Once youngsters drift off to sleep on Halloween night, rosy faces smeared with chocolate, and pillowcases bursting with fun-size candy — that’s when the seasonal clearance sales start.
Every year on Nov. 1, retailers slash prices on Halloween goodies to make room for next season’s wares. During Halloween clearance sales, you can stock up on candy, decorations and costumes for as much as 80 percent off. Costumes and decor can be saved for next year, and candy can be repurposed for Thanksgiving and Christmas treats.
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Virtually any store that sold Halloween candy, costumes and decor will offer deep discounts on the seasonal merchandise come Nov. 1. You’ll find Halloween clearance sales with the biggest variety and lowest prices at big-box retailers and pharmacies, including stores such as Sears, Target and Walmart.
Want to take advantage of post-Halloween sales to save money on upcoming holidays? Here are 10 ways to repurpose Halloween clearance items for the holidays.
1. Create an Advent calendar with Halloween candy. As luck would have it, fun-size candy is just the right size for a do-it-yourself Advent calendar. Gather Halloween candy and 25 condiment cups, jewelry boxes, envelopes, tins, matchboxes, mini stockings or paper bags. Conceal a piece of candy in each of the 25 vessels and have youngsters open them during December’s countdown to Christmas.
2. Make Christmas treats with Halloween cookie cutters. Frankenstein-shaped, pumpkin-shaped and bat-shaped baked goods would seem out of place left under the Christmas tree for Santa. Here are some ideas for repurposing your Halloween cookie cutters for Christmas.
— Bat to elf. Add a frosty smiley face and a triangle hat to change a scary bat into a cheerful elf.
— Spiderweb to wreath. Poke a hole in the middle of a spiderweb and decorate with green frosting to make a Christmas wreath.
— Spiderweb to snowflake. Cut out another couple of spiderwebs, grab some white frosting and try out some creative designs to create snowflake cookies.
— Pumpkin to Christmas ornament. With festive frosting and a pinch of Christmas magic, you can turn a pumpkin cookie into a bright bauble.
— “Boo!” to Frosty. A cookie cutter designed to spell out the word “boo!” can be turned on its side to become a snowman. Just frost on a corncob pipe, a button nose and two eyes.
3. Decorate a gingerbread house. Decorate-your-own gingerbread house kits are notoriously stingy on candy. Stock up on Halloween candy now to ensure that you have sufficient candy to decorate your house. Think Hershey’s chocolate doors, Necco Wafer shingles, M&M’s borders, peach ring windows, a gumdrop fence and gummy bear gnomes.
4. Stir up gummy sangria. To make the colorful concoction, soak leftover gummy bears, worms, peach rings, Sour Patch Kids or any other Halloween gummy candies in vodka overnight. After letting the candy marinate for eight hours, add the candy to wine, apple juice, a half-cup of sparkling water, fresh fruit and limes. Bust out a jar of gummy sangria after Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, and you’re sure to charm the inner child of every single guest.
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5. Pack Christmas stockings. Purchase candy when it’s 80 percent off to save big on stocking stuffers come Christmas. You can package candy to make it look more Christmas-appropriate with cellophane, tissue paper and ribbons.
6. Brew up mochas. Stir different varieties of chocolate into your coffee to mix up a homemade mocha. Your basic recipe includes one cup of brewed coffee, a half-cup of milk and about a quarter-cup of shavings from your favorite leftover Halloween chocolate. Warm the milk and chocolate until creamy, then add to your coffee. It’s a decadent post-Thanksgiving dinner treat or Christmas morning pick-me-up.
7. Craft with costumes. The possibilities for snipping up old Halloween costumes are virtually endless. Red, white and green fabric can be woven into large, decorative pompoms. Accessories can be repurposed into ornaments with sequins, paint and glitter. To craft cool, homemade Christmas gifts, consider snipping and sewing costumes into braided rugs, quilts, potholders and tote bags.
8. Make Christmas trail mix. With a carefully curated selection of Halloween candy, you can cobble together a holiday trail mix. Mix red and green M&M’s with white chocolate raisins, white chocolate chips, almonds, peanuts, popcorn, Chex and pretzels.
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9. Craft tiny Christmas lights. To craft festive, edible Christmas “lights,” gather Mike and Ike candies and peanut M&M’s. Chop the Mike and Ikes in half to serve as the base of the lights, then stick the sticky parts onto the M&M’s. String multiple lights together for decoration or use them to decorate Christmas cupcakes.
10. Make a Thanksgiving piñata. You can craft a playful turkey piñata with a couple of balloons, flowers, newspaper, string, colorful crepe paper, glue and a bowl of Halloween candy. Once you’ve gathered your goods, follow these steps:
— Mix up the glue. Mix one part flour with one part water to create the papier-mache glue.
— Plaster on strips of newspaper. Blow one big balloon for the body, then one smaller balloon for the head. Rip the newspaper into thick strips, then use a small amount of papier-mache glue to apply to the balloons.
— Repeat. Allow one layer to dry, then add a second layer of newspaper. Repeat once more to create a third layer.
— Decorate. After the newspaper is dry, decorate the bird using regular glue and crepe paper. You can snip up tail feathers out of construction paper hands, then glue them onto the bird’s backside. Use string to attach the turkey head to the body.
— Stuff the bird. Cut a small hole in the body and pop the balloon. Stuff the turkey with Halloween candy. Poke a small pair of holes, then thread a long string through to hang the bird.
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Save Money on Upcoming Holidays by Taking Advantage of Halloween Sales originally appeared on usnews.com
