Halloween at our house

When I was growing up, my mother did not believe in celebrating Halloween.  So, I didn't go trick or treating or any of the other things the other kids did to celebrate.  I hated that!  I think that is why today, I love Halloween.  I don't get into the scary Halloween stuff, just the traditional festive things. 

When it comes to decorating the house, I always get the boys to help me get the house Halloween ready.  They love pulling out the stuff every year.  Here's a peek at some of the things we did this year:

The Mummy Family welcoming our guests.

Bed slats turned into mummies!  Click here to find out how to make an easy mummy family. 

The mummy themed continued on our doormat.

My $2 thrift store wreath!

I love the little witch on the wreath.

The topiaries inside get Halloween hats to spruce them up. 

I love these little hats.  I found them at Goodwill a couple of years back for .50 each.

A few ghosts...

Every chandelier should have glow in the dark skeletons!

A bowl full of horse apples adorn the dinning room table covered in a BRIGHT tablecloth. 

The boys and I think the horse apples look like monster brains. 

Our search for horse apples

Growing up, horse apple trees were everywhere it seemed.  We would always throw them to bust them open and watch the horses eat them.  With Halloween approaching, I thought they would make a good "spooky" decoration.  I began looking around town for a horse apple tree, but amazingly could not find one!  Cannon and I were driving around and he said, "Mom we have one of those trees at school!"  Off we went to his school and there were about six horse apples that had fallen from the branches.  I was hoping to find about 15 to use with my pumpkins on the front porch as well as use some in the house.  Oh well!

Here's Cannon proud that he helped me find some horse apples!

I think it turned out pretty cute on the dining room table.

 

The boys and I think they look like monster brains.  :)

Mummy and Sons

With football season in full force, the boys and I miss their dad when he's gone working so much.  I've found if we keep busy the time passes quicker and he's home before we know it.  With Halloween right around the corner, the boys and I decided to make mummies for our front porch.  I had some bed slats that weren't quite long enough, so were pretty much useless until the light bulb went off in my head to turn them into mummies.  I know, who looks at bed slats and says mummies. 

All you need to make your own is pieces of wood, white spray paint, cheesecloth, felt pieces, and glue gun.  First spray the wood pieces.  (I always wear latex gloves when I spray paint so I don't get it all over my hands.)  We decided to make a mummy family that looked like us, so I cut the pieces down to varying heights and added felt decorations that matched our personalities.  Daddy mummy has a whistle around his neck, mommy mummy has a bow, and each boy mummy has a sports ball.  The boys really had a fun time with this!

Ummm, I couldn't find the tool I was looking for, so I had to use this weird handsaw to cut the boards.  It worked ok, but boy did I get a workout!

Once the paint drys, attach eyes made of felt on the board.

  Use a dab of hot glue to hold the cheesecloth in place at the top. 

  Next, wrap the boards in strips of cheesecloth, using another dab of glue at bottom to hold it all in place.  This project was really easy, the boys were able to make their own mummies.    

Our mummies welcome our guests. 

The mummy theme is continued on our door mat. 

Mummy & sons with the one we like spending time with best...Dad!