Halloween 2021

What time is it? It is time for Halloween!

My house is decorated, candy packaged in treat bags and I’m ready to welcome our neighborhood Trick-or-Treaters.  I sure hope I’m not the only one that is this excited!!!

Inside Decorations

In a way, I kept it a little bit simpler this year.  And very important – didn’t spend any additional money. Yay me! I reused all my décor items from previous years but placed them in different areas/groups to create new displays.   Even though I still added bats, cats and witches to my windows, even they look “fresh” this year because I rearranged them.

I focused a lot on my guest bathroom this year.  We have a new, lighter tile floor, and this serves as the perfect backdrop for my star Halloween item – plastic cockroaches!  Yes, they are all over the bathroom.  On the door, the wall, the floor and the mirror.  Even on the artwork!  Speaking of artwork, I swapped out some frames for my Halloween themed ones.  I also printed photos from last year and displayed them in the existing frames.  Add in a couple of spooky cloths, a caged rat, and a somber flower arrangement and you have a decorated bathroom!

As usual, the foyer got a touch of Halloween as well.  I added paper bats to the wall, hung plastic bats from the upstairs bannisters and even added a few bats to the mirror.  My DIY snow globes from last year are displayed front and center along with some skeletons and another themed flower arrangement. I have my black room divider up between the foyer and Pieter’s office, which helps to create separation between this decorated area and the rest of the house.

For the walls, I reused some artwork from last year, as well as created a new one of a kind spider-themed piece. I used an existing frame, inserted white paper and used a sharpie to draw a spiderweb. The plastic spider sticks to the outside of the glass, giving it a nice 3D effect. I kept my furniture in its current position and used the bench to display my plastic skeleton. I change his position every couple of days, but I’m not sure that anyone else in my house notices that. Simon, who is away at college, is usually the family member who notice these subtle changes and play along with picking new poses.

Outside Decorations

We went all out last year with marked paths and one way Trick or Treater traffic.  I toned it down a bit this year but still managed to add some new elements.  I created two distinct scare areas: right by the garage side of our front walk, we have our headless man, some plastic heads with sound effects and some fake spider nests. For added effect, I roped off this area with some yellow caution tape.

Follow the path to the front door and you will see my tomato cage ghost, standing proudly between two lighted dead trees.  Yes, I planted two dead tree branches and decorated them with Christmas lights and plastic bats!  I was going to spray-paint them black, but that might make it more difficult to dispose of them in early Nov…

I added my lanterns, some tiki torches, more caution tape, my second skeleton and more pieces of blood-stained cloth.  This is where we will be setting up our DIY candy chute to hand out candy while keeping a safe distance.

New Lawn Decorations

This year, I created a couple of new silhouettes for the lawn. I drew my shapes on some printed foam board and then used a utility knife to cut along the outlines. I spray-painted the final shapes black. I used clear tape to fit plastic pipes to the back of the pieces and just pressed them into the lawn.

My Decorations

I have collected my Halloween decorations over the years and did not spend a fortune on them at all. In fact, most were created with materials I had on hand, some spray paint and a little bit of imagination. If you are a shopper, I have a handy list of 10 items for sale this year. But don’t delay, the Trick or Treaters are on their way!

Do you decorate for Halloween? And do you make all your own decorations or do you prefer to shop for items?

Don’t miss my post about Undecorating Halloween!