Home > Habitude > Archives > 2008 > October > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USHow spooky is your Haunted home style?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With three children and a lifetime of collecting, my mother has decorations for every holiday my family celebrates.
Growing up, Christmas was the decor mother-load with an extensive Santa collection, stockings, several trees and Annalee dolls. Easter was awash in brightly-colored eggs and bunnies, while July 4th brought to our home stars, stripes and flags. Halloween was celebrated with friendly-faced pumpkins, whimsical black cats and “spooky” treats. Thanksgiving, of course, was symbolized with vegetable-laden cornucopias, pilgrims and turkeys — the brown paper bag variety my siblings and I crafted in elementary school.
In retrospect, all of this could sound rather gaudy, but as a child those decorations symbolized my mother’s love for her family and dedication to her home. She created a special environment for each holiday that in turn, created priceless memories. She’s much more reserved and refined in her decorating now that we’re grown, though Christmas remains a blow out. (Come early December, the house will glisten with white lights, orange-scented pine, red and gold ribbons and the aforementioned Santa collection.)
I share my mother’s love for Christmas decor, though as a single woman, I rarely acknowledge Halloween in my home. The holiday seems best-suited for children, who get a kick out of fake cobwebs and spiders. (Still, I’m a bit in love with these bizarre pumpkin-head dolls from Horchow.
Do you celebrate Halloween in your home? What elements do you use to make your home a warm, albeit Haunted House?
Need some decor resources? Check out such websites as Ballard Designs, Lillian Vernon and Horchow.
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By Critic
October 6, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this
I now own the house I grew up in. I remember my mother decorating for Halloween, and it was always fun. I especially remember this big cardboard witch that would be hung on a wall. It had little rivets in it that would allow you to pose the arms and legs in a somewhat limited fashion. Then over the years, all of the decorations got lost, save for one cardboard black cat that had the same rivet feature. Early in this year, I was hunting around in the attic for something, and lo and behold I came across a dusty box that was stashed way out of the way that had all of the decorations, witch included, in it! There are also little plastic skull buckets that can be used to hold candy that I had forgotten about completely. It will be a definite blast from the past for me this Halloween!
By Used Dog
October 6, 2008 1:41 PM | Link to this
I love to decorate for Halloween or any holiday for that matter. I have a whole bunch of decorations outside my front door, a stuffed ghost, a couple of wooden witches, a mailbox that gets different ‘sitters’ for every holiday. My mother would always go all out for every holiday and that’s where I learned it from. It wouldn’t be the same for me to not decorate. Some years I do scale back and maybe don’t decorate as much but then other years it’s a free-for-all.
By Mike D
October 6, 2008 2:10 PM | Link to this
I love this time of year. I keep all the condiment packets from Taco Bell, sushi, etc and mix them into the Halloween candy I give out.
By Richard
October 6, 2008 5:58 PM | Link to this
10/7/2008
Since 2002 we have decorated our 2 acre yard in Covington,Ga with 10 scenes of Halloween Mayhem/. I began conducting tours in 2003 and by 2007 my first book The Terror Trail” www.trafford.com was published telling the story of Amy from 1866, the girls swept away in a flash flood in 1998 and the denizens of the trail in the 2000s ! Who will survive? The location and tour times are under Access Atlanta Halloween. come by the last week of 10/2008 for a great story and walk through the woods.. flashing lightning, zombies, strobe lights , fog machines, sound systems all enhance the experience if you Dare!!
By FCM
October 6, 2008 8:07 PM | Link to this
Too funny, I just went in the closet to pull all the ‘fall/halloween’ decor out. I did not do it before the kids were born. OK, I did Christmas and some Easter. Usually, I put the ‘fall’ out at Labor Day….leaves, flower picks, rugs, candles, pumpkins, scarecrows….Those stay up and some Halloween come out…Witches, jack-o-laturns, vampires, black cats,spiders, etc….Some are ceramic, some cloth….OH! Towels, I have towels for fall, for Halloween. Even covers for the the stove. Harry Potter is showcased in the house all year but takes it’s special place of honor right now.
Even videos and photos may only come out for a holiday then get packed up for next year. Caspar, Halloween Town, Charlie Brown.
Then I will put out Thanksgiving….Little Pilgrim people…The Publix collection (I love them). Towels etc. Even the bathrooms get the treatment. Halloween will go away but ‘fall’ will stay out.
Then of course the weekend after Thanksgiving about 12-15 boxes come out. Even the shower curtain goes away as all of the house goes Christmas…..Elves, angles, Santa, Saint, Tree, Creche, everything to the dinner plate. It takes ALL of Thanksgiving weekend to complete it putting up 4 trees. Pillows, blankets EVERYTHING.
Now I cheat, most of my stuff is artificial no matter what the holiday. That way I can use it year after year.
I love it because its like remodeling the house but MUCH less expensive. Plus when January rolls around and my ‘regular decor’ (candles, flower picks, pillows, etc) shows up it all feels ‘new’.
Oh, and I draw on the bathroom mirrors for the holidays too. Mayflower, and then outline the kids to be pilgrims/native Americans.
The fall all went up pretty quick as the kids helped me get it done.
Christmas is the only one where it’s not done unless the neighbors say it’s tacky—and adage learned at a beloved neighbors house—it just doesn’t feel like Christmas without their party.
I do Easter when it comes around. Bunnies and God side by side.
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December 2, 2008 7:32 AM | Link to this
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December 2, 2008 7:32 AM | Link to this
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December 2, 2008 7:33 AM | Link to this
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December 28, 2008 2:47 AM | Link to this
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