By Jessica
As you've seen in years' past, Halloween is my holiday so of course I have been decorating my house as soon as the calendar read September 1st. The outside will come along once we are actually in October, but for now, I have ample time to tweak and live with my indoor decorations. So far this year, I've made two purchases (yes already) and don't have plans to purchase much more, but I always say that and then I always buy more.
This year I decided to decorate the house as if it was the home of a fairytale witch or equally dark gothic character, instead of the little vignettes that I did last year. Once it gets closer to the actual holiday, I'll add the spider webbing-I don't want to have them up collecting dust for this long.
I couldn't decide which pictures to include this year as I really liked them all, so I put them together in several collages.
This is in my entry way. I have a collection of fake newspapers (purchased this year at Garden Ridge) under the glittered heading of "Fright Night". I've also added a glittered "Beware" to the story about the killer clown escaping. Above is one of my favorite pieces, my skull chandelier. As you walk in the door, you immediately see the wellie umbrella stand which I've turned into a broom-stand instead.
On your right, once inside the house, we have this buffet/bar area that I've decorated with a collection of various items. The candleabra I've had for years but never put out because the candlesticks were a bright orange, so I just grabbed some deep purple paint and painted that out. The smaller spooky tree I have placed in front of a faux antique mirror that I made myself and that is up on this shelf all the time, I like how it reflects in the mirror. Finally in this area, I have a few spiders sprinkled about.
On the fireplace, I've grouped more of my skull collection together. The silver bowl is a decoration that I use for Halloween and Christmas and this time I just stuffed it with crumpled newspaper, covered that with dingy fabric and then plopped in a skull and a couple of spiders. My mercury glass collection is sprinkled throughout all the displays and I used the candlesticks to prop up various skull candles, ceramic skulls and foam skulls. I've also added my sand hourglass which has black sand. On top of the "Ginger Mint Julep" picture (which is of a wall in New Orleans) as well as on the front of the mantle, I have two good-sized fuzzy spiders.
My dining room is a dining room/library area so I have a display on top of the bookcase as well as one on top of the dining room table. As you can see, I went with a black, white and silver theme on top of the bookcase and just layered things that I thought went together. The silver pumpkin actually has a face on it but I thought it looked better with the back side facing out. The black pumpkin has the word "Wicked" carved into it. On the table, I have my silver and black spiderweb runner and two metal houses.
On my upper kitchen counter, I've laid out what I guess could be considered a creepy buffet. I started with the menu for the Cross Bone Tavern. From there we have a "steaming cauldron" which I made using faux spider webbing that I spread out to make it look like wisps of smoke. The witch's hand is actually a wall plaque that I just set in the bottom and used the webbing to cover. The "Essence of Bat's Breath" apothecary jar (a purchase from Home Goods this year) I've filled with light-reflective, green, spider webbing. I have no idea what "bat's breath" would look like but my husband suggested green, so this is what we went with. The spell book is actually from Hallmark and talks if you open it but I didn't like the back so I've layered it with a book on Tarot. I filled the "Fresh Treats" jar with eyeballs (gumballs). I still need to add something in the "Bone Appetit" bowl as well as the "Bite Size Specimens" mouth.
If you can believe it, I still have more items out in the garage but I really wanted an edited (for me) display this year. I can't wait to get going on the outside!
How do you decorate for Halloween?
I look forward to seeing your Halloween decorations every year. They are AMAZING.
Posted by: Elizabeth | September 20, 2011 at 07:49 PM
This is AWESOME! I like Halloween, but I lack the devotion to get reallllly into it. But, I have always wanted to be invited to a party at someone's house that does it up like this and I never have. For some reason, I do not know any Halloween-y people in real life.
LOVE. Excellent job!
Posted by: A'Dell | September 20, 2011 at 10:05 PM
This is AWESOME! I like Halloween, but I lack the devotion to get reallllly into it. But, I have always wanted to be invited to a party at someone's house that does it up like this and I never have. For some reason, I do not know any Halloween-y people in real life. vd
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