I’m not much on decorating for seasons or holidays. A little bit at Christmas, and that’s usually it. In fact, this post originated as a post about a wimpy fall display. But my mantel decor needed a shakeup, so I decided to incorporate a few Halloweeny elements.
About half of what you see was already up there: the plant, the poster, the vase full of branches, the bottle, barrel and lamp.
I wanted to incorporate my brass deer, and I thought it went well with this owl candle I found at my grandma’s house. I’m guessing it’s from when owls were popular the first time around.
I had actually considered throwing it away and brought it to my house just to get it out of hers. But I’m glad it didn’t end up in the trash. I gave him a second chance and he seems to be doing a good job of looking creepy. I’ll be sure to hold onto it in case Elise (or Dan) requests a Harry Potter party in the future.
If you look close, you’ll see something hiding…
This is our resident year-round mantel rat. He’s not really an inside joke; he’s a Halloween decoration that never got put away, and then was left out on purpose for two years (and counting).
My other slightly frightening friend is the gargoyle. He’s French (in case you couldn’t tell). My brother carried him back from Paris years ago. I imagine he probably came from a touristy place near Notre Dame, but he looks so much classier than that (despite the fact that he’s gnawing on gristle). I actually buried the lead here. The important part of the story is that my brother carried a somewhat large, fragile plaster figure all the way from France without breaking it.
I love this gargoyle, but now you see why he’s a bit too creepy to keep out all year long.
