Outdoor Winter Urn

It's been a while!

I haven't been kidnapped by aliens...

or living it up in Las Vegas...

I've just been busy with the day-to-day life of three kids and a dog, volunteer commitments - and now Christmas.  Nothing terribly exciting has happened (unless you count Awesome Possum's braces as exciting - I'm sure he doesn't).

I couldn't stand seeing the Hallowe'en post on my blog one day longer, so I thought I would show you my big decorating accomplishment for the last few weeks ;)

Every year my dad brings me an assortment of dogwood, pine, fir and cedar boughs to decorate my outdoor urn.  This year I kicked it up a notch and asked for some birch logs.  They seem to be the trendy thing to add to outdoor displays this year...

... and I'm nothing if not trendy!

My dad always manages to get some branches with pine-cones. I'm not sure what the red berries are - but they are real and they look great.

I still have to add the twinkle lights and since I've got some free time today I might even add some ribbon...

... Las Vegas and the aliens can wait.




 

Yes - We're THAT House

When it comes to Halloween, we don't do 'cute'.  As a matter of fact, we pride ourselves on being the scariest house on the block... 

... you know...

The Addams Family House

... THAT house...

the one that frightens away more than a few trick-or-treaters. Our 'decorations' are decidedly geared towards braver souls.

Inspired by those old movies that terrified the daylights out of me, this Halloween post will be presented to you in black and white.

Thank you, Mr. Hitchcock.

The House From Psycho

This skeleton hangs in the tree above the sidewalk in front of our house.  We put a few mini spot lights in the branches around him, just to make sure he's seen and appreciated! 

When our kids were younger, they never trick-or-treated at houses like ours. Once Awesome Possum turned 9, he couldn't wait to make Halloween dummies with his dad.

This gangsta dude has been with us for a few years.  He never fails to surprise me - even in daylight.

 'Granny' is a Purplicious creation.

 What happened here?

Rattley bones...

Our graveyard...

Who's over there...  in the background?

I guess the marriage didn't end well.

On Halloween night, our front porch goes from creepy...

... to creeptacular ...

I think there's a rat on the roof!

Did it make you scream?

Happy Halloween!

Creepy Curb Appeal

We gave the house some creepy curb appeal this week. The big night is a little over a week away and we're getting into the spirit of Halloween!

We freakified the front lawn (which I'll show you in my next post), and spooked up the main entrance of our house.

There is something a little bit chilling about black birds this time of the year.

I don't think I've ever recovered from watching The Birds, and sometimes I still startle myself when I see these ravens sitting in their nest of twigs (an idea I got from a decorating magazine a few years ago).

We don't spend much money on our Halloween decorations - most of them are homemade and reused from year to year.

Are you lookin' at me?

Once I toss the dead annuals from the urn, I gather some sticks, secure them in the soil, and then layer smaller twigs on top.  I perch a pair dollar store ravens on the sturdier sticks, and it's as easy as that.

The nest is a cheap and easy Halloween idea. It takes about 5 minutes to put together, costs under $5.00, and it gets a bunch of compliments!

I love it when Mr. StyleBurb gets into a spray painting frame of mind! He suggested giving our tired-looking gold Christmas wreaths....

... the Halloween treatment.

The wreaths look perfectly eery now that they're painted black.

Pumpkins and corn stalks finish off this part of our Halloween house.  I can't wait to show you who has been creeping around the front lawn!