Do you love decorating for spooky season? When it comes to Halloween, I like to just add on to my existing Fall and Thanksgiving decor, rather than requiring a complete re-do!
In Canada, Thanksgiving is the second weekend of October, so once Halloween is over, it’s time to pull out the Christmas decorations. I personally believe that this serves as a tactical decorating advantage and this post is going to show you why/how!
A Swarm of Spooky Bats!
I know these simple bat decals are a Pinterest-y blogger staple for Halloween. I’ve seen them used on living room fireplaces, vent hoods in kitchens and up all different walls. I prefer to use them on the exterior of my home. I left my Thanksgiving harvest wreath up and placed the bats as if they were flying over them for a ‘farm yard’ feel.
I suggest affixing all of the large bats first, followed by the medium and then small; that way you know you’ve spaced them out well. It can be a bit tedious to do, but the look is so worth it. I used two packages to decorate the front of my home, so I suggest ordering more than you think you need.
I had a few extra bats so I used them on the front window over the planter box as well. I kept the tall grasses from Thanksgiving, so this again plays into my spooky ‘farmers field’ vibe for Halloween. This was an important tie-in for me because of the mini ‘pumpkin patch’ that I repurposed from Thanksgiving.
Played-Up Pumpkins!
This year I went all-out with my porch pumpkin decor and this served as a strategic backdrop for Halloween decoration additions! I added these little felt pumpkins to add a cute jack-o-lantern feel. It was a simple, no-mess, no-fuss way to make these pumpkin clusters feel a little spookier.
Carving pumpkins is fun, but messy and time consuming and I just didn’t have it in me this year with 2 under 2. I recommend jack-o-lantern decals for pumpkins, too!
Cute-Factor Planter
I’ve already mentioned that I decided to keep the tall grasses in the planter. The mums look a little ‘spooky’ and dried for no other reason than that I forgot to water them haha. I felt like the ‘dead flower’ look would work well for Halloween. I added a few traditional Halloween character signs on stakes into the plants to dial up the cute-factor.
Because the large planter serves as a blank canvas, I decided to cover it with these cute felt ghosts! I love that they’re a cute-spooky rather than a scary-spooky. To the side I put a collection of felt black cats, an homage to the “watchful, green-eyed cats” in the children’s book “We’re Going On a Pumpkin Hunt“.
Extra Little Touches
The corn and wheat broom that I used to decorate the post for Thanksgiving now serves as a cute witch’s broom. This delightful haunted house is actually a seasonal box that came with a diaper bundle from HelloBello. It was the perfect finishing touch to this cutesy-spooksy-space!
Source List
Door: Lux Windows and Doors
House Numbers: Lowes
Planter Box: HomeSense Canada
Felt Pumpkins, Ghosts, Cats: Maison Simons
Wood Signs: Dollarama
Bats: Amazon
Haunted House Box: HelloBello (seasonal diaper bundle box)
Wreath: HomeSense Canada
Corn & Wheat Broom: Safeway Canada
Mums (Large, Potted): Costco
Mums (Small, Potted): Real Canadian Superstore
Tall Reeds: IKEA
Pumpkins (Large): Real Canadian Superstore
Pumpkins (Small, Orange & White): Safeway Canada
Wood Sign (“Happy Fall”): Walmart
