Cozy Cottage Weekends-Halloween Night at the Cottage

It’s a cozy cottage weekend, and I can scarcely believe November is here!  I want to invite you in to see a little bit of what Halloween was like at the cottage this year.  This is our first year as home owners, and so it was our first Halloween to decorate and pass out candy to the children!   I thought I would share some of the decor with you, and also a little video I made on Halloween night.

 

I used to sell Avon (years ago) and over the 8 year period I was with them, I stocked up on many holiday home decor items, which came in handy this year at the cottage.  We don’t have a lot of Halloween decor yet, so we will of course be adding to it over the years.  I had enough things to decorate the kitchen and outdoor area though!  Our kitchen is long with many windows and faces the front of the house where the street is.   So, the decor I am sharing here, is what the children saw when they came to our house to trick or treat.

 

The front entrance to our cottage style home:

 

Normally we carve pumpkins, but I have been so busy this year with harvesting fruits, making jams, and room redos, that I forgot!  We bought some gorgeous mum plants that were SO inexpensive from a local orchard, a couple of pumpkins, and used a candle lantern some one was getting rid of (so we got that for free).  Can you see the 2 kitties in the front door?  Fluffy and Mickey were VERY curious about what was going on for Halloween :D.

 

A fiber optic pumpkin was hung on the side door.  As you can see in the second photo, the pumpkin glows as it changes colors!  

 

In to the kitchen we go!  I had lots of bright and cozy lights with Halloween candles burning.  I thought it created a cozy, warm, Halloween atmosphere that went perfectly with our cottage kitchen.  The lights I strung have happy white ghosts and orange pumpkins that are covered in glitter and there are purple and black polka dotted bows on the strand as well.  I combined that with a couple of Halloween candle holders and figurines on the window sills, as well as Indian corn on the counters.

 

I have a friendly ghost (all of my Halloween decor is bright, happy, fun, and whimsical) whom I call Casper (so not original I know..but what else do you call a friendly ghost?  Maybe I should have named him Herbert or something … HA!).   He came from Avon, just like all of the other decor.  More candles/candle holders sat in the window sills and a pod warmer from my home business (Melaleuca..LOVE their warmers and they are only around $12!) was glowing with the scent of caramel popcorn wafting through the house.

 

 

Something ironic that I noticed, is that the cottage came with these kitchen valances that happen to have acorns, fall leaves, and pumpkins on them.  There you go, Free Autumn decor for the kitchen!  🙂  I will be changing these in the future, as I don’t think I want pumpkin and acorn valances up year round.  You can see what I am talking about in the next photo:

 

 

 

Here is Wendy the witch!  She sings the song “Ghouls just wanna have fun” and dances back and forth as she glows in my kitchen window with her fiber optic lights.  

 

 

I need a new camera, because my camera does not take good photos with the flash off.  Anyway, for some really inexpensive decor, we bought some candy corn and orange and yellow taper candles for these fillable glass candlesticks Mom bought me at a wedding closeout store.  Next year I will be adding some fancy black ribbons to dress them up more.

 

 

Years ago I bought a flameless candle from Avon, and it was perfect for the candle lantern we have outside.  The cool thing about this candle is that it makes spooky Halloween sounds of witches cackling, ghosts, and screams (but it isn’t too scary for the kids in my opinion..just fun!).  The kids really enjoyed this candle.  You can hear all of the sounds my Halloween “toys” make in the video I made below.

 

I made a 7 minute Halloween video for my YouTube channel that you may enjoy.  It’s just me talking to you and giving you a little tour of the Halloween stuff seen here on video.  You can hear the rain in the background ( it was a rainy , WINDY night), and also hear the music and sounds that all of my little Halloween characters make.  If you can’t see the video below, click HERE to view it.

 

As far as costumes go, I was a cat.  I always dress up for the kids and Matt and I wanted to be pirates together this year.  With all of the expenses of being new home owners though, we decided not to.  So I put together a last minute free costume by turning myself in to a cat.  I just made some cardboard ears and painted my face with black eyeliner and eye shadow.  It came out looking more like theater makeup-like I was in a Broadway production of “Cats” or something.  I look a bit like a wildcat , HA!  I didn’t want to freak any of my readers out with my Big eyed cat glare (when I put on a costume I tend to get in to character, as I used to act on stage in plays and stuff).  If you want to see the photo, just click HERE to be directed to our Facebook page and you will find it there.

 

I figured since I rescue feral cats and take videos/write about the cat colony in my neighborhood, that I may as well become one for a night… 😀

Do you decorate your home for Halloween?  

Do you dress up ?