BOO, People!! So excited here, to show you all around! I had a goal this year (2011), to have our whole homestead Halloween decor done (known as the 3-day Hallowtide, to us) by October 1st! That way, we could enjoy it all the whole month of October. I also wanted it all blogged no more than a few days later. How long can it really take, to photograph, edit, and blog it? Apparently….9+ days. With my kids busy schedules, I’m in the driver’s seat, in gyms and on fields, more than in my computer chair these days. (Enjoying it, although behind in work to say the least. But my kiddos come first!)
Now, I have to explain real quick, that I have been trying to ‘find my place’, with Halloween decor, for years. From a spiritual/Catholic point of view (always where I am at), I don’t like to stray too far from the true meaning or Christian roots of any holiday, including Halloween. This is why we have always extended our focus to Hallowtide = All Hallows Eve, All Souls’ Day, and All Saints’ Day. (You can see more about that, and how we roll, HERE.)
On a completely unrelated note, but tying in with the theme, I personally am a big baby, some may say. I do not like scary/gory/terror/evil anything. My kids laugh at everything they see, and I look away. I freak out inside a little bit, myself. Not to mention (ok, I will….), that I see zero value in all of it. So…. decorating has always been a bit of a reluctance / confusion for me, about what I wanted to do. But I can say this year, I found my groove, and the game was on!
In that light, I hope you enjoy seeing our homestead, outdoors and indoors, that I have photographed for you all.
LET’S GO!
Off the bat ( <—- <giggle!), I’d like to give huge props and thanks to Emily from Frosting & Ink Social Designery! <—- Click on the link to see her Etsy shop! I purchased this Halloween Party Collection from Frosting & Ink, and used it for my home decor! While I can design much of anything myself, I hardly have time these days. And besides, when I saw what Emily created, I was all over it! So she deserves lots of credit here! I’ll be posting some her beautiful designs, and showing you how I used them throughout these photos. I actually have not used them all yet, but there is always next year!
Got to warn you: I handed the Hubs the cobweb stuff, to be in charge of getting that done, and he went crazy with it! Even {O} giggled watching him and said, “I can tell you’re having fun with that stuff Daddy! You don’t want to stop!”
One more note: I had fun editing these photos, with some little grunge effects, etc. My house is not actually this grimy looking, inside or out! Not that’s it’s perfectly clean either. If anything, it gets more of the messy & dust-bunny kind of dirty. LOL ; )
So here is my very favorite Halloween creation, I made with a design from Frosting & Ink….
My Halloween Parking Sign! That’s right, I’m the witch around here! Heee hee heeee! Some will agree with that, in a heart beat. ; ) Others will argue, “No000 sir. She is kidding you. She is the sweetest thing ever!” Depends who you talk to. LOL. (Or the day? lol). Just kidding.
Anyway….I smile every time I pull the car into our driveway, about 20 times a day, and see my sign. It’s something I made to be able to use every year, for years to come. I saw the whole thing in my head, the second I saw the design. Michael made the jagged wood board for me, and we painted/distressed it, etc. It is weatherproof.
If you are wondering how, I do plan to do a quick post in the Crafts section, about how I made some of these Halloween decor things, sometime this week. But this post is just about showing our decorations for now.
I just have to show you the amazing and beautiful detail in Emily’s work! I always loved that font used for ‘Parking’. A band I love, Daughtry, uses that letter-style for their logo. It’s called Bleeding Cowboys, I think. It’s a perfect choice for Halloween designing. Good call, Emily!
I was soooo on the fence (<—-another pun…giggle!) about getting this skeleton at Michael’s Arts & Crafts!! I definitely am drawn to skulls and cross-bones and stuff, you know? I have no idea why. They just ‘look’ cool to me. Yet I don’t really want to like them so much. LOL. So….this is about my line, as far as decor goes. See? Call me a wimp. As long as we placed him humorously, was our/my decision. I do like seeing him, hanging out there! (As long as it’s not dark out! lol)
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Here is a wider view of our front-yard-gardens.
The flowers are pretty deadish now, which really kind of makes it all work! Don’tcha think?
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Another perspective of our friend. From Snap Peas to Skeletons!
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I love my newly painted buttoned bottle.
The potting bench.
Bats swarming our front door. It was a popular idea last year, that I loved. But I’m slow. : )
Details of how I did this will be in the Crafts post too.
This chest Michael picked up free somewhere in front of someone’s house. It’s super interesting inside! Really old…meant for shipping clothing and goods, etc., I think. There are all of these compartments inside. BUT, when opened, there is a heavy mold/mildew odor (which I am immediately allergic to), that we can’t get rid of. So, we’ll be tossing it, instead of doing anything more with it. But I thought it would be cool to keep through Halloween out on the front deck, anyway.
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Through the glass of our front door here, you can see our Halloween wreath I made, with another design from my party pack from Frosting & Ink!
SO……that’s about it for our outdoor Halloween decor.
Would you like to come in??…
When you order for this particular pack from Frosting & Ink, you are supposed to give her your last name, so she can customize this design. I incorporated it into a wreath. I’ll share more about how I made this later, in the craft post, too.
The wreath is technically on the inside, because it is not weatherproof, in any way! Just turning it over here, so you can get a better look of it as a whole. But faces outdoors.
Our Halloween Tree. Yep….still have that stick tree there! LOL.
The Halloween lights and black crow were bought at Michael’s Arts and Crafts.
Some of you may know, I love making inter-changable fan pulls, for our all-season room. (Anyone?) I haven’t made one in a long time. BUT, I did make one for Halloween this year!….
Beads and this spider, from Michael’s Arts and Crafts.
How cute are the little ghosts??
I did this kind of thing on our French doors, for Christmas and spring too. I used the the little Cupcake Toppers and Party Signs, from the same Frosting & Ink Party Collection, for what I call ‘Fancy Strands’, down my doors.
A little over the top with the cobwebs, much? It is a bit of an old family portrait now. Well, only 2-3 years. Time for a new one, although we’ll keep this one up somewhere in the house, too, anyway. But that’s the fam.
Well would you look at the time!….
It’s late, and I must get to bed. I am sure we’ll have something more Halloween-ish to share, in the coming weeks. We do plan to do something with pumpkins! And as I said, I’ll be showing how I made everything crafty in this post, in a coming post in the Crafts section. So….we do hope you come again. (If you DARE!! Because we’re wicked scary….right? ; )
ETA: Here is the link for: Tips, Tricks and How-To’s to our Halloween Decor in this post
Please say “BOO!”….if you enjoyed this peak of our Halloween Homestead!!?
Feel free to share the post, or PIN any photos you’d like, as well!
Isn’t the Halloween season fun??
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