Hi! Here are a few areas of our home decorated for Halloween.
Compared to other vintage collectors, who have awe inspiring selections of cool old blow-molds and mid-century figurines, my specific Halloween things fit into one bin. But, what I lack in “real” items I’ve tried to make up with things we had around the house, which I arranged in such a way that they tell a Halloweenie story.
Below these photos, you’ll find quite a few details about what you’re looking at and links to other related posts, but if you’d prefer a look around without all the written chat, please check out the video tour I made of the displays, all set to spooky music. Certainly, pictures are good, but I think the video might be more interesting. Then, if you’d like to know about the details, you can find them written down below. Thank you in advance, if you do watch the video.
↑ Click here to watch the video or go to YouTube and find me here, or search the site for Loulou Downtown. ↑
↑ There’s Stu in the forefront, who was our cat Eddie’s best friend. I’m not kidding, he would actually hang out with Stu all the time, out on the deck, as seen in this post.
Also, there’s one of the vintage die-cuts that I recently posted about here, and the handmade embroidered felt stuffed cat I demonstrated how to make in this post. The ceramic cat that is standing up is a true vintage item that I found on ebay, that I estimate is from the 50s. There are more details and better pictures of him in this post. The honeycomb cat on the books (which are my old diaries) and the heads above it were children’s crafting kits that I found at Dollarama last year. The cat in the frame is a greeting card from the 90s. ↑
↑ A mystical occult area, featuring genuine tarot cards that I got years ago at a garage sale. I never got into reading them, though, so came very close to giving them away once. Now, I’m glad I didn’t. The vases and crystal pieces were thrifted and the glass skull, which has a light string in it, is from Dollarama last year.
The image of the fortune teller came from an old book of stock photographs. (Back before these types of things were all on the internet, images that were for sale would come printed up and bound into books, like a catalogue of photographs, the rights to which could be purchased and then used in advertising, etc. I used to work somewhere that had loads of these books, that they no longer needed because everything had moved to digital, so they were throwing them away. The books were made before digital cameras existed, so the pictures within were all taken on film, using real lighting to make the shots interesting. I’m not too proud to admit that I plucked those books from the bin and have hung onto them for two decades!) ↑
↑ The photo is from the 30s and includes one of Nick’s relatives. The “frame” is an envelope from a note card my friend Meghan gave me. The centre was originally white paper, which I carefully cut out to allow the photo to show through.” ↑
↑ The pumpkin plate is from the thrift store and the hand mirror was a gift from my grandmother when I was about 7. The cobalt glass pieces come from an estate sale I was helping with — the lady is a bell. The brown iridescent carnival glass bowl with jewellery in it was a gift from my friend Colleen (received during this “Second Hand Only” Christmas gift exchange I had with her and my sister). The jewellery items are pieces I’ve collected along the way. ↑
↑ The lady with the magnifying glass is another of those stock photos. The Nancy Drew book was mine as a child. The antique skeleton keys are ones that were really used, one by my grandparents’ family and one by Nick’s. ↑
↑ I thirfted the ghost figurine last year, and included him in a Halloween Thrift Finds post found here. Included in that post are some other items you’ll spot in these pictures. The chickens were also thrifted but not specifically for Halloween. The framed piece is a greeting card from the 80s. ↑
↑ The scarecrow was given to me by my mom. She is a retired primary school teacher and used to use this to decorate her classroom. The owl came from Michael’s a few years ago and the wooden chicken and plastic jack o lantern were thrifted. The cardboard die cut is vintage from ebay, shown in detail in this post. ↑
↑ Making a ghoulish appearance is this little guy, which I made from sticks, cheesecloth and a plastic skull, a couple of years ago, demonstrated in this post. ↑
↑ The vintage silk scarf is from ebay and the cotton pillow case were thrifted. The jack-o-lantern sculpture was another item given to me by my mom, which she used to decorate her classroom. ↑
↑ The black and white photographs are from the 20s and are of members of Nick’s family.
The coloured postcards are reproductions of vintage ones from the 20s. I got them in a 1988 booklet of 24, called “Old Fashioned Halloween Cards”, that I found on Amazon. I notice this is still still in stock if you’d like some, too. The images are by Ellen Clapsaddle, who I discussed recently when we looked at three original Thanksgiving postcards I’ve collected, seen in this post. ↑
↑ My grandmother gave me the Saint Christopher medal when I was 5 and the cigarette case belonged to Nick’s grandfather. ↑
↑ The skull ornaments and the round ones that coordinate with them, were a gift from our friends Leslie and Niall, who gave them to us during this get together two Halloweens ago. I made the ones on the tree from beads following this method. ↑
↑ The pumpkin-head in the frame is a genuine vintage one from the 40s. That’s one of my few real-vintage Halloween collectable items. I love it but am a bit disappointed that the company that originally made it recently began making dupes of it, so, while this one really is about 80 years old, you can easily get one today that’s brand new and looks nearly exactly the same, except the old ones were embossed and the new ones aren’t.
The bats were more of the children’s crafting kits from Dollarama last year. The ceramic veggies were thrifted. ↑
↑ A couple of handmade items in this shot. The crocheted wreath pattern can be found here, and instructions for cross-stitching on paper can be found here. The spider is a piece of costume jewellery from Dollarama’s Halloween section, which I put over an orange glass votive holder. ↑
↑ And some more handmade things. The crocheted maple leaf garland was demonstrated in this post, the fabric pumpkins in this post and the crocheted pumpkin and doily in this post. ↑
↑ Popping back to the living room for a second — These pillow covers were made from cotton napkins I got on Amazon. I just connected a couple of them together with a zipper and then sewed up the remaining 3 sides. ↑
Thank you very much for checking out my video and blog post. Wishing you a great Halloween this weekend!
xo loulou
