Last Minute Halloween Decor
I have a 5 year old who is, of course, thrilled by Halloween. And yet I cannot seem to get it together to decorate for the occasion this year.
In the past, while living in Venice, we would simply hop on our bikes or walk the pups through the canals to get our fill of spooky ghosts in palms, witches riding brooms on balconies, and pumpkins baking themselves in the SoCal sun. Here in the woods, however, I can no longer rely on neighbors for our fall fix. But, between running the business while in a state of limbo as far as our home is concerned (though we’ve made great progress this week — more on that soon!), the baby’s current sleep pattern, and the ongoing realities of life during the pandemic, I’ve felt depleted of the sort of creative energy that fuels festive DIY home projects… at least for the time being.
Luckily we do have a handful of old metal pumpkin stakes, which we can use on the pumpkins that we’ll get at a patch later this week. (The photos of the stakes in this post are from last year’s Halloween at the Cottage.)
Other than that, the only thing I’ve managed to muster is a dozen or so paltry paper bats, which we’ve clipped to the playroom / nursery curtains with clothespins, as well as taped to the end of chopsticks to use as shadow puppets. (These types of paper cutouts are often at craft supply stores, but they’re also easy to make at home with a compact Circuit Joy.)
Surprisingly the bats have satiated our little one. So much so that he rearranges the paper and pins while making up stories about the animals during the day, before grabbing a flashlight and continuing the activity in shadow puppet form at night.
All this to say: for those who are too exhausted to magic up a festive stoop or haunted house this Halloween, you’re most definitely not alone. Thankfully, all these wonderful children of ours seem fine with skipping the bags of landfill-bound faux spiderwebs and plastic cauldrons as long as they feel seen, heard, and loved.
Minimal Halloween Decor
When I look back at the way my family celebrated Halloween when I was growing up, I have strong (and positive) memories of the events, the costumes and the decor at home and in school. But in this time of climate crisis, and with a child who is fascinated but clearly unsettled by certain settings and setups, I’ve found that opting for less during the holidays in general is currently the best fit for our lil’ home and family. (See our Tiny House Halloween post from last year, here.)
If we had piles of picturesque fall leaves here, I imagine would gather some to string into garlands to drape around our home. But, despite the fact that it’s mid-October, Venice is still in late-summer mode— plus we don’t have an abundance of trees here to begin with. I’ll admit that I found myself searching for real leaves online before I realized how silly that was. I closed the computer, annoyed with myself for even considering purchasing leaves (the Florida girl in me is still shaking her head), and then having them packaged and shipped to our house— a completely unnecessary expense and add-on to our carbon footprint.
We chose instead to do the following:
Buy pumpkins to decorate them with borrowed and existing accessories
Take daily strolls and rides around our neighborhood to scout out the decor set up by the businesses and members of our community
Borrow fall and Halloween themed children’s books from our local libraries
We found the pumpkins at long-standing nearby garden center that is a member of the Master Nursery Garden Centers— a co-op of independent garden centers throughout the country.
We carved a small pumpkin with West. It was his first time creating a jack-o-lantern, and he clearly enjoyed it.
We borrowed the carving tools from our neighbor, so we didn’t have to buy one of those cheap sets that often breaks and ends up in the trash. We dressed up another pumpkin as “Scary Potter,” which has been a tradition of ours for several years. (I purchased the glasses from an Etsy maker long ago, and they’re one of the only pieces of holiday decor of any sort that I own.)
Adam later baked the seeds with oil, cinnamon and sugar. (The cottage smelled fantastic.)
Multiple times per day, we stroll, bike or take the wagon through the neighborhood to visit West’s favorite yard installations, and to discover newly situated decor.
This little activity gets us outside, prevents us from spending money we don’t need to spend, and ensures that we don’t have bulky decorations to store in our tiny home for 11 months out of the year.
Shoes: Garnet Hill. Bike: Virtue.
While we’re out, I’ll sometimes clip some fall-like branches from the nearby alleyways for an extra pop of warmth in the house.
The main reason that West wanted to carve a pumpkin and is so excited to see (most) decor is that we borrow fall and Halloween books from our local library, starting in late September. After reading a few titles about harvesting pumpkins, he asked that we grow our own next year.
As West gets older, we’ll see how his interests evolve. But for now, pumpkins, some pops of autumnal toned florals or clippings, and the creativity of our neighbors is all we need to make it feel like Halloween here... even when it’s 80 degrees under the palm trees.
Tiny House Halloween
I never realized how odd the tradition of Halloween is until I tried explaining it to my 2 year old child.
On our daily walks, he’s suddenly seeing skeletons coming out of the ground, massive faux-webs and spiders clinging to hedges, and all sorts of strange objects hanging from stoops and trees. Some of it he likes. Some of it he doesn’t. (I feel the same way.)
I’m sure that our level of Halloween decor will fluctuate as West grows. But for now we’re still keeping things simple and nearly waste-free. We’ve done this by focusing more on fall-related activities, rather than crowding the Cottage with temporary flair.
Our decor consists of real pumpkins, autumnal flowers/branches from the market, and small number of die-cut paper pumpkins (which we’ve suspended with twine from the branches above our front stoop).
Southern California doesn’t get too fall-ish, but we’ve faked it by getting overflowing Ollie Ella baskets of apples from the farmers markets, checking out Halloween and seasonal books from our two nearby local libraries, visiting the pumpkin patch, and heading outside in the rare rain and cooler weather whenever possible.
West really loves the gargantuan spiderwebs spread throughout the neighborhood, but rather than buying them for the Cottage (and then inevitably tossing them in the trash), we use his enthusiasm for them as an excuse to take more walks with the pups and hunt for web displays that many of our neighbors have installed.
I’m not sure yet what West will wear as a costume, but we’ll figure something out. (A bit of cleverly-cut + penciled cardboard paired with an everyday basic from Primary can go a long way.)
Keeping holiday decor simple might seem a bit grinch-y, but I don’t feel like we’re lacking in spirit at all thanks to all the wonderful community offerings and activities.
By avoiding the delightful-yet-superfluous decorative trappings of Halloween we save money, prevent excess waste, and eliminate the need to store anything in our tiny house until the fall rolls around year after year.
However you and yours decide to celebrate Halloween, have fun and be safe! And don’t forget the most important fall date of all— election day! See you at the polls on Nov. 6, America.
