Getting Creative with Office Supplies for Halloween

Sep 26, 2016


By: Kathy Adams

Whether it's creepy cubicles or haunted hallways, it's clear that offices deserve some Halloween love, too. You can dress up your office, including your personal space, with a little creativity and common supplies found around the office. Read on for five hauntingly perfect Halloween office decor ideas.


Going Batty


You don't want bats flapping around the office ... unless they are in the form of Halloween decorations, of course. If you want to add the perfect amount of bat-aculardecoration, consider hanging bats in one of your hallways. You can make your own bats from black construction paper or card stock. Simply print out or draw a bat that you can use as a template. Then cut out as many bats as will fit on your office wall, crease each bat in half vertically and stick the bats up with double-sided tape. If allowed, punch a hole in each card stock bat wing and hang them from the ceiling using a thin string like sewing thread.

(Click images to view full-size PDFs)

DIY Paper Wall Bat        DIY Hanging Wall Bat

 


Haunted Hands


Turn a simple roll of masking tape into a set of life-size mummy hands to display behind your monitor or over the top of your cubicle or workspace divider. Inflate a latex glove or enlist one of your co-workers to wear the glove. Using small pieces of tape, wrap the tape around the glove, overlapping the tape and continuing over the palm and the fingers — as if bandaging the hand. When finished, carefully help your co-worker remove the glove. If you used an inflated glove, cut a hole so it deflates.


Diabolical Doorways


Give your workplace door (or open doorway) a costume of its own for Halloween using calculator paper rolls or toilet paper. Wrap a door mummy-style, covering all but the door mechanisms. Use small pieces of tape to hold the paper to itself, plus a couple extra pieces of tape on top, ensuring the door still closes properly. Make spooky or angry eyes from red or black construction paper and tape them to the top layers of paper.


Wicked Windows


If your office lights are on after dark, give those indoors and out a view to enjoy with colored tissue paper and spooky silhouettes. Cut silhouette shapes — such as pumpkins, a haunted house scene or ghostly forms in a graveyard — out of black construction paper. Tape the cutouts to the window, and then make a colorful background for the silhouettes by layering colors of tissue paper to cover the rest of the window glass. Overlap oranges, yellows and reds for a sunset-style look, or go with more mystical blues, grays and purples for a spooky, chilling night scene.


Ghosts Galore


Glow-in-the-dark tape is the perfect medium for Halloween decorations that really show off after dark. This is the same type of tape used backstage in dark venues, and it can be removed easily without leaving residue behind. Place the tape on sturdy construction paper and trace shapes such as ghosts or pumpkins onto the tape. Cut out the tape shapes with a pair of scissors and stick them in places where they can really glow, such as in the dark corner of the office or on the wall of a somewhat dark hallway. Line an entire wall with a series of different glowing eyes for a spooky effect, or place a few eyes on the divider beneath your desk where passerby may witness the glow.

 

NOTE: To use glowing duct tape, stick the duct tape onto cardboard, then hang the cardboard on walls using removable, double-sided tape. Duct tape is far too sticky to use on walls and office property.

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About the Author

Kathy Adams is an award-winning investigative journalist with several awards from the Associated Press. She has experience repurposing furniture and found objects into art and crafts.