Halloween Entry

 Bats, spiders, black crows, skeleton, spider webs, lights & pumpkins...sounds like a spooky front entry to me!  The only items purchased this year for our front entry display were the 5 real pumpkins for $15 and 3 poster boards for $2.37.  Come along for a break down and craft project!

I picked up this broken off tree branch on my run last week and put by the side of the road to pick up after work.  I grabbed an empty planter from the garage and stuck the limb in dirt anchored by rocks.  I bought the crows last year for $1.50 each and tore off a section of spider web to string on the frail branches.

I think black bats up/across/down a wall looks good in any Halloween decor.  If you are trying to make a statement and you don't want to spend much, grab a few black poster boards and start cutting out bats.  I didn't use a template for the bats, just traced two versions on the black poster board with a pencil and cut through 3 layers.

After cutting out two sets of bats, I had an idea for the bat shape and eyeballed the rest- just started cutting.  For the perspective of bats flying out from somewhere, start with small bats and gradually increase the size.

I used Frog tape on the backside of the bats and applied the bats to the house siding.  Small bats closest to the front door and larger bats further from the door.

I'll show a couple of versions here- smaller kid spooky and bigger kid spooky.  The mummy wreath is a little more mild with the googly eyes and tones it down a bit.  The mummy wreath, bats & tree were made for less than $10.

 The black cloth ($4) and white skeleton ghost ($2) kicks it up a notch.  The large black spider ($5 clearance) is resting on a deer antler (free) wrapped in purplish Halloween lights ($3).  This look is under $25 (excluding fresh pumpkins).

The fake carved pumpkins were a great Halloween clearance purchase a few years ago.  Some years I get them out, some years I don't.  I think I paid $1.80 for each.  The column is wrapped in orange lights and the large and small spiders are tied on with fishing line.

The kids said we have the coolest Halloween entry in the neighborhood.  I like the layers- how it draws you in...first with the spiders and pumpkins, then the bats and then the tree and large spider by the door.

 Here's a closer view of those lit up pumpkins.  We'll carve the rest of the pumpkins closer to Halloween.

It's harder to see in the photo, but the red eyes on the spider seem to glow sitting atop the strand of lights.

We won't see much activity on Halloween.  Most of the kids head to the same area of town for Trick-or-Treating where the houses are lined up one after the other.  Some of the homes (homeowners) go all out with huge inflatables and graveyards.  Do you like to add cutesy or a little spook to your entry for Trick-or-Treating?