wonderfully made: Hocus Pocus - a story of decor

Friday, October 11, 2013

Hocus Pocus - a story of decor

It's Friday and I'm ready to share my Fall decorating, so it's a good day all around!

Over the years I've come to really enjoy Fall and Halloween. I don't remember Halloween ever being a favorite holiday, but I've never been a fan of scary, gory, horrifying things, so that makes sense. Over the last couple of years, though, I've found myself getting giddy over the thought of Halloween. That being said, I've started my own collection of decorations. 

This year I didn't buy anything since our house isn't 100% set up yet. I don't really decorate private areas of the house and I scatter just a few things around the kitchen, so there is only so much decor that can fit in these small 1200 square feet. 

First off, here is our entry. 


(edit: I was looking back on old posts and found this guy below. Look at what a difference about 2 months, some black paint, and decor makes!)



I'm so glad I got the black door and trim painted before this holiday. I cannot imagine this looking good with a maroon door!


All of the orange pumpkins are real pumpkins that Mark and I picked up at Home Depot last weekend. The white one is a fake I got a few years ago. I don't remember buying that galvanized witch thing...Kelly, is that yours? If not, I probably picked it up at HomeGoods.


I found the skull and the black jack-o-lantern at Target and we picked up those mums at Home Depot when we got the pumpkins.


I had an extra strand of leaf garland (snagged at Joann's or Hobby Lobby on sale one year) that I couldn't place anywhere in the house, so I literally just rolled it up and stuck it in the middle of my burlap wreath (seen here). Also, that "B" came from the wreaths I made for our wedding and it fell off in the move.

(there's the original B's location at our old apartment)

It was just lying in our front closet so I grabbed it and stuck it right in with the leaves! So, yeah, DIY cheat, none of that is actually being held in place. Less work for me! :)


I ended up moving this scrolled side table into the entryway to serve as a semi-entry table when we got the new couch. I'm still working things out as far as layout, since the space is a little odd! I have the same cheery books (Blink and The Happiness Project) all together with a glow-in-the-dark skull, purple glitter "EEK!" and a Yankee Candle Company "Autumn Festival" candle. I highly recommend this candle, by the way! Plus, I LOVE the spooky shadow it casts on the "EEK!" sign! 


I have a never-ending assortment of pumpkins, so these are just scattered around the living room. My favorite is still the wicker pumpkin and its slight chevron pattern. :)


Kelly calls this orange and black pillow my 'Halloween pillow" and while I have it out all year, it definitely gets moved to the front in October. Also, I picked up that pillow at the very back from Target a few years ago. On one side it has black and white stripes and on the other it has words like "spooky" and "scary". It's a favorite! As you can see, I laid my other leaf garland here on the windowsill.


I re purposed the $20 TV stand I bought at Wal-Mart a couple years ago into a lonnnngggg end table by the sofa, and I really like it there so far! Mark has a war plane book entitled Ghosts and it works perfectly with book 7 of the Harry Potter series to give a spooky backdrop. I throw in a mushy photo, a glitter pumpkin, two fake baby pumpkins, and a raven and we've got ourselves a vignette! 


I'm a sucker for seasonal candy (even though you can't tell - that sunlight in the back made for a washed out photo!) so I always fill glasses and vases with seasonal M&M's. They don't tempt me much (I'm more of a cookie/cake type of girl) but Mark already warned me that they would be gone soon. I think they are about half of that now. Also, I scored this SWEET little vulture baby at Joann's a couple years ago. It sits appropriately by another glitter sign, "BEWARE". I got it and the "EEK!" sign in the dollar section at Target when I first moved to Dallas.

So, that's my decor for this year! I'm proud of myself for not buying any new items and just working with what I've got! Does anyone else LOVE Halloween out there? Do you decorate your house to the max, or just here and there? I'd love to hear!

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One more thing - I still haven't done anything with this mirror but I'm hoping to use my weekend to get something done. I'm taking votes! Should I paint it? Leave it natural? Distress it? Give it a wash? Give me your thoughts!


Have a happy weekend!



15 comments :

  1. Hocus Pocus is one of the best Halloween movies of all time. Your diy wreath turned out so cute! I love the added garland for some color.

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  2. Love the decorations and might need advice on painting the door black. We're going to be putting up some black shutters in the spring and I'd like to paint my door black as well! Email me and let me know if it was easy or hard or what!! :)

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  3. Thanks Ashley! Hocus Pocus IS a good one! I've yet to get around to watching it this season, but it's on the to-do list! Have a great weekend!

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  4. The decor looks great! I'm sure it's no surprise that my favorite part is how you incorporated the Harry Potter book ;)


    Funny, I'm not usually super into the natural wood look but I like that mirror as is. My vote is to keep it natural!

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  5. Looks cute! You should def paint the mirror!!

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  6. Love the fall decor! And I vote paint the mirror too... A fun pop of color would look great with the shape of that mirror frame

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  7. Your front entry looks so cute and I love that wreath! You can fly out to California anytime and decorate my house ;)

    About the mirror...I think you should paint it. Either a pretty pop of color, or more of a neutral color like gray maybe? Can't wait to see what you do with it!

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  8. I love this post about FALL! Your decorations look great and no, that is not my witch on your porch. You must have picked it up at JoAnn's. :)

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  9. I'm so looking forward to reading more blogs from across the pond about halloween, you guys really go all out!

    Really cute decorations.

    Hmm maybe...

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  10. Thanks Emma! Yes, Texas in general seems to go all out for Halloween! You should too! :)

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  11. Thanks Kelly! Glad to know I haven't been stealing your stuff :)

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  12. Thanks Kasey! Fly me out to CA and I'm down! haha!


    Thanks for the mirror tip...I'm still on the fence!

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  13. Thanks Adie! I guess color would draw out the shape a bit more...

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  14. Thanks Shayna! Seems like most people think I should paint it!

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  15. Harry Potter is ALWAYS a good design choice! haha!

    You're the odd one out on the mirror - everyone else voted paint! I'm still on the fence, though. Mostly bc painting is more work, I think. haha!

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