Our house always gets decked out for fall. Halloween not so much. But when Stephanie over at Sandpaper and Glue invited me to take part in a Halloween House Tour, I couldn’t say no. I knew it’d be a fun challenge so I graciously accepted.
Making use of items I already had and picking some things up along the way, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Let’s start in the living room.Originally I was only going to do a banner on the mantel, but when I went to Michaels the other day for ribbon they were having an awesome 50 to 60% off sale. So of course I bought some stuff. (I think I’m addicted to sales! The first step is admitting it.)
The pumpkins, crow, and cage were part of that deep discount, so in my basket they went. I then managed to put this display together at the last minute. I think it adds a nice, subtle Halloween touch.
As for the banner, it was super easy to make. I just cut out flags using leftover scrapbook paper I had and used double-sided tape to attach it to the ribbon. (Yes, I did actually buy ribbon too when I was at Michaels.) I also made the bats, but there’s more where that came from … as you’ll see in a moment.
Next, let’s move over to the dining room. I had some fun in here. First, I made a centerpiece using a witch’s hat.
I stuffed the hat with grocery bags to keep it from flopping over. Then I just laid a leaf garland around it, added a little black bird, some faux black roses and this adorable spiral pumpkin that I found in the dollar bins at Target. (I wish I could say I made it, but I didn’t. Boo. <— No pun intended!) I also added two gold candles and put a spider on one of them.
(Source list in case you’re wondering: hat, bird, spider – dollar store; roses, candles – Michaels; garland, candlesticks – already had.)
Second, I put together this fun display.The wooden chest I had picked up at an estate sale over the summer. I filled it with blankets and then used a leaf tablecloth we had to cover them. I put sticks, pinecones, leaf garland, and a pumpkin on top of that. I then added cobwebs and spiders from the dollar store.
As for those bats – they were really easy to make. I printed a template I found online (I can’t draw to save my life), traced it onto black cardstock and cut them out. I then bent their wings just a little to give them some dimension and so they look like they’re flying.
Last, but certainly not least, let’s walk through our back hallway where I dressed up a bookshelf. I had the most Halloween fun with this!
I started by lining the back of the bookcase with green wrapping paper. Then I added cobwebs and different pieces that I had collected. Here’s a closer look at each shelf.
I love using Scrabble tiles to spell out things for holiday décor. I also love using empty wine bottles. The black and orange label on this one was perfect. You could also use them as candle holders!
I love the Boo sign. It was a free download here and even prints with that aged look. Another free trick I used was taking a wine glass, filling it with popcorn kernels and inserting a votive candle. Easy, yet festive.
I used another wine bottle with a cool label here. I also used a cake stand for the pumpkin to sit on. And I found a skull and bones template online and traced it onto my DIY chalkboard platter.
I could have bought fake spell books, but being a Harry Potter
nerd fan I knew these books sans dust jacket would be perfect for Halloween. Brilliant!
And there you have it. That’s my Halloween House Tour. Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to swing by the other bloggers’ homes to see their spooktacular décor!
Stephanie – Sandpaper and Glue
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October 20, 2014 at 8:26 am
such great stuff! I love that spiral pumpkin… and folding out the bat wings was a great idea- I need to do that to mine!
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October 20, 2014 at 9:21 am
Thanks so much!
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October 20, 2014 at 10:43 am
Looking good! Love your little fireplace banner, and Harry Potter w/o dust jackets=simple but genius!
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October 20, 2014 at 11:21 am
Haha! Thank you!
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October 20, 2014 at 11:22 am
I just love everything you did here! Fun and still tasteful. The mantel is delightful and the flying bats so clever. Really great job!
Lory at Designthusiasm
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October 20, 2014 at 11:49 am
Thank you, Lory. And I love your tour! Everything is so elegant. Your table setting is perfect — I love the combination of plates! Very nice!
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October 20, 2014 at 1:30 pm
Love the bats!!
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October 20, 2014 at 2:37 pm
Thanks, Shayna! 🙂
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October 20, 2014 at 3:28 pm
Harry Potter!! Love it. And I’m going to borrow your Scrabble tile idea, as well as the spider ring on the candle. So clever.
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October 20, 2014 at 4:25 pm
Haha, thank you! Borrow away! 🙂
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October 22, 2014 at 12:29 am
Those bats! I love those bats.. especially the ones flying out of that fab crate! Your home is fabulous!
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October 22, 2014 at 7:40 am
Aww thanks so much, Kim!
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October 23, 2014 at 7:59 pm
Wow! I can’t stand Halloween and the typical Halloween decorations, but you’ve got me inspired! Your ideas are so easy, so fun, so tasteful, so simple (so affordable) – that even I want to run out and get decorating! We’re about to buy a house, so decorating this year won’t happen, but I know where to come back to for inspiration next year! Thanks, and keep up the great work (BTW – I love all of your ideas, but I think my favorites are the banner and the dining room – what part of the dining room? Jeeze – I’ll take the whole thing, thank you 🙂
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October 24, 2014 at 9:00 am
Thanks for all the love, Renee! That really means a lot. Good luck with the house! Where are you buying?
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October 24, 2014 at 1:17 pm
Just wanted to say I stopped by via TheKim6Fix and took the entire tour! Thank you everyone! I found your home (This Old Colonial Home) to be my favorite. Isn’t that odd, since you stated at the start you typically aren’t into Haloween decorating! The others were nice, had some good ideas there too, but wanted to let you know your home was my favorite! Thanks for sharing (without a lot of scary duplicate pics! ) Happy Haunting!
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October 28, 2014 at 9:15 am
Thank you Deanna! That’s very sweet. It was nice to see how each blogger brought something different to Halloween. We’re glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by!
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