I love holidays. Every year, I pour my
heart and soul (and money) into making sure I celebrate each holiday accordingly. So yes, I am that person
you see buying the entire shelf of Valentine’s Day chocolate boxes and conversation hearts. I am also that
person choreographing my backyard Canada Day fireworks to “O Fortuna.” And yes, I am that person that gets a
tad bit giddy when I see that first Christmas commercial for pine-scented room fragrances.
Around this time, I deck
my front porch (and practically every room in my house) with Halloween decorations. I’d like to share some of
my favourite decorations this year.
Carving jack-o'-lanterns
is one of my go-to Halloween decorations. But figuring out what to carve can be stressful and sometimes I
just don’t have enough time to intricately carve out Freddy Krueger’s claws. But, I do have enough time to
run to the dollar store and pick up plastic vampire teeth for this twist on jack-o'-lanterns. All you need to do is push in
a couple thumbtacks for the eyes, cut out a hole and pop in the teeth. Presto! Instant fanged pumpkin sans
candle. (I always thought tea lights were a fire hazard anyway). I like putting my jack-o'-lanterns on top of
stacked hay bales, which you can buy at most grocery stores, or if you have steps to your house, place your
pumpkins on either side.
Smaller pumpkins are great
for carving letters to create a greeting like this one. Not enough time for that? “Boo” also
works.
You know those miniature
pumpkins and gourds you see at the grocery store? I always wondered what people do with them. I mean, you
can’t eat them nor can you carve them. Alas, I have figured out a way to put them to good use. Grab those mini
pumpkins, cut a hole, stick a tea light in it, and push in some pipe cleaners and you got yourself a colony
of spiders. Here’s another idea, glue googly eyes on them and place them into
small bowls. Reaching for the sugar bowl will be a fright!
It’s hard to make flowers
spooky, but this makes an eerily wonderful floral arrangement for
your fireplace mantle or a centrepiece for a macabre dinner party. Perhaps put the bouquet in
this.
As you can tell, I take my
holidays seriously. Now, whether or not Halloween is considered a holiday is beyond me, but I celebrate it
wholeheartedly nonetheless. •
