Our first Halloween in the new house was awesome.
I was determined to go big with a front porch fully decorated to entice the trick-or-treaters. I think I succeeded. Here’s the rundown of what I did.
Be spooky
All the house painting prep was a benefit to make our house extra scary. We looked old and creepy with all the scrubbed off paint and raw wood.
I decided I wanted to take a different route than the normal skeleton-on-the-door decorations. Instead, I wanted to create a spooky, yet colorful forest like entryway.
Create some mystery
First I needed a forest. I scored with six pruned birch branches from my parents backyard. Getting them home in my Honda Civic was comical, but once I got them lined up on the porch it was totally worth it.
Bring on the light
After installing the branches, I strung them up pink mini lights. I will admit, it looked a little like the entrance to a rave, but I liked the warm glow they gave off. (and again – I was staying away from the traditional feel.)
I had blue IKEA fiber optic lights from a few years back that I added below the branches. They created a soft electric flora look below the trees. Then to tie all the colors together, I bought some stained glass globe lights at Target that a strung along the roof line.
Have fun
Once all the lights were up, I added fake cobwebs to all surfaces and planted some crimson mums in terra cotta pots to line along the railing. These are great because I can continue to use them after Halloween. In fact, I think I will go buy some more.
Next came the props, I brought “mini Nate” outside to guard our door and added a scary cat head to the front porch. I couldn’t resist the cat head from the gardening dept at Target. It was both scary and cute. I am sure it will be something I use again and again. I put a makeshift wreath up on the screened door with, yes, another cat. Nate pointed out later that the wreath with the pink lights did give the front porch a little of a Christmas like theme. I still don’t buy that completely, but I will probably not add the wreath next year as a precaution.
I finished the decorations with four (yes four) carved pumpkins. I designed three and had Nate sketch the fourth. It took me about two hours to hollow and carve out all four. The kitties kept me company as I went. We found out the Loki has an unnatural love of raw pumpkin.
Once everything was up, it felt right. There was enough spooky and crazy for everyone. I know the place is going to look great once its painted, but with the decorations up I got a glimpse of what it will look like as my house.
