Spookification

We've been discussing over on the message board different ways to use the Noel Mignon Sleepy Hollow kit, as it is packed with SO much spookiness, and unless you need to make a heck of a lot of layouts or a mini album, there is plenty to go around to use in your home decorating.

I like to decorate all available surfaces for Halloween... okay just kidding. But I do find a lot of fun in the whimsy & spooky silliness of the season, so I like to incorporate that in my home.

Most of the time, I try to stick to my decorations that are pre-existing, and just make them conform to the season.

Granted, this works especially well at Halloween as I already have creepy, old fashioned posters of little girls standing in the woods on my mantle.

(Before)

What? You don't have that too? ;)

Here's my spookification:

(After)
This took a crazy long time to do, because I used Girls' Paperie alphabet stickers from my stash to write out the final verse from "The Spider and the Fly." In retrospect, it would have been a lot easier to just go buy a new ink cartridge for my printer and print it out, but alas...

(Created with the Sleepy Hollow kit.)

The pumpkin in the lower left corner of the photo above is decorated with little pieces of black cardstock that I hand cut and just adhered on with scrapbook adhesive. I figure we can change out his face if we want to give him a new look.

Below are simple, cheapo thrift store frames that I quickly brushed with black paint & inserted with pieces of paper from the kit. I used some mist on them to give them a splattered look, and then used my Silhouette machine to cut out the giant letters out of cardstock. Tape on some of that gorgeous ribbon from the kit and you have a cute focal point.

We believe that everyone in our home should get in on the costume action at Halloween. Try this out with a painting, photo, or poster in your home. Even if it's not already creepy like mine. :)
The simplest of things can add to your fall/Halloween vignette, like a stack of books tied together with ribbon. Throw in anything from your collection that seems spooky/whimsical, like Edgar Allen Poe, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, etc. Sometimes you might need to take off the book jacket for a more elegant look.
Finish it off with some tealights, a pumpkin spice candle, and some sticks from your yard stuck in an old vase.

The whole fun of the Spookification of my home was that I didn't have to pay a dime for anything I used. It's all stuff I had on hand and just re-purposed for my plan. Look around and see what might work for you!

Don't have a mantle? You can always create a focal point for a room like this on top of a bookcase or entertainment center, on a coffee table, on a stack of old suitcases, or somewhere else that suits your family. I would love to see pictures of your Spookification! :)

P.S. I like what my friends & I call "deliciously spooky"- not scary stuff, if that makes sense. No gore & horror here. I want my kids to remember this time of year for a fun time of silliness, not fear.

One of the things I included in my mantle is the final verse from this classic story. If you haven't seen this before, check your library for it (that's where we got ours). It's super fun & deliciously spooky to read to your kiddos- we're doing that tonight on our front porch after dinner!

"And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed.
Unto an evil counselor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly."