, and ideally on fences rather than in bushes or trees.

2. Turn sheets and sacks into ghosts

If you have an old sheet, you have a new ghost. Scrunch, tear or draw on old bedsheets or hessian bags to create the skins for some spooky spirits says Kirsten Junor, chief executive of Sydney reuse centre Reverse Garbage.

“Stuff another towel in it, just put a knot around its neck and hang it up as a ghost,” Junor says.

“We sell a lot of hessian sacks, and they look really ghoulish and spooky when you rip them up.”

For a ghost who stands on their own two feet, Mila suggests repurposing an old pool noodle, a sheet and children’s clothing. “Bend the pool noodle in half and dress it with the kids’ clothes and shoes. Then drape on some excess white fabric or a small tablecloth, and two paper eyes – you have a spooky DIY ghost!”

3. Old gloves, creepy hands

“If you’ve got old dishwashing gloves, you can get plaster of paris …and you could create hand moulds ,” Junor says.

Prepare the plaster according to instructions on the packet, then carefully pour it into a dishwashing glove and tie securely. To create a “hollow” hand shape, allow the glove to dry on a round surface; when dry, cut away the glove and paint with acrylic paint.

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4. Mannequins are an easy win

Mannequins at Sydney reuse centre Reverse Garbage. Faceless or headless models need little alteration. Photograph: Supplied

Few houses will have a mannequin lying around but discarded models can be found at reuse centres or on online marketplaces.

“Around Halloween, we do a good run on mannequin parts, which is fun,” Junor says.

“We rescue for reuse a lot of mannequins, and sometimes they’re a bit broken, or they just come in with legs.”

The best thing is they don’t need any work – those faceless or headless models are inhuman and unsettling enough as is.

5. Repurpose your Christmas lights

Festive lights can become eerie whites, toxic greens and blood reds when paired with spooky decor. Photograph: Brooke Carlton Heinsohn/Getty Images/iStockphoto

It’s all about context. Strings of lights surrounded by tinsel may say “merry Christmas”, but blinking lights surrounded by ghosts and skeletons scream “happy Halloween”. Festive lights can become eerie whites, toxic greens and blood reds when paired with spooky decor.

“Instead of buying anything light-up, I use fairy lights that I can then use again for Christmas,” Mila says. “Just buy one set of the same lighting, and then you can just add it to whatever decorations you use.”

And those trying to sustain their own energy levels could consider leaving the lights up once Halloween’s over – Christmas will only be eight weeks away by then.

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