Halloween decorations

It was October 11th when I asked my handsome husband to bring in the tote full of Halloween decorations.  I went through them halfheartedly, not completely thrilled with what I had to work with.  The flawless images in my Pinterest feed left me feeling slightly discouraged at my collection of ghosts and goblins.  I had everything scattered across the formal dining room table (which we never use) when Kennedy came in and asked when I was going to put everything up.  “I don’t know if I’m going to at all,” I said.  There are only twenty days to Halloween,” I offered as an excuse.

“Oh, but I love the Halloween decorations,” she answered.  And because there is nothing quite so motivating as your child’s disappointment, I sucked it up and went all in: decorating mode full speed ahead.  As it turns out, I’m fairly pleased with the results.  Mostly, anyway.

First things first: the dining room shelves.  You might remember that they normally look something like this.

To doll them up for the season, I mostly used decorations I already had.  I did have to buy the letters, the black stems in the pitcher and that cute little black mouse sitting on the corner.  The grand total of those purchases was less than $15.

Didn’t it turn out great?  Here is another view, and some close-ups.

The shelves are definitely my favorite part.  I did do a few things in the front room, too, but that part I’m not as thrilled with.  The problem is the mantel.  Normally, I love it.  It usually is dressed like this.

For Halloween, I plopped some white pumpkins and a candlestick up there, but I was far from satisfied.  It needed color and texture.  To that end, I whipped together a fabric rag garland in under an hour and at a cost of about $8 total.  I’m pleased with the way the garland turned out, but still, the mantel needs something more.  It will have to wait until after Halloween, though, because I’m not wanting to put any more money into the project at this point.  I might find something cute after Halloween on clearance.  We’ll see.

In the cutout to the right of the mantel, I switched out a photo of the kids with a Halloween subway art printable that I downloaded for free and had printed from Costco’s photo lab for under two dollars.

And last but not least, on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, I switched out the standard items on my tray with some spooky seasonal decor.

All in all, I think the project came together quite nicely, especially considering I was *this* far from giving up when at first I was frustrated with what I had to work with.  Hopefully I will remember that little lessons when it comes time to decorate for Christmas.