Even though my wife and kids like to decorate for the holidays, as the person in charge of putting up (and taking down) the outside decorations, I’m not as big of a fan and usually keep the decorating at a minimum; both because of cost and because, since it’s Wisconsin, there’s a good chance I’ll be having to decorate while standing in a foot of snow (even in October).
However, when it comes to Halloween decorations, one thing I do buy every year is Pumpkin Patch Leaf Bags.
I think, in past reviews, I’ve mentioned the trees I have in my back yard. After cutting down the majority of them a couple years ago, I only have two left. But, between those and the neighbors’ trees, our yard still ends up with a good layer of leaves on it each fall. And, even though I do put quite a few of them on our garden, I usually have to figure out what to do with most of them.
The Pumpkin Patch Leaf Bags are a great solution to at least part of that problem.
These bags, which I have found both at Walgreen’s (where I bought them this year) and a couple other stores, run around $2 for three bags. Just like a regular garbage bag, they are made out of plastic but, unlike a regular garbage bag, they are shaped like pumpkins. So, when filled with leaves, you have a set of three large Halloween decorations for your house.
I’ve used these for the past three years and found they both look decent as decorations and are fun for the kids because they actually do enjoy filling them with leaves (meaning I can “supervise” from my lawn chair).
As far as strength goes, the plastic is a bit on the thin side but holds up pretty well. However, the bags are really only good for one use because, after a while, the leaf stems do start poking through and they will eventually tear when the leaves are wet and heavy. If I would have had to pay more for these, I probably would say they weren’t worth the money. But, at around $2, I do feel the price is fair.
My only real complaint about them is I wish the bags were a bit larger. This is mostly because, even after filling all three (one larger bag and two smaller bags), I still have plenty of leaves left. And, while it wouldn’t be overly expensive to buy more, I really don’t have any place to put them.
However, if you are looking for a cheap Halloween decoration and need to rake up leaves anyway; this is something that is worth investing in. In fact, if you don’t have any leaves, feel free to help yourself to some of mine.