October 30, 2011
I’m conflicted about Halloween style. I think it can quickly move to the realm of hokey and overly crafty—rubber eyeballs in a punch bowl, fake fingers in soup, dyed bright orange carnations; it’s just not my style. It doesn’t mean that’s not fun for some people, I just prefer an understated approach. Halloween with a bit more finesse and less, well … plastic.
But I also believe that when you have kids, the holiday season is more about celebrating as a family than having the perfectly decorated house. So I try to find ways to compromise. When I hit Cost Plus World Market with my girls they fell for these plastic skeletons—I mean, two little blondies dragging full-size skeletons through the aisles of baskets and votives, how could I say no? Those bags of bones now hang at the front door entry; cobwebs and bats adorn the garden gate. Spooky, silly fun on the outside, but on the inside it’s Halloween, mommy-style.
Here’s my attempt at eerie elegance, compliments of a trip to the flower mart, Trader Joe’s and an hour in the middle of my garage having fun. Let me know what you think.
Here I draped cotton spider webs over willow branches and reeds:
Yes, that’s the dog’s bed on the lower right and no, the unicorn is not part of the decor.
This is my Halloween mantel décor. I actually grew that little guy on the end in my garden! My one and only harvest of kabocha squash.
Dark and moody flowers tickled my fancy this year. The dahlias are from Trader Joe’s—only 4.99 a bunch (cheaper than wholesale!).
The girls used stencils to make these cuties.
LED Lights are your friends—I found a whole slew of them in different sizes at Cost Plus.
