Following are ideas I implemented for Halloween '04 or intend to in the future (family matters have not allow us to "do" Halloween lately). I've broken them up as much as possible by room, but obviously, this might apply differently to your living space. My theme for decorating is a little eclectic, but the basic intent is to give the feel of a long-unused or haunted house. In 2004, many personal things prevented me from implementing all my ideas, but I did all I could, and will add the rest next time. Many of these ideas are not original. Where possible, I'll cite the source. A lot of times, what I do is take someone else's idea and run with it, making it my own. See pictures of the 2004 decorations & a party recap here.

There are switches between what I did and suggestions for what to do; this page is under construction.

Living Room:

• Cover furniture with white sheets. I found that it took 3 twin sheets to fully cover our sofa, and 2 to cover the futon... one folded for the table and one cut in half (it had a hole in it anyway) for the 2 small tables in the dining room. Very easy. However, I know from experience that you can't stop here! If this is all you do in this room, it will look like you're either trying to hide your furniture or protect it from your guests, instead of "haunting" the living room.
• Make tattered curtains for the windows (then the sheet-covered furniture won't look so weird). I got the idea from the 2004 Martha Stewart Halloween special issue.
• Hang tattered cheesecloth in little-used doorways (in my house: between the kitchen & dining room and the kitchen & basement). Another MS idea -- has to be done at last minute, just hang the cheesecloth and then tatter it on the spot by cutting it into strips and stretching/shredding different sections.

Living Room and Dining Room:

• Lots of candles. Remember to get unscented candles for anywhere near food. In the dining room, I had a 5-candle cast iron candleabra and an ornate red and gold candle lamp that I think came from a church (got it from a friend).
• Display Halloween collectibles or any knick-knacks that lend to the theme, i.e. a chipped bust I bought for $1.50, a very tarnished silver pitcher with a dead rose.
• The next time you get flowers, just before they start to wilt, tie them in a bunch and hang them upside-down to dry, then store carefully. They'll look lovely on a side table or mantle, or make a great centerpiece.

Dining Room:

• The focal point of the decorations for 2004 was a Haunted Memories portrait. We centered "Aunt Sarah" on one wall, surrounded by either old pictures of family members or portraits of John & I, PhotoShopped so we looked extra creepy. On another wall, I hung pictures we created of haunted cememteries and roads. Future plans include:
  • Create a gallery of old portraits, and mix in the Aunt Sarah portrait and our new Constance portrait from Haunted Portraits in with some real prints (a friend has collected some old photos).
  • Frame a cool gravestone rubbing or two.
  • Tattered curtains, or the black lace "haunted house" curtains another friend sent as a gift.
• Skeleton sitting in window to greet guests as they approached the house.
• I was happy to finally be able to entertain and break out my collection of wood tableware. I picked most of it up with the intention of selling it on my feastgear site (retired), but have fallen in love with some pieces, and they're staying. Everyone loved eating out of the wood bowls (they absorbe the heat, so they are comfortable to hold). And they wash up easily (good, b/c you can't soak them in water overnight or anything like that).
• I added gummi eyeballs (although I'd love a few real glass eyes instead) to the candy & nut dishes (trick I learned on one of a Halloween discussion group: candy corn and dry roasted peanuts mixed together taste like Payday candy bars... plus people can pick out one or the other if they don't like them both).

Bathroom:

• The lonely deer skull hanging on the wall must have looked really weird, but that's as far as I got this time around! Next time, I plan on having blood-splattered shower curtain, towels, rugs, etc. I want to find a couple stuffed creatures (birds, etc.) from an antique store or flea market (something that's been around for awhile) to go along with the Norman Bates/Psycho idea.

End of hall or other "nook"

• Tour your home and look for interesting nooks that might lend themselves to some extra touches. In my home, there is a bit of dead space at the end of the hall that is screaming out for something. I was planning on a mummy (home-made, but resembling one that Martha Stewart had for sale -- not available, but I might have a pic somewhere), and still might do that, but there was a statue in the movie we watched at my '04 party that freaked everyone out. If I can figure out how to do it in monster mud, it's going in that spot! I just have to see if I can make it look smooth enough. It's essentially a stern face shrouded in hood and robe. Everyone kept expecting it to jump out at someone.
• Other possibilities for a space like this: tall candleabra, skeleton, etc.

Accents/Resources:

• I love stores like Big Lots for cheap-o accents like rats for 99¢, skulls for $2.99, bags of spiders and ants for $1.49... etc.
• Thrift stores are good resources for odds & ends, white sheets, etc. You have to be patient and willing to hit a couple on a fairly regular basis.

Outside:

• See my Halloween Links page for links to how-tos on creating tombstones, effects, etc. for your yard/porch.

Food:

• I've started a recipes page (also under construction).
• For the 2004 party, we informed the guests that we were serving chili w/ fixins' and asked them to bring something to go along with it. With just chili, garnishes, breads, veggies & dip and dessert, everyone was plenty stuffed (and didn't even want popcorn).

Party Favors:

• I have decided that my parties will have an exclusive favor, either made by me or commissioned by me, that only my guests will be able to have. Now, you don't have to go to this extreme, especially if you throw large parties, but my parties are small (because the house is tiny), so this isn't a very expensive prospect. In addition to taking home a favor bag, guests at my 2004 party received (later) a pin featuring a quote from one of the movies we watched (it was "bad movie night"). I meant to have a real keepsake in the bag, something people could keep, but ran out of time. After we watched the movie, one quote screamed to be made into a pin. I created the graphic, then ordered the pins from mushycat. I used to make favors to exchange at Renaissance faires and related events, and may do this for future parties, but wanted to do something completely different for the first party.
• Other possibilities: Create magnets by printing mini versions of Victorian Halloween cards (or something else related to your theme) and stick them to business-card-sized magnets; retro Halloween toys or candies (like the wax fangs in the favor bags above). See my Halloween Links page for links to creative items to make or buy.

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