Halloween is in just a few short weeks so we broke out the old creepy raven along with a bunch of other spook-tastic props from last year (see our big Halloween ’09 set up here). And other than springing for some candy for the kids in our neighborhood and some candy corn for ourselves we didn’t spend a dime (hindsight: candy corn is the worst- it’s basically just a stomach ache waiting to happen). Oh and we grabbed some $4 carnations too. So here’s the console table all decked out:
Nothing too fancy, just a piece of burlap as a casual runner with things like some eerily titled books that we dug up along with some feathers from last year and my new little white ceramic frog (further explained here). And of course there’s the bird, a faux antler candlestick, and the black votive from last year’s Halloween dealy-o.
And see the photo above Mr Frog? Here’s the close up. John made us skulls in photoshop last year and we loved it so much we brought it out again this year. John’s cavernous hole-like eyes are so handsome.
And can you tell what I shoved under that glass dome?
Last year I stuffed a framed black silhouette of Burger in there, but this year I picked up some $4 white carnations and painted them black for a gloomy-ish look.
Now we just have to resist the Three Musketeers and York Peppermint Patties instead of eating them all before the 31st. Honestly, that’s probably not going to happen.
And here’s the coffee table full of faux pumpkins, round votive holders (I liked how they mimicked the shape of the pumpkins), and two vases with dried grasses for a little fall texture and height.
And see the dining table beyond our little pumpkin and candle fest?
That’s where I broke out the tummy torturing candy corn (maybe we just eat too much but it always makes us want to die about five minutes later) along with my spray painted faux gourds and Lumiere (the Beauty & The Beast-esque yellow spray painted candlestick from Goodwill).
We also added three votive cups (also from Goodwill a few weeks back) with faux candles flickering inside of them and a manzanita branch for height and more of that seasonal stick-y vibe.
I guess you could say our theme for this arrangement was bold lemon yellow (as seen in the candlestick, the two-toned metal cups, and that dastardly candy corn).
So that’s how we added some “creepy” to our living room without spending any money (except for the aforementioned edible items and those white carnations that we painted).
What are you guys doing to get your place Halloween ready? Is anyone with me on the candy corn is evil theory? Does everyone else have to buy two rounds of Halloween candy since they eat the first batch well before the 31st?
Psst- Wondering where we got our Halloween props above? Peep last year’s post for a full source rundown.
Pssssssst- Don’t forget to check out our weekly BabyCenter post, this time it’s about animal themes, from owls to rhinos and beyond.
Rebecca says
This is the first year we’ll actually have a house to hand out candy, but I can almost guarantee that we will have to buy a second round. The husband and I have major sweet tooths.
I love all the round cuteness of the coffee table pumpkin display!
Catherine says
Normally I’m not a big fan of seasonal decor, but I want to copy every single thing you’ve done here! I love the styling!
Kim says
I’m loving your tablescape – and your dining room table! Mind sharing where you got your table?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kim,
Target! They hopefully still sell something similar.
xo,
s
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
Love all your halloween decorations! I definitely can agree with the candy corn sentiment, that’s happened to me before. Doesn’t bode well for the tummy.
On a completely unrelated note, I found this website through my Real Simple magazine, you’ve probably already checked it out, but its really fun!
http://www.copycatchic.com/
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Laura,
Oh yeah we love that site!
xo,
s
Melissa @ HOUSEography.net says
Candy corn is EVIL! I made a centerpiece using candy corn which I’ll post later this week on my blog, IF my parents don’t eat it all while they are babysitting at our house today!
Gina at Temporary Nest says
I have been doing so many fun Fall and Halloween things around my place too!
Here is a nice little vignette for Autumn
http://temporary-nest.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-bouquet-part-2.html
And here are the pumpkins we just carved!
http://temporary-nest.blogspot.com/2010/10/peter-peter-pumpkin-carver.html
I absolutely LOVE this time of year and it gets me so motivated! I suppose the candy induced sugar high probably helps…. hehe!
Beth @ bethcooks says
I TOTALLY feel you on the candy corn! I have a huge bowl of it out right now (the ones that are in the shape of little pumpkins) and I had 3 the other night and it was too much. What IS IT with those things?
I decorate more for Fall than Halloween, but I absolutely love what you’ve done….as usual!
margie says
where did you get the glass dome from?
I’m so jealous of the things you find at the thrift store, My thrift store sucks!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Margie,
We got that at a garage sale for $4!
xo,
s
Paige says
I’m giggling at the people who say they can “tell” you’ve accepted an offer on the house because you put up spooky decor. Our house is on the market but I decorated for Halloween! Granted, I toned myself down a little, but it’s definitely still out. As long as everything is tasteful, which yours obviously is, then it’s fine for showing the house.
Chrissy says
Love the dining table decor! I can definitely see how that can be transported straight to Thankgiving decor as well! how have you solved the wax problem with candelabras? I love having them with a runner on the table, as you do, but always end up with wax all over the runner or table.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Chrissy,
We get drip free candles so they don’t run down onto the table (they drip just a smudge but the edge if the candlestick catches it before it hits the runner).
xo,
s
Jenni says
We love the ‘Autumn Mix’ candy corn for the variety, but I completely forgot how good candy corn is with peanuts–thanks @Joanna, et al.! One of my high school teachers always kept a huge glass jar full of candy corn and peanuts in her office…no wonder everyone (including other teachers) hung out in her room at lunch :)
Anyways, I always love your ‘spooky chic’ Halloween decor! Have you guys picked out a costume for Clara’s first Halloween? Or will that be addressed in a later post?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jenni,
Yup, we already picked out a Clara costume. Can’t wait to share the pics!
xo,
s
Cheri@IHeartOldHouses says
We’re already in need of our second round of candy…and, um, we usually get about 5 trick-or-treaters. Maybe we should buy some candy corn as a deterrent?
tarynkay says
Hmmm… I’m with r8chel and am speculating that you’ve already accepted an offer on the house since you’re decorating. Especially since you live in the South, where Halloween can be pretty controversial… I love the spooky wedding photo! The creepiest thing to me is the white vegetables, which (as I think someone mentioned) are totally Bunnicula. I am not really a table-scape person, but I do ultimately want to collect pictures of all our deceased relations, to display Dia de los Muertos style with candles and so forth. I like that tradition of spending the evening talking about/remembering/celebrating your dead. We always wait till Halloween to buy candy, but then we never get trick-or-treaters b/c there is a big Halloween block party a couple of streets over. But we buy the candy anyhow, every year, just in case, and leave it on the porch while we go to the block party. Nobody ever takes any candy. Then we eat it ALL, while promising that we will not buy candy again next year.
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
I love your cheap ideas! I’m still working on our Halloween decorations, but I’m spending as little as possible.
ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com
Nancy says
Enjoy those great coffee table decorations while you can. Next year Clara will have her own ideas on how to decorate with them:)
Rabbit says
Uh oh…all I can see is the spooky skull-face picture! Is it just me having a problem???
Rabbit says
OK WEIRD b/c now I can see the pics! LOVE IT!
angel p says
We love Halloween! We don’t decorate tons but we have a tall vase full of purple glitter skulls, a handful of fabric pumpkins that I made, our own spooky candelabra that we also got at Goodwill, a silver spraypainted faux pumpkin and tons and tons of Halloween picture frames featuring all our previous years costume pics. We love to look at our costume pics since we always make our own costumes every year. Perhaps if I can finish costumes early enough I will add to our Halloween decor.
Mim says
wait, I am agog at the idea that you not only buy candy early, but that instead of keeping the bags closed and hidden away and then sneakily maybe a bag accidentally opens (happens at our house every year!) and ok maybe you find yourself reaching up to the top shelf of the linen cabinet where the candy is being stored and whoops, come Oct 30, you maybe need to get a few more new bags, that you actually PLACE the candy OUT in a bowl open to the world to walk by it every day…. If i did that in my house, the candy would be gone in approx 3 days.
melarse says
The new decor looks great! Done with class (of course) and not so over the top to turn off those potential buyers. Good thinking!
Question for you, how are you preventing the edges of your burlap from fraying. I bought some this year in anticipation of mimicking what you did last year, but can’t seem to stop the fraying. Thanks in advance!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Melarse,
Ours is a bit frayed too (we don’t do anything to prevent it) but we like the natural look.
xo,
s
Tracy Lee says
Candy corn is to Halloween what Fruitcake is to Christmas, LOL!
I haven’t done any seasonal decorating because we’re in the process of moving out of our house right now (we get to move into our new place in 2 days!), so unless gigantic stacks of cardboard boxes is suddenly stylish, my place is a royal mess. BUT… there is a gigantic 17″ tall pumpkin in my living room (next to said boxes). That counts, right? =)
Lauren says
Nooo – put away the creepy bird. You recognize it scares fully grown adults – and yet the trauma spreads! Unsportsmanlike.
Jessica says
Candy Corn = Evil. With a capital E. Seriously, I don’t even attempt it anymore. I’m pretty sure it’s flat out wax, anyway, but it is 100% instant stomach ache.
I don’t get trick-or-treaters because I live on a 10-acre horse farm with a long driveway, but I still buy candy for *ahem* them….just not candy corn ;)
Kaitlyn says
Love the “Falloween” decorations! So sophisticated. When I was growing up, we decorated the house with paper cut-outs of black cartoony cats and ghosts which had to come down on Nov. 1st. I like your decor because it can generally stay up until Christmas (with the exception of some of the creepier stuff of course!) Thanks so much for sharing!
Debbie says
Love it! Thanks for the idea for my dining room set-up, especially witht the candy corn. I’m a pumpkin candy freak and I too get sick because I eat waaaay too much! :)
Jen says
Does anyone know where I could buy a manzanita branch like Sherry mentioned? Do they sell them at craft stores like Michaels?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jen,
We got ours from West Elm a while back, bit I’ve seen one at HomeGoods recently. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mary Ann says
This is all I’ve done so far, but I really want to do a LOT more. My family never really decorated except for Christmas and my husband I love LOVE seasonal decorations, but we’ve never really done much of it before. I’m in a constant hunt for new and simple ideas now!
http://frostedgingerbread.blogspot.com/2010/10/hillside-thanksgiving-wreath.html
Robin says
Man if you guys had a dollar every time someone stated the many ways your child is going to destroy your abilty to keep a stylish home, I bet you would have enough money buy lots of (breakable) ceramic creatures. Stay classy, youngsters!
Susanna says
I wouldn’t worry too much about Clara and breakables (I bet you’ll teach her how to co-exist with your collections), I’d worry about Clara and candy corn in open bowls!!! Do they make white ceramic candy corn? ;)
Barbara says
“John’s cavernous hole-like eyes are so handsome.”
I laughed so hard at this my coworkers are looking at me funny.
Stephanie says
I love candy corn! and candy pumpkins! Small doses is key though!
jbhat says
I love how you did this. Even your autumnal decor is light and airy, and perfectly in keeping with your home’s vibe. Well done!
jbhat
Abby says
Dude, the wedding photo? I would never recover from seeing my wedding photo like that. But to each his own!
Kasey says
Oh man… I remember when I was pregnant with my son, I went and bought two large bags of an assortmant of candy. The good kind too, like Reeces, Snickers… etc. I ate a bag and a half by myself before the trick R treaters came… Maybe that’s why my son was just shy of 9lbs when he was born LOL.
As far as candy corn? I think id rather eat chocolate covered ants.
For our home we have incorporated a few Halloween peices here and there. Nothing to ‘mainstream’ and ‘Dollar store chic’.
Cat@BudgetBlonde says
Haha awesome. I love Halloween. I decorated the dining room last month, lol… and I love grody items like your wedding picture. Hysterical! I decorated with some fake eyballs: http://www.budgetblonde.com/2010/09/decorating-with-eyeballs.html
malibou says
What a beautiful job. As always.
Candy corn gives me a belly ache, but I still buy it every year, because it cracks me up to make fangs with it. You wedge a couple of pieces under your lip with the points hanging out to look like fangs. And then you eat those 2 pieces and walk away until it is time to amuse someone else with a fang face.
Janna says
I love how you have just enough halloween decor that it looks festive but still fits in with the rest of your house!
Instead of painting the carnations you could put black (or red or any color) food coloring in the water. The color will then start bleeding into the white tips of the flower:)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Janna,
LOVE IT! Thanks for the tip- we’ll have to try that sometime!
xo,
s
Beth Anne says
LOVE the spooky decor….Question: where does one find the tall vase on your dinning room table? Do these things have a name that I could google? I’ve been looking for something like that for a while both locally and online with no luck.
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Beth Anne,
That’s actually from Target a few months back- just $14 I think! Maybe just google white vase and see what you find? There’s not really a specific name for that type of vase that we know of. Maybe a fluted vase?
xo,
s
jessie says
I loved the skull wedding picture so much i created my own using picnik! i wanted to share it…but wasnt sure how i would attach it. but people are so creeped out by it! thanks for the idea! : )
candace @ thecandace.com says
OH YAY! I’ve been waiting for your Halloween decor post (your one from last year blew me away!). Again, you’ve done it up with class, making it feel festive but didn’t stray into the easy Tacky territory – which is what I love about you two! I’m inspired – as always! So fun and great job!!
Jessica says
I love the Halloween decor! Are you guys going to be doing anything on Halloween? I really want to have a small party, I have been talking about it for months!
On my lunch break today, I stopped by the dollar store and got some faux squashes. I am totally copying you by spray painting them, either white or silver, maybe both!
LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog!
Jessica
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jessica,
We always like to stay home and hand out candy so that’s the plan! We’ll be going to a little par-tay (with Clara in a costume and everything!) a few days before Halloween so that should be fun too!
xo,
s
Christine says
I’m surprised you can leave the candy corn out without Burger getting to it – if I left any sort of vaguely food-like thing accessible, our cat would be all over it! (…and then it would be all over our rug once he puked it up!) We’re trying to find a simple lidded pumpkin candy dish for ours. I see them everywhere when I’m not looking. ;)
I’m considering getting some red roses about a week and a half-two weeks before our Halloween party and just letting them die so they look creepy. Not sure how to keep them from stinking though. No water?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Christine,
Yup, we would suggest hanging them upside down from string without water so they dry out and get nice and spooky looking! As for Burger, he’s such a good boy. He knows how to jump up on that bench and can get on the table if he wants but he knows it’s not allowed so he wouldn’t dare!
xo,
s
elle C. says
My family and I don’t celebrate Halloween personally. I’ve always thought it a tacky holiday….but….your decor for it was lovely in the dark sense and I really liked it! Such great ideas for those who celebrate halloween.
Heidi says
Love it! Mine is a little more colorful than yours but I like how it came out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/broseric/5004903831/in/photostream/
Cordia says
I perched a Dollar Tree Blackbird upon a branch of my new white faux coral lamp. I also filled a big glass hurricane vase full of mini pumpkins and gourds. I love the burlap runner! That would add a nice touch to my setup as well. I also found a little “tree” at the local craft store on sale that I decorated with a few skeletons, homemade ghosts, etc and that is on my dining table with some glittery black spider candle holders I scored last year on clearance at the grocery store for maybe like $1-2 each! Also got some cute little ghost candles on that same trip. My son and I made a Halloween Gingerbread House that is on the piano.
L. says
I have never seen Halloween done so chicly, I’m in love!!
http://www.missionfashionable.com
Sima says
Love love the decor. There isnt any part of it I dont like. The wedding photo is to funny. We are staying in for Halloween this year, we dont celebrate it much. Renting a good movie, maybe a scary one and eating lots of candy, that am sure will end in a diabetic like coma for me and my hubby.
Chris says
I always love your displays but I’m dying to see your house a year from now when you have a baby walking and pulling everything off the coffee table and tugging on table runners and taking everything down with it.
From a mother of 2 grown children and grandmother of 2 who remembers again what it’s like to decorate with little ones!
Chris in NH
ginastorm says
We have the same candy bowl! I stalked, I mean patiently waited, for that bowl to go on sale after Halloween last year at Target.
Lyndsey says
Wow, your tables look sooo nice. Like a page out of a catalog! So nice and “grown up”, rather than having bright orange jack-o-lanterns and purple glitter skulls all over (like what’s on sale at target this year).
Your displays are always so inspiring and original! Love it!!
p.s. Having had four boys myself, not all children are grabby grabbersons, so don’t worry about those commenters that can’t wait for your house to be barren of decorations.