Stacked Stacks: BOO!!

by Christina on October 8, 2009

bats I am a rules person. I live hard and fast by them. Rules like “no sprinkles on brownies.” My rules don’t mean I can’t live in the moment or spontaneously, it just is how I classify and respond to many things. Really, I ADORE sprinkles. But sprinkles mean cake, so if I want them, I might as well make cupcakes (easier to freeze for a single person rather than letting a big cake go stale).

So, one of my rules is “NO DECORATING FOR A HOLIDAY UNTIL THE MONTH OF SAID HOLIDAY”–and most holidays are at the end or middle of the month so it works out well. My FAVORITE holiday is Halloween. Followed by Christmas. My birthday might actually come first. Yes–birthday, Halloween, Christmas, Mermaid Parade.

What I love about the holiday (besides the candy and dressing up) is the pure “autumnalness” of it all. I like the ancient traditions that led to Halloween as we know it. One of my “rules” is that I don’t do spring cleaning–I do fall cleaning. The timing makes more sense to me and follows those ancient traditions. The image of witches on broomsticks comes from celebrations in which the fields would be swept of their debris before the winter set in. On October 1st, the Halloween decorations come out, the wardrobe is switched over, and the house cleaned from top to bottom.

The timing of yesterday’s post on Young House Love was perfect with helping finalize my plans for decorating this year. A few bats in the window, candles, and…I was stuck.

First, let me say, I love Sherry and John’s website. It’s one of the few I follow in the RSS feed and it inspires me for my humble little abode and plans for the future home I intend to buy one day.*

Anyway, yesterday the Youngsters featured their Halloween decorating and had the perfect idea of book lovers! They pulled out their creepy titled, black-bound books to display with candles and a raven (click the photo or here for their full post with various pictures and awesome ideas). Using items already in your home is a great way to celebrate on the cheap. The books and candle route is classy and simple. You can’t tell in the image here, but the blocks on top of the books are printers blocks spelling out “EVIL,” which is a nice subtle touch.

books Can you guess where I’m going with this? Yes, I got home and did a little decoration rearranging of my own. My hardcovers seem more suitable for Valentine’s Day, so my arrangement features a few paperbacks: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, some Edgar Allen Poe (master of the creepy if ever there was and the perfect excuse to invest in my own raven!), Wicked Plants (it also has the look of a spell book which seemed appropriate), and I’d Rather Be the Devil.**

Because a pile of books just doesn’t scream HALLOWEEN!!, I added some deep purple feathers that I plucked from a boa (courtesy of Jamie’s bachelorette party) and scattered them over the table top and on my way home tonight I’ll be picking up some purple candles to add on either side for an altar effect. You can’t see it in any of these photos, but part of fall cleaning means swapping out decorating accessories. The purple is a nice highlight to the Moroccan pillows on the couch this time of year so it doesn’t become too cliche for the holiday.

*Freaky coincidence–at one point in time the three of us were all working in advertising on the Johnson & Johnson account, albeit at different companies.

** I just now remembered that I own Dracula. Drat! Will have to pull that one from the shelves tonight too!

Stacked Stacks: BOO!!

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