It Has To Be You™: October 2021

While only a few shades less scary than last year's pandemic Halloween, this year brings a combination of the macabre with a few more lighthearted touches.

My Home Halloween Haven contains a few fun surprises along with the usual decoration setup from previous years.

In the light-up category, I've added two new plastic blow molds – Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas – to my collection.

I found them at a big-box retailer for a very reasonable price.

I put Jack in the living room on the table shelf under my black Halloween tree, where he fits perfectly.

This living room tree has C-7 lights, and I added the vintage orange kit ornament I found at an antiques shop.

I placed Sally's head on a black pedestal in my office, where I can look at her on the days I work from home. She has a red light inside, so she gives off an eerie glow.

On a recent visit to a dollar store, I found a small set of orange lights, which I added to a tinsel jack-o-lantern I already had. This is also in my office.

The coolest thing I added to my decor is this black crow lamp in my hallway outside the kitchen. I originally spotted it on my Instagram feed last year, and I think it sold for $100. This year I found this knockoff at an online retailer site that was $30, so I went for it.

The black resin hand is from another online design shop, and the Ghost Stories book I already had. It was a lot of fun setting all this up. The only thing I sort of don't like is that the bulb the crow holds in his beak is super bright, but it's still a fun look from any angle.

An escapee from Alfred Hitchcock's collection?

Last year I placed an entire flock of black paper crows on my living room fireplace wall, but when I removed them, they took away some of the paint, so this year I placed a few on my mantel twig trees instead.

In the kitchen, I have a couple of new vintage items, including this 11"x14" 1950s Sugar Crisp cereal ad, which I framed.

I like the fun copy, which helps give the piece a nostalgic lightheartedness. And, I'm really happy with the inexpensive frame because the blue perfectly matches the bears' cone hats.

Here's a closer look, so you can read the copy better...

On my September Brimfield Antiques Show visit, I found this large 13" tall greeting card, which I've placed on my kitchen table as a centerpiece. This probably dates from the 1960s, and is also fun and lighthearted.