(a very) DIY Halloween

So.....I won't lie. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. gasp! I love to dress up.....love to put together costumes for the kids.....but fall is just so pretty, and Halloween is just not. Especially when the Christmas stuff is already glistening in the stores, with it's twinkling lights and tinsel,  but before we can get to all that pretty stuff we have to go through Halloween, with it's blacks and oranges and such.
It's just that I'm over it in a day.

But.

The children on the other hand......they want to fill the house with as much "spooky" (read: tacky) stuff as we can. So we did....we filled it. And the best part was.....I only bought a few supplies.....every thing else I found in my house (you know, because I'm a hoarder).

My inspiration came from my friend Meg who has a creepy little doll named Homeless Hannah, and I thought it was a genius Halloween decoration.

So we started brainstorming other spooky things. The kids said things like eyeballs, poison, spiders, killer birds (what?), so we went from there. 

We picked this little gem up at the thrift store for $3. Isn't she creepy already?
we also used:
-black felt
-some gross black net type fabric (1/2 off at Joanns)
-those fake cottony spider webs that I've been reusing for years
-plastic spiders
-thrifted candle sticks painted black (I did this last year)
-antique books and bottles that I own
-home made playdough

the results:

Our dolly: I felt really weird explaining to the kids how we were going to make her "creepy".
And then even more weird as they watched me cut her hair, break her foot off, and burn her dress and face.
Please don't turn me in. I felt so artistic at the moment....now just feeling like I might have issues.

I made some labels for the bottles, and singed the edges.

These are candlesticks I thrifted last year (you can get them for $1), and spray painted black.
The runner is plain orange fabric, with felt cut outs and a spider web "curtain" I bought on clearance last year at Joanns. I cut it in to pieces and laid it over the top of the orange. It's not even sewn, because I am fancy like that.

The Potions Center.

This is the kids favorite part.

And also, when my house really starts to look like it's just full of junk (ok, so it is)
We got the organ this summer from Robby's grandparents, and it was the perfect set up for a spooky scene.
The bottle and jars are all things I had, and we filled them with our playdough creations and labled them....super easy!

Lastly is a little game we've decided to play. Every few days I'll hang a spooky felt silhouette (like this "killer bird") somewhere in the house.....and the kids have to find it. Easy! And they love it.

the end.

now let's put up our Christmas tree, please.