What Is a Halloween Handkerchief?
A Halloween handkerchief is a printed cloth square carrying a seasonal design, given as a sweet little gift or set out as a reusable decoration in place of paper. The matching linen towel brings the same design to a kitchen or a powder room, the rooms where guests actually notice the season has arrived.
We print every design in-house in the U.S.A. on soft 100% cotton handkerchiefs and hemstitched linen towels, and we have personalized more than 350,000 handkerchiefs since 2007. Most motifs come as a matching pair, one handkerchief and one towel, so a pocket-sized piece and a display piece carry the same artwork, and several designs take a name or a family name printed into the layout.
What Halloween Designs Are There?
Each motif is printed on a 12 inch cotton handkerchief with a scalloped edge, on a 14 by 22 inch hemstitched linen towel, or on both. Orange and black hold high contrast against a white cotton ground, which is why the printed designs stay readable across a room the way a decorative piece has to.
- Classic Halloween motifs. Ghosts, jack-o'-lanterns, witch hats, bats, and a bold "BOO" or "Trick or Treat," in both hand-illustrated doodle and vintage retro styles.
- Playful adult designs. Tongue-in-cheek Halloween jokes for a grown-up gift, the piece that gets a reaction in a boo basket.
- Pumpkin and harvest designs. Rustic pumpkin motifs that carry past October 31 into the rest of autumn.
The specific designs in stock this season are shown in the product grid above. For the year-round range, see our
print handkerchiefs and
linen towels.
Can I Personalize a Halloween Hankie or Towel?
Yes. Several pieces take your own wording, printed into the design rather than added as an afterthought, on both the 12 inch cotton handkerchief and the 14 by 22 inch linen towel. The personalized designs pair a name with classic Halloween motifs like a ghost and pumpkin, and a family surname version is the piece households hang year after year. The current personalized styles are shown in the product grid above.
Each personalization field holds up to 32 characters including spaces, which is enough for a first name, a surname, or a short phrase such as "The Morrisons" or "Ellie's First Halloween." A family surname is the most durable choice, since it never expires the way a child's age does, and a short entry reads better than a long phrase because the name prints in the design's own colors. For more custom options, see our
personalized printed handkerchiefs.
What Size Are Halloween Handkerchiefs and Towels?
Our Halloween handkerchiefs measure 12 inches square in 100% cotton with a scalloped edge, the standard ladies' hankie size, large enough to use and small enough to tuck into a costume pocket or a treat bag.
Our Halloween linen towels measure 14 by 22 inches with a hemstitched edge, which is guest hand towel size. It hangs correctly on a powder room ring, folds neatly over an oven door, and is the size the printed artwork is drawn for.
The printing is a full-color process, which is why these designs carry orange, black, purple, and pink in the same piece. Embroidery cannot reproduce that range, so for a multi-color illustration print is the correct method rather than a compromise, and a personalized name prints in the same colors and weight as the artwork around it.
What Are Halloween Handkerchiefs Made Of?
Our Halloween hankies are 100% cotton, which is soft against skin, highly absorbent, and takes pigment cleanly without stiffening, and they soften with every wash rather than degrading. The towels are linen, which dries faster than cotton, does not hold odor, gets more absorbent as it is used, and holds a printed design crisply across a large flat panel where the artwork is seen from a distance.
Skip polyester seasonal cloth and the felt banners sold alongside it. Polyester repels moisture instead of taking it up, so a polyester towel pushes water around rather than drying hands, and it scorches under an iron. We never use it.
Paper is cheaper for a single evening, and that is the whole of its appeal. A paper napkin is in the bin on November 1, while a printed cotton or linen piece comes back out of the box every October for years, which is why families buy these once and keep them.
What's a Good Halloween Gift by Recipient?
Finding a Halloween gift for anyone past trick-or-treat age is tricky, since almost everything out there is candy or a costume accessory. A printed hankie or linen towel is the happy exception, something festive they get to keep.
- For a teacher. A guest towel or a set of printed hankies, given at the start of October so it gets used through the month. Teachers receive food constantly and something durable stands out.
- For a party host. A linen guest towel for the powder room, the one room every guest visits and the one hosts run out of time to decorate.
- For a coworker or a Halloween-loving friend. A doodle or retro ghost design, which reads as decorative rather than as a gag.
- For a child. A named hankie in the treat bag, or in a lunchbox on the day. See our children's handkerchiefs.
- For a family. The personalized family towel with the surname, which becomes the piece that signals the season is open when it goes up.
- For a grandparent. A pumpkin design carries the season without the ghosts, and moves straight into Thanksgiving.
"These are so adorable on top of my other Towels. And the Handkerchief that matches is just as cute. What a nice addition to add to your towels."
Janet K.
What Do You Put in a Halloween Boo Basket?
Booing is a neighborhood custom in which a household leaves an anonymous basket of treats on a doorstep with a note and a sign for the recipient's window, and the recipient then boos two more houses. The trouble with most boo baskets is that everything inside is gone within a day, so one thing that lasts is what the recipient remembers.
A printed Halloween hankie or a guest towel is just right for that: small, flat, festive, and ready to come back out next October. For an adult recipient, a tongue-in-cheek Halloween joke hankie is the piece that gets a reaction, and for a child, a named ghost-and-pumpkin hankie is a keepsake the parents hold onto after the candy is gone.
Boo baskets built around a teacher, a neighbor, or a coworker also work as a thank-you. See our
thank-you gifts for the year-round version.
How Do I Decorate With Cloth Instead of Paper?
Cloth dresses a room for the season and folds away again when it is over, so two small swaps do the most for the least.
Start with the powder room, the one room every party guest visits and the one nobody thinks to decorate. A BOO or trick-or-treat hand towel transforms it in seconds, and it comes right back down just as easily. The kitchen comes next: a printed linen towel over the oven handle or on the counter catches the eye from every corner of an open-plan room, and it stays in everyday use all month.
Handkerchiefs work as flat decor in ways a towel cannot. Tuck one under a candle or a little pumpkin as a mat, lay one at each place for a Halloween dinner, or press one flat in a frame for a seasonal wall piece that tucks back in the box come November.
Can I Use Handkerchiefs for a Halloween Party or Place Settings?
Yes, and a 12 inch square is the right size for it, since it covers a saucer and a small plate and lies flat without bunching. Set a printed handkerchief at each place in a shallow fold, or lay one under each cup and saucer as a coaster mat for a Halloween tea party.
For a children's Halloween party, a named hankie per guest doubles as a place card and a favor. It costs less per head than most favor bags, it does not go in the trash on the way out, and guests keep them. For a full class or party, we offer bulk pricing on larger orders, so contact us before ordering.
Do Halloween Handkerchiefs Get Real Use?
Yes, and October is when they earn their keep. A cotton hankie in a coat pocket handles a cold trick-or-treat night, a runny nose under a costume, and sticky hands at the pumpkin patch, all the little messes a paper tissue gives up on, and the scalloped 12 inch square folds down to nothing in a pocket.
It washes clean too, which matters once the face paint comes out. Costume makeup ends up on everything, and a cloth square you can toss in the machine beats a coat sleeve every time. For anyone who carries a handkerchief year-round, a seasonal print is simply the October one. See our
men's handkerchiefs for the larger everyday styles.
What Makes a Handkerchief a Keepsake Worth Giving at Halloween?
A printed Halloween hankie is a little piece of the season you get to keep, closer to a festive tea towel than to anything you would reach for a tissue. It is the one thing in the Halloween box you look forward to unwrapping again each year, and with a family name printed on it, it becomes a keepsake that stays in the house long after the candy is gone and the mask is forgotten.
Families have trusted us with these little keepsakes for years. We have shipped over one million hankies worldwide since 2007, print and finish everything in-house in the U.S.A., and our work has been featured by Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, Real Simple, and The Today Show.
What Mistakes Should I Avoid When Ordering for Halloween?
Four errors account for most of the October problems we see.
- Ordering in the last week of October. Personalization averages 3.1 business days and shipping transit is added on top. Business days exclude weekends, so order in the first half of the month or add rush processing at checkout.
- Overfilling the name field. Each field holds 32 characters including spaces, and a name printed into a small tag reads better short. "The Morrisons" beats "The Morrison Family of Oak Street."
- Buying only for October 31. The pumpkin and rustic designs run through November, so a household that buys one ghost piece and one pumpkin piece covers the whole autumn instead of ten days of it.
- Assuming personalized items can be returned. They cannot, because each carries a name that applies to one household. Check the spelling on screen before submitting.
How Do I Care for Printed Halloween Linens?
Machine wash printed handkerchiefs and linen towels in cold or warm water on a gentle cycle and tumble dry low. Cold water is the better choice for printed pieces, since heat is what dulls a printed design over years of laundering.
Skip bleach, which lifts pigment out of a print and weakens the fibers, and skip fabric softener, which coats linen and cuts the absorbency that makes a towel work. Wash a new piece separately the first time, because deep orange and black are the two colors most likely to release any excess dye.
Press on the reverse side with a warm iron so the iron plate never touches the printed surface directly, turning a towel face down on the board and pressing through the back of the cloth. Store the season's linens folded flat in a box with the rest of the Halloween decorations rather than sealed in plastic, and keep them out of direct sun during October, since sunlight fades a printed design faster than washing does. See our
linen care instructions.
How Do I Order, and How Long Does It Take?
Personalized Halloween orders average 3.1 business days for personalization because we print and finish in-house in the U.S.A. rather than sending the work out. Rush processing at checkout shortens personalization to about two business days and applies to every item in your cart.
Ready-made printed designs carry no personalization step and ship soonest, the right choice inside the final week of October. We offer bulk pricing on larger orders, which covers classroom sets, party favors, and office gifts. Add your gift message in the note box at checkout for anything shipping straight to the recipient, and every piece is hand-inspected before it ships under our satisfaction guarantee.
Do you ship internationally?
Yes. We ship within the United States and internationally to Canada and Australia, with international rates and expedited options available at checkout. Enter your address at checkout to see the options for your order.
What Else Should I Shop for the Season?
October is the front end of a run of three holidays, and most households buy the season in one order rather than three.
Why Order Your Halloween Linens From Bumblebee Linens?
We started in 2007 after we could not find a wedding handkerchief anywhere for our own wedding and ended up making our own. Since then we have personalized more than 350,000 handkerchiefs, shipped over one million worldwide, and been part of 120,000 weddings.
Everything is soft, absorbent cotton or linen with no polyester, hand-inspected and printed in-house in the U.S.A. with a 3.1 business day average turnaround. Our work has been featured by Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, Real Simple, and The Today Show, and every order is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
"These are so cute. I am so excited to use them for Halloween."
Janet K.
Read more
customer reviews before you order.
Key Insights
- Our Halloween handkerchiefs are printed in-house in the U.S.A. on soft 100% cotton, and most designs come with a matching hemstitched linen towel so a pocket piece and a display piece carry the same artwork. Everything is hand-inspected before it ships.
- A Halloween linen towel measures 14 by 22 inches and dresses a powder room or kitchen for the season, an easy way to surprise guests in the one room nobody thinks to decorate. The handkerchiefs measure 12 inches square with a scalloped edge.
- You can order a personalized Halloween towel or hankie with a name or family surname printed into the design, and each field holds up to 32 characters. A surname such as "The Morrisons" is the most durable choice because it goes back up every October.
- The designs use full-color printing, so a single Halloween hankie carries orange, black, purple, and pink that embroidery cannot reproduce. Ready-made designs range from a BOO ghost to a tongue-in-cheek adult joke hankie.
- A printed Halloween boo basket gift is the durable object in a basket that is otherwise all candy, small and flat enough to tuck in and reusable the next October. Choose a tongue-in-cheek joke hankie for a neighbor and a named ghost-and-pumpkin hankie for a child.
- These are reusable Halloween decorations that come out of the box every October instead of heading to the bin on November 1, the loveliest reason to choose cloth over paper. Machine wash them in cold water on a gentle cycle to keep the print bright.
- Personalized orders are ready in a 3.1 business day average, with rush processing available at checkout to shorten it to about two business days. Ready-made printed designs skip personalization and ship soonest for a last-minute basket.
- We ship within the United States and internationally to Canada and Australia, and offer bulk pricing on larger orders for classroom sets and party favors. Every order is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
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