I have been waiting to write this post because I have been collecting and buying all the Halloween goodies and over decorating since August and with so much going on in October, I just wanted one post to show what we bought and how we have been decorating the house.
Nothing gives me as much joy as taking out holiday decoration boxes and this goes especially with Halloween and Christmas. You know what gave me all the joy this year?! Having a newly renovated garage and shelves that make going out into the garage a joy and pulling the boxes I need down and into the house without me yelling to Sean multiple times “are you sure you got everything?”.
There is something about watching all the Target Instagrammers start to post everything holiday related that their store is getting months and months earlier than said holiday that sets my expectation and holiday loving heart a flutter. As mentioned, for some reason South Florida stores seem to get everything so much later than the rest of the country (here is looking at you Target), so most of what I wanted and I had to get via online in order to avoid FOMO and setting my notifications early on (tips on THIS post). Once my store released everything I basically picked up items I hadn’t intended on getting (hoorah Hocus Pocus and Zak cups), but was so excited when they hit the stores.
This is what happens when you go to Target with no plan, no kids, and all the Halloween boxes are getting unpacked pretty much the second that you are there. Pay no mind to the judging eyes of the Commodore who is basically saying “what did you do” with his eyes.
Because we are doing a couple days at the Fort Wilderness Cabins for Boo Bash at Walt Disney World, I also wanted to get a couple of things for the kids to play with at the cabins and to keep them occupied as well as to do some lowkey decorating. We will be doing some time in the park, but my MIL really wants to soak up the cabin goodness, so I got a bunch of crafting things for the kids as I will be having several days off after and up until Halloween so I also wanted to have a bunch of things for us to do together too. I bought them flashlights for at night, a scavenger hunt since they love finding things and anything that involves a map, Halloween blankets for Halloween movie nights and nothing are better than THESE holiday throws for $10, spatulas for Halloween baking, those cool Halloween eggs to hide little treats in (this will be for when we get back) and those $1 standard orange pumpkins that were supposed to be for cauldrons on the stove, but instead were made into this…
I have an awesome DressShop Maleficient dress, so the horns (pictured) above will be the perfect accessory and they were only $5.
I fell in love the different prints available on the blankets this year, so I bought the kids two different ones.
The chalkboard standup that we used for their Spooky Menu was only $10!
Is it weird that I am such a sucker for holiday baking utensils and we are not even big bakers around these parts?!
I absolutely loved the Halloween spatulas this year so a non-baking person obviously buys multiples ::cue facepalm emoji::
Thie biggest surprise was how much I loved THIS pom-pom headband. It is $5 and was strangely and insanely comfortable. I wore it all day and actually forgot that it was on my head, which NEVER happens. I almost always have to take off a headband after a couple hours of wear. If you are not a big costume person but want something fun to wear even for work, this is it!
Commodore really loved the scary succulents and I am such a sucker for them every year and didn’t have this one so I added it to our collection. I literally told myself that I did not need another one of these and without hesitation put it in the cart the minute I saw it.
The chalboard rounds are not for Halloween, but I use them for crafting and my Cricut and for $3 they are always an awesome deal so I tend to get a couple and save them for projects later on. The cute bat pumpkins are for their boo baskets, The monster fingers I used in their kitchen as well as in the white gumball machine that I was able to score at Target (below). The booing kit I plan to use to decorate their boo baskets from the Boo Fairy and the witch hats I used as a “chandelier” in our kitchen. It gave me all the Harry Potter vibes and they were only $1 for the pack so I did buy quite a few packages of these and I am planning on taking a package to the cabins as well. The Halloween banner I used on the built-ins and again I bought extra of the paper cats to decorate both the cabins as well as I used them on our kitchen cabinets.
For the first time in forever and much to the dismay of my MIL, I went to the Dollar Tree (she swears up and down by them). Ours although close by is in the worst shopping center (I feel like I take my life into my own hands everytime I have to drive through there) and in the worst location, so I just avoid going there altogether. Obviously with all the goodies below, I not only regretted my past decisions, but made up for it in droves. That black decorative shred is perfect for the gumball machines to place towards the bottom (as seen below). I bought two of the Wicked hangers for the kids to paint. They are very very thin, so I’d be careful with these. The bats are actual clips so they could be used for DIY Halloween wreaths or for your littles hair, to decorate their shirts or dresses, or a slew of other things. I put several in a gumball machine with one of the white skull buckets. The eyeballs were used for their spooky kitchen and we are going to use the pumpkin cups for Drac n’ Cheese and the Witch Hat picks for something fun for them to eat their food with.
The kids are having a blast with the sticker face books, so I packed extra of these for the trip and just got extra in general, because I figured I had endured that parking lot and had no idea when I would return so I might as well get multiples of things.
The rings I can put in the eggs for the kids to find, the bat decor are actually stakes for the ground and come in a set of 2, so for $1 I thought they would be really cute outdoors and that mat was the perfect size for inside of the house that leads to the backdoor. It is actually a really nice mat for $1 and obviously Halloween books are always a must in our fam and are always part of any gift, so the Boo Fairy will be delivering these as well.
In hindsight I really could have painted one of the red gumball machines I have black and been done with it, but for $3 and not having to worry about getting paint on the glass it was worth it. Notice; shred, mini skeleton bucket, some bats and done.For some strange reason these were not in a big rush for the black gumball machines to sell out and all of our Targets have plenty of them, I am not sure why as there is a made rush always for the other colors.
The mason skeleton jars are actually from Homegoods and were only $3. I loved the look of them and the smoked glass was perfection.
The potion holder and all the little potion bottles were from the Bullseye last year as well as the bat lights. I was not as fond of the potion bottles this year as I was last so I was happy to have them.
The paper bats came in a package of 100 last year for $1. So it was mildly disappointing to see them in a package of 12 for $1 this year, bout I bought three packages last year and saved these in a ziplock bag and they held up really well. The Dead & Breakfast sign is also from last year and I love it!
Pay no mind to the mess on the table behind the chairs, I was playing around with all the pumpkins to see what to do with them….which ended up being nothing and they are back in the Halloween decor box.
The built-ins much like the Spooky Kitchen, had a progression as well…a more is more progression.
If the pandemic has taught me anything it is how much fun I can have creating all of the magic at home for the kids. Target recently had a 40% of costumes and we went ahead and purchased some Paw Patrol, Ghost Spider, Spiderman, Black Widow, matching skeleton costumes and amazing ghost pirate (his and hers) costume for the kids. Honestly, the ghost pirate ones were my favorite and the quality was actually quite good even if you pay full price I think this is the one that is worth it the most, especially if your kids are into the simpler costumes.
You know….just a regular Wednesday around here….
I think we are fully done decorating in these parts with the exception of the outside lights which are getting done Friday, but of course I say that now and with a planned trip to Target tomorrow, I am sure all of that will be out the door.
Are you all excessive Halloweeners, do you just dabble in decorating, Halloween not your thing at all (do we still get to be friends if not)?!
