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Festive Decorating for Fall
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Anonymous user Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:04:00 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments The fall holiday season is finally upon us. Yes, Halloween and Thanksgiving are the decorating pre-requisites to the mother lode: Christmas. Get your creative juices flowing now and by the time Old Saint Nick is ready to roll you’ll be primed to deck the halls like Martha Stewart on Red Bull. Practice makes perfect. It’s a good thing.
So, if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to go into the garage, dust off those old Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations, then grab your checkbook and go buy some new ones. Just like clothing, decorating has trends. And whether you choose to follow them, or opt for a more traditional form of autumn holiday ambiance, admit it, it feels good to have others staring at your festive adornments with awe and admiration.
This happens every year (actually, about five times a year) to Debbie and Dan Dalton. They live in what has become known as the Holiday House, on the corner of Olive Drive and Oakhaven Street in the Northwest.

Halloween
    Drive by it, you can’t miss it. For years now they have been setting up magnificent window and lawn displays that have caused many a driver to rubberneck on his or her way home from work. Debbie says that it all started with a giant pumpkin man they saw at a Lucky’s supermarket many years ago. Each year they buy more, and the displays grow. They know what’s new, and what looks good. So this is where we start our journey into the latest and greatest fall decorations, beginning with Halloween.
    “He’s really gotten into the blow-up thing now,” Debbie says referring to her husband Dan.
    Blow-up, meaning giant inflatable decorations, such as plastic pumpkins that have a clear plastic side, and for Halloween, usually contains a ghoulish mechanical such as a carousel of witches and ghosts.
“We look for big things that can be seen from the road,” she says.
This is the first year she can recall the blow-ups geared for Halloween, although she has seen them for Christmas over the past several years.
The Daltons are also big on mechanical decorations. The Holiday House is famous for its displays in the front bay window. However, Debbie says mechanicals can get expensive.
The Daltons also recommend securing yard decorations so holiday bandits don’t run off with them.
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So just how much could haunting your house set you back? We hit Wal-Mart to find out. If you stick to the classics: fake spiders and webs, jack-o-lanterns, some ghoulish music and an eerie light, you should be able to get past the register for about $50. But when you start playing with the big boys (literally, life-size mechanical monsters) you will have to shell out a minimum of $100 per creature. However, at Wal-Mart, the blow-ups range from about $15 on up.
Debbie has also found creative ways to save on scary stuff.
“I’ve had farmers let me go in and get cornstalks when they were done,” she says.
Another idea she has for a more cost-effective window display is simply buying stuffed animals at a discount store and dressing them up. This may not only be a more economical decorating idea, but one more appropriate for smaller children whose fear threshold tends to be lower.
“I do things that please children,” Debbie says as she holds her baby grandson.
One sure kid pleaser is also a new trend that you can find at Michael’s: Lemax haunted town displays.
“This is gaining popularity because so many people do regular Christmas villages,” said Kathline Stein, Event Coordinator for Michael’s in the Northwest Promenade. Just like the Christmas villages, you piece separately sold buildings and scenes together, this time creating your own ghost town complete with haunted pirate ships, ghoulish mansions and graveyards.
But as with every holiday, the hottest items go fast, and you may not be able to find this Michael’s top seller until next Halloween. It is (was) a fortuneteller inside a crystal ball that delivers fortunes on demand.
“We sold out when we first got them in and had a wait list,” Stein says.
Another item she recommends not only serves as decoration, but also brings families together: a haunted gingerbread house – you put it together.   
Stein says it gives parents a chance to say, “Let’s get rid of the computer and do something fun together.”
Carving pumpkins can be lots of fun, but the mess is not. That’s why this year Stein says artificial pumpkins are the way to go. They last for years, look and feel just like real pumpkins, but without the rot or goo.
Another tip she has, “You can ditch the candles and put in lights to cut down on fire hazards.”

Thanksgiving
If you’re crafty, this is the holiday for you. I looked, but was not able to find the blow-up 8-foot turkey with a mechanical scene of pilgrims and Native Americans. No, November is a brief solace between the plastic fantastic of Halloween and Christmas that so often adorns the aisles.
According to Stein, pre-made pumpkin displays have been big sellers. But, no one is craftier than Martha Stewart. Of course, Martha makes her own pumpkin floral arrangements. So can you. Her directions, as found on marthastewart.com are simple: Find the roundest pumpkin you can, cut off the top and scoop out the insides. Place a plastic bucket or container inside, and in that place some floral foam and sculpt to fit, and make it level. Add water, then seasonal fresh flowers, dried leaves and berries.
Another idea comes from Debbie Dalton. “It’s inexpensive using garland and some floral. It brings in the fall colors,” she says.    
 Stein also suggests decorating using bales of hay. Full-sized straw bales sell around town at feed stores for about $6 each, smaller ones can be found at craft stores. Then just add to them.
“A couple of bushes, one floral, one foliage and if you want you can add a scarecrow,” Stein says, adding these types of displays work well in front of a house on a larger scale, or on a smaller scale inside on a counter.
She says these were a big hit last year, especially with local banks. “When I walked in I was like there’s all of our arrangements.”
But it’s not just about visual decorations - don’t forget fragrance. A bowl of pumpkin scented pinecone potpourri, sold at Michael’s for $5 a bag, can light up noses in any room.
And of course, there is the ever-popular cornucopia, likely one of the easiest displays to do. The baskets can be bought in craft stores or online for about $15, and you can fill them with everything from leaves, and gourds to flowers and twigs, fake or fresh.
Or you can just buy one pre-made.
So whether you’re decorating style is more Martha or more Wal-Mart, this season these is something for everyone.
And remember, if you don’t get it right during these holidays, you still have one more chance to redeem yourself this year.

   

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