Halloween Decor Tour: Handmade and on the Cheap

Welcome to the estate’s Halloween decor tour:

Ever since I was a kid, Halloween decorating has been an epic adventure.  My brother and I would stuff dummies, pipe creepy music from our windows, and spend hours primping our front lawn.  We may have even stole a few things when our parents refused to give us cash to buy fake spider web and blood.

My memory fails me at times…

Sloth {my brother’s real nickname} has moved onto throwing insane Halloween parties.  A party that included smoke machines and dry ice.  I have yet to attend due to small children, but the King and I will be making a cameo this year.

I’ve translated my love of Halloween into little tabeleaus in my home, because I don’t have a mantel or many flat surfaces that my curious children can’t destroy.  That leaves me with my front hall table, my front door, the very end of my dining room table, and a spot on our island.

So, this year, I created a new wreath: nothing earthshattering, but I wanted to have a good contrast with our black door.

I also covered up our anchor knocker with this silver-spray painted dollar store skull.

On my island, I scored a few dollar store crows with a skull I had from my classroom.  Those candleholders were a Sal Arm snag for $4 for the pair.  The sparky “spooky” sign was a gift from Nana Magic.  I like the Edgar Allan Poe creep factor and the bird eating the eyeball…

On my dining table, I repurposed a vintage suitcase that I use to stash all of the boys’ little toys when we entertain and I have all of five minutes to get our house in order.  The little pie pumpkins will be eaten, and the mini pumpkins were gifts for the boys.  I added that black craft pumpkin ala Edward Scissorhands with thumbtacks to the Halloween stash this year.

On the center of my dining table, is a small cauldron of Halloween books for the boys that I read to them when we eat breakfast.  I did have about 30+ more Halloween books from my first and second grade teaching days, but they are missing!

I usually use our staircase to decorate for the holidays, so I used some of that killer “creepy cloth” from the dollar store, with the very first Halloween decoration I bought when the King and I purchased this home back in the day.   That creepy mummy has some sentimental value now…

If you have little ones or are a teacher, check out my Halloween ABC wall in the boys’ room.  Apparently, it’s working.  Monkey’s learned the whole “new” alphabet in a matter of a week, and Moose knows the word, “pumpkin” from it now!

Here’s a sneak peek:
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My most pricey addition to this year’s Halloween decor is that sparkly owl, from Marshall’s at a mere $9.99.  I had a cheap attack buying it, because I am of the mindset, well I can DIY it, thrift a crappy old 70s owl, buy some Krylon glitter spray paint, and do it for cheaper.

He’s so pretty, that he may just stick around for the holidays.  And after.

I love owls…

I haven’t done much with the outside of the house, because I plan to hit up the Halloween clearance on November 1st.  At 8:00.  Tar-jay, watch out…

If you want some last minute Halloween ideas {over 200+ linked up!} stop by my Halloween linky.