Spooky tips for any home

B7

By Sarah Pacey

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Add some spook factor to your home with some of these ghoulish ideas for Halloween:

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Create a centrepiece on a round black platter with boas, fall leaves, orange beads, white candles and spiders.

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A glass bowl with a black boa, craft skulls and a tall candle make for a spooky centrepiece.

1. Spread artificial spider webs over the tables, draperies and light fixtures, lamps and windows.

2. Place plastic spiders in surprising nooks and on food platters. Slip plastic spider rings on the stems of wine glasses to increase the spook factor.

3. Cut branches of oak or maple leaves and spray-paint them black, then place them artfully on display in containers.

4. Turn a family-room chair into a ghost by draping it with a white cloth and adding ghostly black-felt eyes.

5. Place a small hardwood tree in a dark pot; then drape its bony limbs with a garland fashioned from black beads. Add ornaments such as decorative ghosts, pumpkins, bats, cats and skulls in a variety of colours.

6. Draw facial expressions onto miniature pumpkins and skewer the small jack-o'-lanterns on painted wooden dowels for festive party favors.

7. Welcome guests by lining the front steps with an assortment of pumpkins. Place candles behind some of the pumpkins to cast shadows and create a creepy glow.

8. Paint black eyes on well-formed white gourds and then capture the "ghosts" inside a glass display case or container.

9. Add small, white pumpkins and tiny craft skulls to a clear vase as a centrepiece. Flank the vase with black candlesticks to make the white objects pop.

10. Make a tablecloth from cheesecloth. Cut the edges ragged to mimic a mummy.

11. Use lighting to enhance the mood. Increase the air of mystery by turning down the lights. If you don't have dimmers, purchase low voltage bulbs, which give enough light to see but help keep the atmosphere scary.

12. Embellish the stair banister with black, feather garland or boas. Add to the creepiness factor by placing artificial spider webs and spiders. Also, use the garland to make a wreath to put on the front door.

13. Use black items such as vases, pots, candelabras and candleholders to enhance the mood wherever you can.

14. For a centrepiece, clip plastic spiders onto your floral stems and make sure to remove any leaves or greenery so the creepy crawlers really stand out! Set the arrangement on an orange table runner or plate, and sprinkle more spiders around the bottom of the vase.

15. Fill vases with fluffy orange and black ostrich feathers or boas for an easy centrepiece. Floral stems crawling with spiders could be added as well.

16. For a glitzy centrepiece, paint pumpkins with black craft paint and sprinkle black glitter on while the paint is still wet. Place on a tray or container and add orange flowers for extra colour.

Sarah Pacey is the award-winning owner of the local Interiors by Decorating Den, which serves commercial and residential interior decorating needs from Oromocto to Grand Falls. Contact her office today with questions or to book an in-house consultation at 392-8882 or by e-mail at paceyteam@decoratingden.com.