Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it is filled with fun and fantasy, and it seems like you really get to see the alternative side to your friends and family when they dress up! Haha! Sometimes that’s good and sometimes slightly eye-opening!
But I really love the decorating side of this holiday because the sky is truly your limit! I am always looking to reuse and re-purpose items in my own home because I think that is the way you make your decor not so cookie cutter. It makes your decorations unique, and you can even make a hunt out of it by involving your children and their imaginations. You can go old-fashioned with pumpkins and ghosts. You can go really gothic with white and black and lace! Or you can go completely gory with tombstones and zombie looking bodies in your front lawn….ick! (this may be my path eventually with boys!) I tend to be somewhere in the middle with not much gore. Hah! I also try to keep my decorating to a style that will last into the Thanksgiving holiday!
And the dining room is such an easy area to add some Halloween decor just by redecorating the tabletop! If you remember my recent post on our dining room re-do, here is how my table looked then!
And here is how it looks now!
So, for Halloween, I decided to use more of a vintage theme. It isn’t quite gothic, but there are some darker tones in it.
I kept the foundation of my table from our dining room redo with the French ticking table runner, the candle sticks, the candles, and the footed cheese board. To shop these basics, see below!
Blue Grain Sack Striped Runner
And I painted my pillar candle holders when we redid our dining room with this great white chalk paint and added rolled beeswax candles. Here are some great distressed white wood candle holder options that have a similar look!
White Wood Pillar Candle Holders
Set of Two White Pillar Candle Holders
And these are very similar candles to the ones I have! I love the texture of a true beeswax rolled candle. They are so cool and beautiful!
Next, I added my footed pedestal! I love how a riser on a table or bookcase adds some dimension and texture to an area. Here is what mine looks like, and I’ve linked a couple of very similar options.
Here are two great options that are really similar to the one I have for such good prices! This is a nice heavy piece! It comes in even smaller sizes, too which could be fun for little niches on bedside tables or coffee tables or in a bookcase with a photo and a trinket. Just an idea… Plus, the smaller sizes are engraveable….which makes them a great wedding gift or Christmas gift!
These brass small candle sticks were given to us as a wedding gift, and I have always been able to find a home for them. Gold tones and brass seem to come and go, but these are classic enough to have a place in my home for sure! And my mom found these cool branch looking taper candles a few years ago. I’ve been waiting for an occasion to use them!!
I’ve linked a pair of similar taper candles here.
And here are candle holders that are a little taller than mine are, but they are such a classic look!
I have had this amazing copper tray for many years, and I love the color of copper! It is my favorite metal. It warms a space. It adds a little industrial to a traditional or modern home. It also adds a little Country French to a look. It is so versatile, and I have used this tray in my bathroom, on my coffee table, at parties as a serving piece. It has come in handy time after time! I love that it does oxidize some giving it a green hue in spots! That aging gives it a story and a patina which is why copper can be so cool!
I’ve linked a similar tray here, and again, this makes a great gift even by itself. This one is mongrammable which is my love language! “If it doesn’t move, then monogram it” is what I always say!
I knew I wanted a hurricane style container or bowl to fill with an arrangement and pumpkins, and I knew that I wanted it to be clear to see the details! I happened upon this one at a boutique near me, and it was a great size. I’ve linked some similar options here!
Since I grew up in Mississippi, I incorporated my love for cotton! It has always been a beautiful plant to me, and I used to love seeing fields of white …almost like snow… right across the river in my back yard! I use it in my decorations often because it is so soft and pretty and full of texture! I’ve linked a great resource below! Pick up several stems to see how you can incorporate these into your own decor! I love that these stems are slightly manipulative, too! You can adjust and make them fit a space!
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I added in some dried hydrangeas! These are really special because they came from my friend Liz’s engagement shower! She had flown in for the celebration and wasn’t able to take the beautiful flowers home so she sent an arrangement home with me! And I love fresh flowers in my home! They dried perfectly, and I have enjoyed them ever since! They mixed in so well with the cotton! The colors married really well to look like a beautiful fall arrangement!
And, of course, you can’t have any type of fall decor without some pumpkins! I found these white ones at Trader Joes for $0.69 each…such a score! I grabbed about 20 and have tucked them all around my house in little areas! I also grabbed a bag of mixed pumpkins at Walmart for $4.00! ….another great score for not much $$$.
I’ve linked some decorative ones in case you like to have the same ones to use year after year. That totally works, too! Plus, it cuts down on decor costs in the long run!
Package of 12 Small Artificial White Pumpkins
And lastly, these letter blocks are always an easy way to personalize your holiday! They add an instant conversation to a styled nook or tablescape! You can change them out. They add color. They add texture. And there is a vintage and sweet charm they offer, as well. What I used is a combination of blocks that my boys played with growing up and a set that were passed down from an older cousin. Again, these touches of found objects in your own home tell such a story. If you don’t have a set of these blocks, I’ve linked some here that are heirlooms! My boys stacked these when they were little, and now that they are in the spelling world, they use them to study for spelling tests or to play school! They are fun for all ages!
Happy Fall, Y’all!
