Halloween Decoration Ideas - Vintage Halloween Decorating Ideas Inspired by the Early 1900's

While a lot has changed in 100 years, you may be surprised that the essence of great Halloween Decorating has remained almost the same. Unlike the 1900's, we do have modern amenities like electricity, electronics and LED lights to bring more pizazz to our Halloween decorating. I invite you to use these vintage Halloween decorating ideas along with modern twists to create a classic and spooky Halloween scene throughout your home.

Outdoor Halloween Decorations:

\"Outdoor Halloween Decorations\"

If the place where the festivities are held is held in the suburbs, the lawn in front of house should be decorated with hanging lighted jack-o'-lanterns. The eyes, nose, mouth in each one should be different and as grotesque as possible. If there is a fence around the yard, put a jack-o'-lantern on each post. Drape black above the front door and, in the center over the door, hang a skull and cross-bones.

Halloween Decoration Ideas - Vintage Halloween Decorating Ideas Inspired by the Early 1900's

Entrance way Halloween Decorations:

Once inside the home, the entrance way should be in total darkness except for light coming from jack-o'-lanterns of all shapes and sizes on tables, and hanging from doors and ceiling, and around/in the fireplace. The entrance way should be draped in black and the person who opens the door should be dressed in black.

Living Room/Family Room Halloween Decorations:

Decorate the main rooms with jack-o'-lanterns made from apples, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, etc. Hang them somewhere in the room or place on stands, tables, and mantles. Use also green branches, autumn leaves, apples, tomatoes, ears of corn and drape the room with red and yellow scrim and cheese-cloth. If possible, have a fire going in the fireplace.

Halloween Decorations for a Spooky Room:

The best place for spooky Halloween happenings is the garage, attic or basement. Have guests enter your spooky room immediately after hanging their coats. If you are creating your spooky room in a building detached from the house, build a large bonfire. The spooky room should be decorated with gruesome things - jack-o'-lanterns, skulls and cross-bones, black draperies, witches made out of cardboard and suspended from the walls, cats, bats, owls, etc. The shades and spirits should flit about. Use this room to tell ghost stories, play gruesome games or for fortune telling.

Dining Room Halloween Decorations:

The dining room should have festoons of nuts, branches of oats, strings of cranberries, autumn leaves, goldenrod, odd lanterns, yellow chrysanthemums and whatever else goes along with the theme. All the decorations of this room should be cheerful and suitable to the season. Charming maidens flit about serving the guests. For a festive Halloween table center piece use a large pumpkin with top cut off, pulp removed, and filled with water holding a large bunch of chrysanthemums or goldenrod. Bay leaves should be scattered over table and around the dishes. The menu card at each guest's plate should be of burnt leather bearing a sketch of a witch. After all unmask, lights in dining-should be turned up and room made brilliant.

Some modernizations of the above could include solar powered jack-o'-lanterns, spooky sound effects and a skull with glowing red eyes. Enjoy putting your unique twist to these vintage Halloween decorating ideas to create a fabulous setting for your Halloween Party.

Halloween Decoration Ideas - Vintage Halloween Decorating Ideas Inspired by the Early 1900's

Beth S. is a fan of everything Vintage Halloween. She maintains the Vintage Halloween Ideas web site where she shares nifty Halloween ideas from the 1890's to the 1960's - including Dennison's Bogie Books. Visit the site to get 3 FREE Vintage Halloween gifts! http://www.VintageHalloweenIdeas.com

Halloween Porch Decorating Ideas to Wow Your Trick-Or-Treaters

The front porch is the focal point for Halloween decorating. Don't you think? Your porch can have just a touch of Halloween - jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin banner. Or your porch can be full-out haunted. Even I would not want to put foot on some of these creepy porches. Would you?

How do you decorate your porch to wow your trick-or-treaters?

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I have some fun and easy porch decorating ideas that both big and small kids will enjoy. Try these...

Halloween Porch Decorating Ideas to Wow Your Trick-Or-Treaters

• Ghosts never go out of style. Ghosts are not hard to make. Create ghosts that are "standing" on your porch or driveway by criss crossing two broom sticks or dowels. Then hang an old white sheet or white garbage bag from them. Draw ghost faces with black markers. Also create a few smaller ghosts (without the broom sticks) that are simply hung from the ceiling to sway in the breeze. Ewwwww!
• Use natural elements. Encircle your porch's columns with broom corn. Tie it snugly with dried willow sticks. Choose kale, gourds, squash and pumpkins that are unusual, bumpy, even ugly! Make spider webs from hemp fibers. Dye bamboo black and use it to create perches for store-bought ravens. Carve pumpkins and light up with tea lights placed inside. More ewwww! Be sure that lit candles are out of the way from excited trick-or-treaters.
• Light your walkway with skull or pumpkin lights. Draw in the goblins with a safely lit-up pathway. Pile up pumpkins and gourds along the way. How about a few gigantic furry spiders to add some scare factor? Play some creepy music, too. That always kicks in the ominous feelings on Halloween night. Bushels of colorful mums add a splash of vibrance, too.
• Create gourd or squash can­dle­ hold­ers to create a dimly lit Halloween mood. Cre­ate a spooky can­dle­holder by cutting a hole in a gourd or squash that is large enough to accommodate a candle. A battery operated candle is the safest bet. Cutting the gourd or squash (or even a small pumpkin) should be done by an adult. You might need to start by scooping out a little and keep working at it until the hole is large enough for the candle. Always keep children and their costumes away from candles. That's why a battery-operated candle is a much safer bet. Safety warn­ing: If using a regular candle with a flame, put the candle holder on a metal tray with foil. Keep it away from trick-or-treaters or pets.

It's pretty easy to decorate for Halloween with things you already have around the house - like old sheets, broom sticks, and harvest from your garden. The most important thing is to have fun and be very safe. I hope you enjoyed these Halloween decorating ideas.

Halloween Porch Decorating Ideas to Wow Your Trick-Or-Treaters

Get more ideas about outdoor Halloween decorations for your porch as well as ideas for just plain enjoying your porch.

Mary Morris is a self-proclaimed porch lover and grandma to 7 awesome grand kids. Mary is one of the co-founders of Front Porch Ideas and More, a site about everything related to front porches and more.

Decorating Outside Your Home For Halloween (A Spooky Theme)

For many people the best part of Halloween is being able to decorate the outside of their home. This doesn't have to be limited to just the front yard. Decorating the backyard can create a very spooky atmosphere. You can even design a detour that will take each of your guests on a long walk that circles the backyard before leading them to the entrance. This way they get to enjoy the full benefits of your decorating efforts.

The traditional pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns make great additions when you decorate the outside of your home for Halloween. The light that these decorations give off will help your guest to see their way around and add the perfect lighting to create scary shadows that surround the other decorations. Ghost and goblins are an old favorite that can still make your guest look over their shoulder twice. Don't be afraid to get very creative with these items. Some of the newer designs are now being made inflatable to help give them an even more lifelike appearance.

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The use of a fog machine can create an illusion that can make your yard the spookiest of all. This is especially true when you litter the lawn with fake body parts and fake blood splattered all about the area. The fog just intensifies the whole spooky theme. Don't forget about a special door bell ring that alerts you of the incoming guest with screams, howling or some other unique Halloween greeting. You can even have a host that is decked out in one of the scariest costumes around to stand outside your door to personally welcome each and every one of you Halloween guest.

Decorating Outside Your Home For Halloween (A Spooky Theme)

Add special sound effects that will begin whenever your guest walks past a certain area. You can also use props that are programmed on a timer to go off at specific intervals. Spider webs are also a great decorating idea that will help you to create a spooky outdoor theme. Make sure that you don't forget the customary black cat and maybe a witch or two sitting in the trees watching the guest wondering by. It's just not Halloween without a few traditional items.

Decorating Outside Your Home For Halloween (A Spooky Theme)

Nicola always enjoys Halloween parties with her family. Visit her Halloween site for tips and information about Halloween Outdoor Decorations at http://Halloween-Decorations.Best-Halloween.com

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