Hands-on Halloween Decor With Spiders And Snakes
Clara likes little creatures (seriously, the girl thinks snakes and spiders are cute), and is right now in the midst of an apple/pumpkin obsession (which is quite fall-appropriate). So we chose this year’s loose Halloween theme could be “nature” (said a la Will Ferrell as Robert Goulet on SNL). That way it encompasses things like pumpkins, gourds, and apples along with creepy things like spiders and black crows and snakes.
But let us go back to the beginning. I had some lively with Halloween stuff. First, I grabbed some $1.99 spiders and $2-3 snakes at Michael’s (the snakes were in the wood toy aisle and certainly not meant for Halloween but you know I am weird…).
When it came to adapting the spiders, I simply used a black sharpie to color over the orange bands on their legs (all black spiders = much more real/scary looking). As for the wooden snake toys I immediately pictured them flat white as soon as I saw them. There is simply something haunting about ceramic-ish snakes, right? For some reason I thought glossy white might be too sleek looking, and flat would be sort of ghostly and chalky so I went for it:
And… I enjoy them. Who is surprised? No one? Cool. Anyway, it is consistently a tradition to do the console table (see it here and here from years past), so that was the first surface I spooked (spookified?):
I used a few faux apples that I got a while back on especially clearance from Pottery Barn for some color along with some old spiderweb stuff I had leftover from a few years back in my Halloween tupperware bin (yes I have one, and yes it is labeled… I will pause while you mutter “dork” under your breath).
Other than that it was simply my new snakes and a creepy black spider among things that are typically on the console table, like my oversized vase from ZGallerie, my faux tray from Target (the green tray-looking-thing is in fact a box that a wedding photo album came in), my antler candlestick from West Elm, my yard sale greenhouse, and the faux plant inside of it from Ikea.
Oh and miraculously, Clara has yet to mess with stuff on the console (she cannot quite reach up there yet). Of course typing that has likely jinxed us. But anyway, I thought it was cute to snap a picture from her POV. Of course we have held her up so she can look at the spiders and snakes, so now she walks by and says adorable things like “bye bye spider” and “hi apples!”
Next came the mantel in the kitchen (which I realize I never took a straight-on shot of, so forgive me).
You will also notice some green and white gourds/pumpkins, a bunch of mismatched candlesticks, and my gory little blood-dripping candles (which I made here).
I also used some books I enjoy dragging out every year (yes, also from my Halloween bin) like Midnight In The Garden of Good & Evil, and Everything Bad Is Good For You along with my faux crow (from Michael’s a few years back).
Do not mind the crooked candle in this pic. Ooh, spooky.
Still have a few more spots I want to spook up, but that is where we are for now. Oh and simply for kicks I thought I’d toss in a few photos from Halloweens gone by (find more info on the pics/vid below here and here):
How are you folks gearing up for October 31st? Any candy-corn-induced stomach aches yet?
