Halloween is one of those holidays you either love or hate.
It’s only been in recent years that I’ve come to love decorating for Halloween. I don’t LOVE Halloween, but for some reason I have a TON of decor for it! Go figure…
I didn’t grow up here in the United States, so I’ve never been trick or treating, and have never really understood the concept of sending your child door-to-door to ask people (mostly strangers) for candy. Such an absurd concept!
When my girls were little, we didn’t take them trick or treating because there were always so many kids dressed up in scary costumes that I didn’t want to expose them to the dark aspects of Halloween in their childhood.
I even went so far as to not take my girls grocery shopping with me when the Halloween decorations would be put out. I went out of my way to protect them from the scary side of Halloween as much as I could. My dear, wonderful husband, on the other hand, did not share my concern.
I present the following picture as evidence. That adorable bundle of joy in the cart is my now 19 year old daughter - showing her apparent dislike for Halloween!
That same adorable daughter attended a Classical Christian school up until 6th grade and it was there that we learned about the Reformation and how Martin Luther nailed his thesis to the church door on October 31st. We put on a HUGE Reformation Fest where we decorated two entire floors of the building to look like a Medieval town - complete with drawbridge and stone walls!
Everyone would come in period costume, we would have period food, games and plays going on all over the building.
So that’s where you would find our family and just about everyone we associated with on October 31st. It was wholesome, historical and fun!
But then we left the school and the Reformation Fest was no longer an option. That’s when my youngest, then 11, tried going trick or treating. She really didn’t enjoy it. She’s my very logical child who never believed in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy despite my best efforts!
That was the one and only year we did that!
She was really into science at the time and loved dissecting animals and learning about anatomy. So I thought “hey, why not buy some skeletons of animals? And how about some spiders and bugs? God made them, it can’t be evil to have them as decor?” My mom thought I had lost my mind!
That year I began purchasing Halloween decor that was on clearance after the holiday and have been adding on to my collection ever since.
I’ve since added bats, spiders, webs, insects, eyeballs. My husband just rolls his eyes!
My mom's neighbor goes ALL out for Halloween! She even decorates the car sitting in the driveway!!!
It's a bit much for me, but it's her favorite holiday, so she goes to town in her yard!
Here are some shots of what I've done the last few years, tryin' to keep it classy!
Velvet pumpkins are my absolute favorite! And the skulls came from the Dollar Store!
The spider web lace tablecloth was one of my favorite finds at World Market.
Leaf garlands from Dollar Store - first place I check every year! The black candleholders I found at Goodwill years ago for like $1.99 or so - super cheap - I just added glass vases and then tall 'Catholic candles' from (you guessed it!) the Dollar Store.
This shot depicts an unfinished project - the plastic Christmas ornament is supposed to have an eye graphic floating in it - but never got around to it last year! Perhaps this year...
This was at my last house, an adorable 1940's bungalow. I cut the bats and the 'eek!' out of black construction paper. Bats are hanging with clear fishing line to make them look like they're flying and the 'eek!' is taped onto a plastic pumpkin with double sided tape - nothing fancy here!
This was the dining room at my 40's bungalow. It was attached to the living room, so I kept with the turquoise for a cohesive look.
The four small plates on the wall have gold accents and live there year round - they were a great find at a garage sale for $4!
The turquoise artwork I created myself to cover an ugly painting I did at one of those 'Wine and Art' events - a bit too much wine was had!
A couple of years ago I decided to introduce 'poison' bottles. I simply kept any dark bottle I bought - like kombucha bottles, beer bottles, vitamin containers - and mod podged some really cool labels I downloaded for free from a website I found on Pinterest. I also added things into the bottles to get the full effect! The tall one with a cork has liquid in it, feathers in another, rubber bands in yet another.
I've been collecting owls for years and have many kinds which came in many different colors. So I simply sprayed them white with a glossy spray paint to give me a clean, cohesive look.
The metal leaf candleholder I found at Burlington and the amazing marble and wood taper candleholders were a gift from a friend - she knows me well!
Creating little styled vignettes throughout the house gives a sense of cohesiveness and Instagram worthy backdrops! I love going through old family pictures because all I have to do is look at the background and see one of these little vignettes and I know exactly what time of year the picture was taken, and often, what year it was because my decor varies year to year!
So they become little time capsules as well!
This one next to the TV consists of branches from my yard that I sprayed black, books that I found for super cheap at thrift stores, and animal skeletons found on clearance the year before at Michaels and World Market.
The glass cloche I put together myself. I had found the glass part at a thrift store, but no base. So I found a clear glass candle base at the same thrift store, made sure it fit the cloche, and simply sprayed it black. Ta-dah! Fancy, eh?
This mirrored clock 'tray' is actually meant to hang on the wall, but I had no wall space and I needed a tray for the ottoman, so there you go! Found it at Burlington along with the punched metal candleholder which happens to be gold inside, and beautifully reflects light!
The adorable kitty was found at Rite Aid of all places! It was on clearance for a couple dollars after Halloween and its super soft and adorable.
The glass bottle was clear, found at a thrift store, I just sprayed it black and added the cork!
The pom poms I had created that year by wrapping orange yarn around tiny styrofoam balls and then stringing fishing line through them with a needle. I needed a pop of contrasting color and a touch of whimsy.
The following scene was created at a Kenmore apartment that we lived in before the 40's bungalow (we've moved a LOT!)
This owl got the royal treatment and was sprayed ORANGE instead of white - gasp! But it looked better in this little styled vignette on my desk. Don't you love the little spider? It doesn't take much to add some flair!
My girls are no longer afraid of spiders or insects or snakes - probably cause I’ve had them on display. Me, on the other hand, I’m still afraid of a spider that moves! That’s when I call my daughter to come kill it for me! But she never does, she releases it outside into its natural habitat. Ugh. It’s just going to find it’s way back in here when it’s cold! Guess I should work on getting over my fear and kill them myself...
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my Halloween decor and have been inspired to create your own, not so scary decor vignettes!
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