I’m not one of those people you’ll find decorating my home at Halloween with anything gory, although I know the teenagers love it.  I prefer the whimsical kid friendly version of Halloween, especially since I’ve got to look at it all day.  And so do my little ones.  

So yesterday, I sent my cousin and her husband off to the Russian River Valley to taste more wine.  Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Road is a must see.  Meanwhile, I kept all four of our kids with me.  Together, we added some spooky decor to my home.  We made our own black cat out of painted pumpkins, created an arachnid invasion on the mantle, and cast a witch’s spell on the front porch.  

Come on along on the kid friendly tour.  And get ready to get spooked !  

First, I brought out my tarantula collection to display in the living room.  I’ve always loved Martha’s cobweb candlesticks, but unfortunately, Auntie CG had forgotten to pick up some cheesecloth for webbing at the store. I was forced to get creative.  So I made up my own spider’s web out of an old trellis and some craft paint. 

I mixed my craft paint with a few tablespoons of water to turn it into dye, then dipped my trellis into the mixture.  After it was covered with the stain, I let it dry outside for a few hours. 

Then I hung it on my mantle, and let the spiders crawl all over it.  Eeek !

To the living room console, we also added a gemstone wreath and some pumpkin shaped candles I’ve had for years.  The metallic orange pumpkins were new this year – on sale at Pier One.

Here’s the gemstone wreath up close.

I made this wreath a few weeks ago with these supplies:  a basic floral wreath, Rustoleum’s ‘Cinnamon’ spray paint, some glass marble gems, ribbon, and optional trim and butterflies. 

Spray paint your floral wreath, then hot glue your gems onto the wreath.  Make sure to tie the necessary ribbon on, then attach more glass gems.

Attach some botanical trim and butterflies if you desire. 

For the porch, we brought out our homemade black cat “Whiskers”. 

This is a fun kid craft.

To make a black cat out of pumpkins, all you need are a tall pumpkin for the body, a smaller round pumpkin for the head (turned upside down), some black felt, black craft paint, a black boa, and some eyes. 

Clip the top off of your smaller pumpkin before you begin painting – you’ll be turning it upside down to form the cat’s face.  In my case, I used fake pumpkins instead of real for this project. 

The night before the cousins took turns painting the orange pumpkins with black craft paint.

Here’s a three year old armed with black acrylic paint. 

The non-washable kind.   

I deserve a special Award for Bravery for this. 

Or perhaps a Certificate of Insanity.

The good news is no harm came to any kitchen counter or kid clothing in the crafting of this cat.  But I cannot promise the same for your household. 

For the face, simply cut some ears and whiskers, and hot glue them to the face with the eyes.  Then attach the boa tail with hot glue as well. 

Here’s my cousin’s littlest son, Baby Brody posing with the kids’ painted black cat.  He’s got style.  Notice how his outfit perfectly matches his surroundings.  Don’t you just love a little dude in orange and green stripes ?  I could just gobble this little guy up.

This morning, I also repurposed some old Thanksgiving candle wreaths and garland.  I twisted the garland into a “B” then used the two circular candle wreaths to spell out “Boo” in the dining room.  Not your typical orange and black.  That I like.    

We cast a witch’s spell on the front porch with some lights, globes, witch hats, and a new focal point – a witch on a broom !

I made the broom with two bunches of curly willow, then secured our witch to the broom and suspended it from the covered porch.  I wasn’t thrilled with her existing hair, so I replaced it with purple plumes.  Ah, the magic of a hot glue gun.

“I’ll get you my pretty… and your little dog too !”

I also added two witches’ hats to the existing glazed fall pumpkins in urns, then we strung some Halloween lights around the door.

I hung two tea light globes in front of the windows and secured some “moths” attracted to the flames.

They are pretty by day. 

But oh so fabulous by night.

There’s a spell cast on my front porch. 

The good kind.

Trick or Treat !

Tags: autumn, holiday

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at and is filed under Crafty, Decorating, Holiday Decor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.