Halloween Decor

If you haven't noticed, I like my crafts cheap and quick. In the past Halloween hasn't been that big of a deal--I skip it and go straight to my fall or Thanksgiving decorations. But this year, I decided to change things. It is still a work in progress, but luckily Halloween isn't tomorrow so I still have time. I'm posting these ideas now--and hope to post more in the next little bit--in case you are suffering from Halloween blahs and need a little decor refresh in your house.

The black and white flags, I love them. Raided my stash of black and white fabric and created this. How many holidays will black and white work for? I may leave it up all year.

My mom made this chalkboard for me. She found a silver tray at the thrift store, and painted it with chalkboard paint. She intended it to sit on a small easel on the counter--but I stuck it on the front door! The wreath, flowers and crow all came from Dollar Tree. I painted the wreath and flowers black. The tray is tied on with tulle so I can take it off to change the sayings as I feel like it.

I found this chandelier template on the Yoko Chapman site (scroll down to the very bottom-but take a look at all the great templates along the way) intended for a wedding. I blew it up to 16x20 and traced it onto poster board, cut out with an exact-o knife, and double side-taped it together (follow their instructions). I then took my can of black spray paint to it. The crystals are fringe from Hobby Lobby I cut apart and taped between the layers. It fills in the corner nicely, and has already gotten a lot of compliments.
I'm a silk flower snob. I like the look of real flowers (and I know the difference, my degree is in plant science after all) and silk flowers that look good cost a lot of money. But if you are painting them black then it doesn't matter! These flowers came from, yep, Dollar Tree. The picture isn't very good, but I have mums, roses, and sunflowers all painted black and arrange in a jar of skeleton hands (also from Dollar Tree).

There's no photo of this, but my 3 year old and I took our Chalk Ink Markers (they are fabulous-you should buy a set) and altered our photos hanging in the dining room. Pirate patches, horns and tails, mustaches, freckles, Frankenstein bolts, and nasty teeth keep him and our guests laughing. You just draw right on the glass, and the marker wipes off with a wet cloth. When they dry they look like chalk (I used them on the sign). Seriously, they are cool. Michaels is the only place I have been able to find them.

And that's all for now.