The Spell is Broken

It's November first and I just finished taking down Halloween. I only did the yard this year since we didn't have a party so tear-down was quick and easy - all that's left is to carry the graveyard to the basement.

I have no idea why I developed this obsession with Halloween because I'm the girl who still can't watch even the tamest horror movie. But come August you'll find me immersed in Google, eBay and my collection of Halloween catalogs, heatedly arguing that $600 is perfectly reasonable for a custom-ordered rotted corpse while simultaneously drafting plans to build my own guillotine in which to pose it.

I have a wide variety of props both purchased on home-built. If I can make or build something cheap then I do. I try to do things that are general enough I can use them in multiple ways because I decorate differently every year. I do it because it's fun for me, but I have to admit I love it when the neighborhood kids give me compliments and the moms ask for tours (when I do the inside on party years).

This year the entire display had a spider theme, inspired by a 3-foot foam latex tarantula I found in a catalog and couldn't live without. The details aren't clear in the picture but you get the idea.

Front porch display, complete with two life-size skeletons, various large spiders, a giant spider and a hanging cage full of heads.

Tree decorated with shrunken head "ornaments."

I love my cemetery - I made it all from scratch.

I love to do complex pumpkins and I try to make the image coordinate with the decorations.