Our street is famous for Halloween. At one point, homeowners had to ask radio stations to stop telling people about it, because it became too much to handle. The street is shut down by police, and last year (which we were told was a “light” year), we handed out candy to 1119 children. (Give or take. Doug counted them.) It’s one of the most famous places to trick-or-treat in Indiana. We found out this fact AFTER we moved in, but I’m embracing it. I’m really more of a Christmas Decoration gal, so this is new territory!
We’ve never done anything to the house decoration wise, because it was under construction, so it my brain, it looked like a haunted house already. With the porch being done, we want to step it up this year. I don’t want it to be too scary – there are those on Martin Place who turn their porches into scary haunted houses, and many a five-year-old is bawling by the time they get to us. Sometimes people run around with chainsaws. And someone has a working guillotine. Not kidding. Eventually, I’d love to have the kids come into the front two rooms and REALLY do some awesome things (think the dining room in the Haunted Mansion at Disney). But, we’re keeping it simple for now. Well, simple for us. We don’t really know how to do things half-way. But we’re going to try to start with one layer this year, and then add on in future years.
So, this begins stage one. Again, not wanting to be TOO scary, I’m thinking Victorian-Meets Hogwarts Potions Room-Meets “The Raven.” After trying to keep the budget down, we aren’t costuming ourselves this year, but I have great ideas for next year (and the years after – something that can be classic and repeat).
This morning, I was up early, and though we plan on spending most of the day at the Cottage working, I starting working on a wreath while Doug was still asleep. I’m not really skilled in this area – I think I’ve made one wreath before. But I tried. JoAnn’s had a HUGE 75% off sale, so I snagged a lot of stuff that will come out in the next couple of weeks as I work on projects.
I started with a pre-made wreath, glitter/wired fabric, tulle, and some flowers. I took the “in-progress” pictures on my phone, so sadly they aren’t super great. But I didn’t have my real camera around.
I cut the wired fabric down the center, so it really became super extra-wide ribbon.
I wrapped it around, and then added the black wired ribbon.
I attached Mr. Skeleton (Mrs? Miss?) to the wreath using jute.
And I decided he needed a rose in his mouth!
I stuck a bunch of silk leaves in. And some flowers.
And then I used to tulle to secure him a bit more to the wreath, and wrapped him up a little. Hopefully he won’t nose-dive onto the porch. But I’m not super convinced.
And here it is! Orange doesn’t really go with the house, so instead of the traditional orange and black, I am going with black, purple, and burgundy.
And I added some crows. Or ravens. Whatever.
The crows were a fun find at the dollar store. Super cheap and perfect for this.
Shots of the porch for scale. Much more to come here!
Easy project! I just hope it doesn’t fall apart. We shall see!
More Halloween decor posts to come. Hooray for Halloween!
