Sleepy Hollow theme Halloween Decor 2019

 You may remember that one of the things I look forward to is decorating the house for Halloween, and having it done by my birthday. So this is the perfect post for today, my 46th bday! For this Halloween I settled on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as my theme. Yes, there is usually a theme. Later year was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The year before was Marie Antoinette. This year the Headless Horseman reins supreme! (Why do I celebrate Halloween? see HERE)

 I made him by dressing my dress mannequin in clothing I already had, or borrowed from moma. Then I simply went to the closet where my youngest left all of his weapons to scavenge a sword. The pumpkin is one that plugs in and glows that I have had since the boys were young. I thought it would be the perfect pumpkin head with flaming eyes to fit the story. I have to say, I am very pleased with my Horseman. My costume ideas for this year were Cleopatra  and Marc Anthony (he was the Greek General who married the Egyptian ruler.) I have a great Cleopatra costume that I wore my senior year in High school, and my hubby has hair that would comb perfectly into a Roman style. But then I also found the most gorgeous silvery gown at Goodwilll that would be perfect as the Blue Fairy who grants Pinocchio's wish to be a  real boy. Who would hubby be? Hmm, possibly the ribald, black-headed gypsy who wanted to enslave Pinocchio, hehe. But no, then I decided on Sleepy Hollow, and so there was nothing to be done but be Katrina Van Tassel. My hubby was completely willing to be Ichabod, but he just doesn't suit. I think he will have to be my own Brom Bones. You will get to see our outfits when I have my annual costume party. It won't be till the weekend after Halloween, so you will have to wait till November to see the fun. I'll also share the invites I am busy making.

A flock of crows seemed the perfect backdrop for my Horseman. I love how simple the silhouettes are, but how wonderful they look arching across the "sky".

 On the opposite wall is my black cat collection I put out every year. Black cats are one of my perennial favorites.

Here is Squeaky in his hat, and keeping his trick-or-treat pail close by. Moma said she should put a kernel of candy corn in his bucket, but she knew that I would eat it up from him. And the adorable squirrel-bat is a card made for me by my dear friend, Ms Wendy. Her daughter, Belle, is now my daughter-in-law. We've been friends for ages, and now we are going to share a grandbaby! Isn't that just amazing to think...

 Fluffy is wearing an old mask from the 80's that my Aunt Jane brought me. He is also carrying my old treat pail, with it's handle of yellow rickrack.

 Mr Pig is always ravenous at this time of year, and someone finally gave him a hand. (cough, snort, he he!)

 The owl has been joined by a motley assortment of crows. I'm not certain he finds the crowd quite to his liking.

 And there is a small problem with unwanted visitors. Rodents are peeking out, everywhere you look, even amongst the fine china.

 Some of the larger vermin have met their end.

 Speaking of unwanted guests, it looks like a certain young girl with a red cloak decided to sit in my great-grandmother's rocking chair. The big, bad timber wolf finally caught her.

 If only he could do something about the masses of arachnids scurrying about and spinning their webs.

 They really hamper one's ability to pick a favorite volume from the shelf...

And right beside the bookcase is the table that is always the most fun for me to decorate. This has been Edgar Allen Poe's desk, a mad scientist's laboratory, and Mary Shelly's desk complete with Percy Bysshe Shelley's heart in a jar. But this year it is a curiosity cabinet of museum worthy items. I got the idea from reading Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. When Ichabod Crane enters the Van Tassle house, he gazes into the good parlor and sees the seashells and treasure laid out for display,, along with an ostrich egg hanging in the center of the room. People have always enjoyed putting their curiosities out for display. This one just plays a bit to the macabre. (For how I made my mermaid skeleton, see HERE)

 Here is a lovely cow femur that is labeled as the finger bone of a cyclops. This is in the vein of the freak show tradition of taking something banal and making it an object of wonder.

 It is uncommon to find black sea shells, but one year at Texas I concentrated on only collecting them. It makes for an eerie display.

 And here is a bony little carrier of Avian flu, and yes, it really was first documented in Italy in 1878.

 So much fun! I would love to have a little traveling show with oddities and exhibits- wouldn't it be fun to make them up?

 Here is the sideboard with a tray of goblets ready to receive the liquid held in a bottle marked "poison". The mortar and pestle beside it have clearly been used in making the concoction. Vinnie the Vulture is waiting patiently for someone to imbibe the poison...

 I love black silhouettes at Halloween. This antique candlestick blends nicely with the electric crow candle my eldest son got me, and a black porcelain crow I found at Goodwill.

 This year I was fortunate enough to go to the Dollar Tree when they first got their selection of autumn florals in. I decided that I wanted something that would be somber colored to suit the occasion, but also pretty and formal enough to be worthy of the feast mentioned in the short story about Sleepy Hollow. The blue hydrangea, red mums, and cattails were all from the Dollar Tree. The bright green branches of amaranth were at Wal-mart and caught my eye.Overall I was very pleased with how well it tuned out for such cheap flowers.

 This is how I have the table decorated for now, but on the night of my party/dinner, I intend to use my pumpkins, gourds, candlesticks, and flowers to continue all down the center of the table. That's all the pictures of the dining room, but I also threw up some bats, spiders and skeletons elsewhere in the house. (Threw up, bwahaha!)

 Outside wasn't neglected, I have to let people know what to expect if they come inside. Woola dog is appreciative of having her porch decorated.

And this little treat is one of my delightful new/old things to be put out for the first time. I found this vintage light-up blow mold  at Goodwill. It was sitting on a cart and waiting to be put on a shelf, when I did a double take and screeched to a halt beside it. Then I snatched it up and dashed away with it, cackling all the while. It still has the grease pencil price on the side- $3.19. And just look at that sassy black cat- makes me smile!

 My other new items include a metal sign that warns that the area is restricted because of zombies. Anyone who knows me, knows that I kinda have a thing about zombies. I don't watch scary stuff and so I haven't even seen The Walking Dead. But I have read a lot of YA books that have it as a backdrop and I love them. When I get ready to talk about a book at bookclub a common question is, "Does this one have zombies?" ;)) And beneath the warning sign are a bevy of hands scratching out of the soil. I found them at the Dollar Tree. And guess what? They glow in the dark. Do you know how absurdly ecstatic that makes me?? (Yeah. Woola found my childish giggling weird also, but she loves me anyway.)

 Close up, because I know you were just "dying" to read the fine print...

 And I'm going to leave you with this super cool picture of my new main man. So, now I have special invites to craft, a menu of terrible delicacies to plan, and costumes to fine tune. So much to do, Dear Reader, and so much enjoyment in doing it! What about you? Are you dressing up this year?

*to see other year's decor and parties, click below!
Halloween Decor 2017 
Costume Party 2017 
Halloween 2018 
Costume Party 2018