I usually wait until 2 or 3 days before Halloween to decorate, which is odd as my favorite part of this particular holiday is the decorations. Since I also feel compelled to take down my decorations as soon as the holiday is over, I decided to get started earlier this year. They're all pretty low-key in any case.
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| I picked up the warty knucklehead pumpkin at the market but its vine-like arms a legs came from one of my favorite garden centers. It's sitting on the stone structure that forms one wall of my small dining room. |
I bought the 4 white mini-pumpkins at the market as well with the intention of decorating all of them but I found the small gourds harder to work with than the large pumpkins I've previously adorned with succulents - or I simply had less patience, either one or both could be true. I gave up after decorating 2.
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| I glued succulent cuttings (Aeonium haworthii, Graptopetalum pentandrum, Kalanchoe orgyalis and Portulacaria afra) and berries from Auranticarpa rhombifolium atop a mass of dried sphagnum moss, glued in place using a spray adhesive |
With one exception, the rest of my Halloween decorations are retreads from prior years.
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| The skeleton hangs from a chandelier |
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| My cat and rat skeletons decorate the area outside the front door, accompanied this year by a large toad |
The indoor decorations may migrate outdoors on Halloween night but for now the pumpkins will remain inside. My experience in prior years has taught me a lesson about what happens when you put pumpkins outside.
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| In 2015, when the squirrels quickly tunneled through my pumpkin as they usually do, this one was at least kind enough to pose for a photo |
Do you decorate for Halloween?
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
