Hallowe'en Decor 2011, Part 2

A few days ago I posted some pictures of my Hallowe'en decorations (HERE), with a promise for more!

In the dining room, a skull sits inside a wreath of black roses and red flowers, as my centerpiece. A simple black and silver cobweb table runner and black candles in the silver candelabra make up the very simple decor. I left the table pretty empty because with the party we are hosting this weekend I will have this table filled with serving ware and food!

This picture below shows something new this year:

This was Erik's project. He really wanted to make this display in the stairwell.

Yes, there it is. Pretty scary. I'm not really into gory or super-spooky decorations, but Erik really wanted to have a giant spiderweb and a cocooned-body in the house, so I let him have his fun.

There is also a skeleton running up the stairs. Perhaps he's running from the mice cavorting on the steps?

In the hallway I have put up my scary fence with raven again.

These next pictures were taken with my NEW camera. Yes, you heard right! My birthday is this coming Friday and my birthday present from Erik was a new camera. (He gave it to me early because I was getting so mad at my old camera while trying to photograph my decorations!)

I'm still learning to how to use all the settings etc. but so far I'm loving it.

Here's a nice shot of the fireplace mantel in the front hall.

Even Martha is getting into the spirit of the season and will be masked for our party on Saturday:

You've probably seen pictures like these before; at first glance they look normal:

But as you walk past and look at it from a different direction:

Eeeekk!!!  

People always get a kick out of this "portrait". In fact, it stays on this wall all year. You may have noticed it in other pictures I've posted occasionally of the front hallway. You may have thought it was just a regular portrait too. Most people do when they first walk in.

 

Usually they start to comment on it:

"That's a neat portrait. Are they relatives of yours?"

Then as they walk closer, and the angle changes, suddenly they say:

"Oh!"

The reason it stays up all year is sort of a joke between Erik and I. When we closed on our house, it was the last day of September and we spent that weekend of October 1 and 2nd  moving in. For some reason, and I have no idea anymore why, I had stopped in at a party supply store that weekend and I saw that picture. I had always thought they were cool and I liked the big size, so I bought it. It was the first thing we hung on the wall in the house. There was already a picture hanger on the wall in that spot, so when I got home, I hung it up. I intended to take it down after Hallowe'en, but it just looked so perfect there so Erik said, "Let's just leave it there all the time. We can freak people out all year."

So, that's the story of the hologram portrait!

I also took a picture of some of the treat bags I made for the party. I like to send guests home with party favors:

Some of the treat bags have glittery witches.

Others look like pumpkins. (Small orange paper treat bags, green floral tape and a green pipe cleaner for the stem).

    Another whole basket of treat bags. These are just plain cellophane bags with scary tags that I made.

Most of the treat bags have an assortment of candy, but others, like this one, have two chocolate graham crackers, a marshmallow ghost, and a chocolate bar in them----for Hallowe'en S'mores! I got this idea from a wonderful blog called A Little Cuppa Tea. She had hers inside small canning jars, but I just used treat bags. If you haven't discovered her blog, I recommend checking it out!

I even made a little sign to let guests know they can take one!

And last, but not least, I wanted to show the Hallowe'en mirror that I made:

I wanted to place a standing mirror on top of the piano in the hall for guests so they can try on masquerade masks (we're having a Masque instead of a costume party).

I don't have any small standing mirrors and I really didn't want to spend too much money to buy one, so I decided to craft one especially for Hallowe'en!

I bought the mirror at Michael's in the glass-etching crafting section and then used various things from my stamping closet; stickers, embellishments and rub-on transfers to decorate the mirror and then placed it in a black wooden plate stand. Voila!  Problem solved!

I also completed another Hallowe'en craft project this week; I made two Hallowe'en collages for the wall. They turned out great, but I will feature them in their own post later this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Haunted House in the Neighborhood

A week or so ago, as Erik and I were heading to a farmer's market, we passed by this house decorated for Hallowe'en and I had to stop and take some photographs of it.

I've seen this house before; it's not far from where our house is, but I had never seen it decorated like this.

I wasn't even sure if it was a private residence. It's located right next to a private Catholic high school.

As we drove away, I did see a sign advertising it as a Haunted House put on by the school that is next door, so I'm guessing this house is owned by the school and might be used for administrative purposes. I think we might have to visit this Haunted House and see how scary it is inside!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hallowe'en Decor 2011 Part 1

It's starting to get really spooky at Le Beau Paon Victorien! 

I added a spooky tag to this cheese dome on the parlour mantel. Inside, a skull and spider rest on some spanish moss. The tag was blank in the middle, so I added a rub-on transfer and wrote some words on the tag in black ink (Beware!! Dangerous Specimen)

A full view of the parlour mantel. I still have some tweaking to do.

I also did something different with the harmonium this year; this is what I had in mind for all those Little Boo pumpkins I bought.

The big white pumpkin is actually fake; it's a white 'funkin' that I decorated using transfers that I bought  last year from  the Martha Stewart collection at Michael's. I have a small one also, which you can see in the full view photo above on one of the side candle pedestals.

I might add a few spooky spiders yet; but I haven't decided yet for sure.

Here's a picture at night with the candles lit. I use electric tealights in these votives because of our cats. Olive is quite the climber and she has been known to climb up here on top of the harmonium. Since I put up the lace sheers she doesn't do it much anymore because she can't see out the windows, but it's better to be safe than sorry!

The pillar candle with the skull on it is also a fake candle.

My beautiful hand made witch, Euphraxia, is no seated on her chair in the front hall. She was a birthday gift last year from my sister. She bought her at a craft fair we visited.

I just love her face!

The chandelier in the front hall has some spanish moss also; and new this year, a flying crow perched on it!

These are window clings. They work just as well on mirrors and the glass fronts of picture frames. It's a quick and effective way to add some Hallowe'en fun to your decor!

Here are some bat window clings on the hall mirror.

 I have to get everything ready for our Hallowe'en party next week and for some reason I'm really behind this year. Usually I have all my Hallowe'en stuff up by the first week of October!

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for more!

I'll be joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays!

 

Crafty Things: Halloween Party Invitations

I thought I would share a couple pictures of the Halloween party invites that I made for our upcoming party on October 22nd:

Basically, I used the same card design, but used various papers and stamps to make several different looks.

I do really like to send actual invites out for parties. People seem to seldom do this anymore. ( I usually get e-vites or Facebook event invites from most people nowadays.)

What can I say? I'm old-school!

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