Aside from gorging on candy corn and pumpkin beer while watching Halloween and/or Trick ‘r Treat, there is no better way to get in the festive mood than by decorating your house, apartment, room, car, office, whatever. Pulling out those orange bins and finding old familiars, while re-discovering those items you bought last year in early November. It’s magical, nostalgic, and reeks of Halloween spirits.
So, take a moment and join me on this photo-heavy tour through some of my personal decor collection.
(Sadly, I don’t have a mood table at this moment, but I’m hoping to jump on that bandwagon soon.)
Indoors
Let’s discuss The Boney Bunch, shall we? They are Yankee Candle’s yearly release of Halloween figures. Each year, a new batch of these breakable candle holders/accessories are released. Pricey, yes — but totally worth it. They’re creepy-cute and steadfast with their Halloweentastic color palette. We have so many — and we’re still missing a box that got lost in a house move!
A few years ago, I started collecting Department 56‘s Halloween stuff — to build my own little “Halloween Town.” It’s still a work in progress — especially when you have small children that just want to play with (break) the extremely delicate figures. So, right now, the “Town” is on top of our entertainment center. It’s modest, but we’re getting there. This lovely Harley-riding chick below was my favorite acquisition from this year’s hunt.
My four-year-old, Milo, has decided to create his own “Halloween Town” in his room. On some toy cubbies, he’s set the following two figures, along with a varied arrangement of his action figures. From Paw Patrol and Sesame Street to Ghostbusters, it’s quite a town, if I do say so myself.
With two small boys, our downstairs bathroom gets a lot of traffic. So, I tend to spruce it up for the holidays. Bats hang from the lights; Frankie adorns the walls; my fake plant turns into a pumpkin basket; and the night light gets an upgrade.
And now for the randoms.
One day, I dream of having a full-sized Halloween tree. Something to put real-life Halloween goodies under. But for now, I have a small one. He’s cute–just a baby. Note the chubby-faced Frankie lurking in the background. I’ve also gotten into the habit of adding wall art. Removing my year-round wall stuff, and replacing it with seasonal decor. And I’m loving it. (I do the same for Christmas)
In addition to The Boney Bunch, I got this spooky house and flicker lights up on my mantel. Flicker lights are a must. I’m often saddened by how I lived so long without them in my life.
This witch is a new purchase this year. And I have yet to find her a more permanent spot. She’s currently resting in a large basket in my entryway–because my four-year-old put her there– because I think he’s afraid of her (I would be, too). I’m also a sucker for pairings–like these wedding monsters from Pier 1. I know where they’re from because I have neglected to remove the tags… three years later.
And the final bit ‘o random decor. A creepy vintage sign with a spooked small child (wtf) and a couple of black cats. The larger cat head is presumably used for candles, but we are currently using it for our wallets, phones, and/or keys. You know, making it functional.
And, finally, no home is complete without a bunch of plastic trick-or-treating pumpkins. I can’t help myself, we have so many–and I will never not continue to buy them. As with everything, I have a long-term dream: to use them as luminaries down my driveway. And I have a long driveway, so.. I simply must keep buying ’em!
Outdoors
Now, at the time of writing this, we’re not entirely complete with our outdoor decorations–maybe 80-90% finished. But here’s what we have going for us so far… Warning: the children crashed this photo shoot.
A cheap(ish), plastic pumpkin covers our lamp — the nighttime orange glow of it is pretty effective and spooky. And this year, we covered our bushes with spiderwebs. Not bad. We had some plastic link chains wrapped around the front step rails, but then someone ran off with those…
Every year, I buy at least one more tombstone. You know, the heavy kind–as opposed to the foam kind that blows away at the mere notion of wind. And when I’ve collected enough of these, I’m going all out for a full-on graveyard, complete with a plastic fence and mood spotlighting.
In the actual yard area, we have some witches and ghosts, and a couple of light-up trees. And down by the road, we invoked the fall harvest spirits for a pumpkin/hay bale theme. And then my four-year-old toted the wagon back to the house and returned with an orange light-up skeleton guy–just the hands and head. So, he’s there, too. (How can I resist my kid’s Halloween enthusiasm?)
And, finally, the pièce de résistance is our very first blow-up addition: the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. While he isn’t as large as some of the models out there, he’s still a beast. And my kid “busts” him every chance he gets. Totally worth it.
Man, I love the holidays…
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