Halloween Archives - Enjoying the Small Things

Elarlier this summer, we stayed at a beautiful old resort on the southeast end of Mackinac Island where, late one night, we ventured through narrow hallways and creaky staircases to discover a ballroom that looked straight out of the game of Clue, complete with an ornate fireplace and huddle of couches in front of it, definitely something where Harry, Ron and Hermione would have gathered to conspire in the Gryffindor wing. I tucked it away for Halloween inspiration later this year.

Knock-knock...it’s later this year. Which brings me to this very important seasonal dilemma: Come October, do you decorate for fall or do you decorate for Halloween? I have a system (oh God, here she goes with one of her “systems”): I decorate for Falloween. We throw a big kids’ Halloween party every year, so we’ve invested in some fun decorations that I like to get good use of, so I blend Halloween and fall decorations until after Halloween. I try to do this as tastefully as possible. Halloween can get a little tacky, but I love Halloween, my kids love Halloween, so we go all in. As I once said–perhaps one of my more eloquent quotes: We draw the line at blood and chainsaws.

So, back to that little Gryffindor library inspiration. A few weeks ago, I ran into Goodwill and saw this huge framed piece of art in the corner–ugly and outdated, of course, but way cheap!

I knew if I could find the right art for it, it would be the perfect focal point on the mantle for my Halloween vision. I painted the green inner matting black and then watered down some black acrylic paint and brushed it over the frame to tone down the gold tones and make it look more aged. Then it was time to find the perfect photo to put inside. I wanted a vintage portrait and found several great ones on Art.com. I ended up choosing this amazing solemm portrait of Emily Post (it was only $15 when I bought it–price went up), but also loved these:

Bride of Frankenstein (huge poster is only $5)
Edgar Allen Poe
Abraham Lincoln

You can search “vintage portrait” on Art.com, Zazzle.com or any art site and find several to choose from.

This was the mantel before.

And this is the haunted mansion mantel after. Get me a mug of butter beer! I need to sit next to this fire and study for my Potions exam!

At the very least, I figure Ms. Post will guide us through the fall season, channeling all the good manners. See that face on her? That’s the face of disgust after Dash burps out loud in front of her. Dear Emily, we’re sorry. Please help us.

The portrait makes a statement on its own, so I didn’t want to add too much more, but what’s a haunted mansion library without candles? I love the look of taper candles, but the dripping wax? I’m OVER IT. I’ve Googled every brand of taper that doesn’t drip, and while Root brand was the closest to actual no-drip, it’s just too hard in Florida where our air conditioner runs all day, so there’s always uneven air current from overhead vents. So flameless taper candles it is (mine are Mikasa, and I love them).

The gauzy fabric was $1 from Dollar Tree, the crows are from Joann’s, and the garland is from Hobby Lobby.

Now if we can just get Miss Emily to move within her portrait before our Harry Potter family night next month. C’mon, Emily! You can do it. (Heidi, the other day: “So help me God, I catch that woman’s eyes moving, and I swear I’m never coming to your house again.”

It’s no secret my favorite time of year is the three month stretch beginning with October. I love the reflection that comes with the end of the year, the way we huddle with our families and gather with our friends a little more and, as a lover of all things holiday, I love the fact that there are three holidays–all of them grand–that inspire our decor, celebrations and family memories. I get a little more into Halloween every year–perhaps because my kids are growing and I want to drink up all these wonder-filled years as best I can. But also simply because I love it, and I’d like to think if I had no children, I’d still be pouring soup into cauldrons for Tuesday night dinner and hanging spider webs across the trees in our front yard because it brings me joy. That said, I’m having fun this year adding celebratory touches and going all out for my own family rather than reserving the special things for a party with more people.

Evidence A: Our Halloween Tablescape.

I love creating festive tablescapes, and this one was not only so much fun to create but super inexpensive ($20), inspired by some bouquets of black and purple artificial flowers I picked up from The Dollar Tree. The kids think it’s the coolest thing ever, especially with the dry ice potion fog, but it still looks perfectly spooktacular without it.

Here’s what you need:

We picked up two spooky trees from The Dollar Spot at Target ($3 each), but I imagine you could bundle some foraged sticks together for free. We used about 7 bouquets of flowers. We found the chemistry Erlenmeyer flasks and beakers at Michaels in the Halloween section (currently 50% off–$2.50 for a flask!) and filled them with some water dyed with food coloring. You can find floral foam at any craft store, and the creepy crawlies anywhere they sell Halloween decor (I think these are also from Dollar Tree).

1. Hot glue your creepy crawlies on flasks and votives.

2. Slice Floral foam into 3-4 blocks (square or rectangular) depending on how long you want your centerpiece. Ours are about 5-6 in long, and we made four of them. Using wire cutters, cut bouquets down into individual stems and poke into floral foam blocks leaving one side clean (to set on table) but covering foam completely on all other sides.

3. Arrange flasks and spooky trees (one on each end) across middle of table and tuck floral blocks and votives in between.

If using dry ice, drop a small piece (about the size of an ice cube) into each flask and beaker using tongs.

Our flasks bubbled and fogged for about 5 minutes, but if you put a bigger block of dry ice in them, they’ll go longer. Last year, our punch bubbled and fogged for about twenty minutes with a large chunk of dry ice, and then we added more when effects started fizzling out.

Add some creepy crawlies to your dinner plates…

And Voila! Dinner is served.

Need some inspiration for spooky Halloween-inspired recipes? Check out these ones from Delish.com or our spooky party last year (might I suggest Witch Guts & Vampire Hearts…aka black spaghetti and meatballs).

We are looking forward to our Halloween party next weekend!

Haunted Mansion Halloween Mantel

Make Your Own Spooktacular Halloween Centerpiece