I have a little table on top of my backyard deck. It's a favorite spot to sit and enjoy the yard, but I also enjoy decorating it for the seasons with something simple.

This year it's a clay jack-o-lantern all dressed up with a new coat of paint. It used to be a bronze color, but it became chipped and definitely needed a makeover. I used the same process I use on much of my furniture, a quick sanding on the rough spots, a coat of primer and some ivory paint with tobacco glaze to shab it up a bit. A coat of satin polyurethane should help this new finish withstand the weather.


It's just a simple addition to brighten up my view from the kitchen for Halloween. Do you ever decorate in the back yard?





As usual, Marley is wary of any newcomers, including clay pumpkins!



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I decorated my fireplace mantel for Halloween a little differently this year.... it's a little darker, minimally orange and just a {tiny}bit spooky!



The inspiration started with these birds I found at the craft store. They're a little smaller than what I have typically seen, but their big attraction to me was the glitter {love glitter}.



I decided to bring out my vintage window frame, leave up the silver vase and bare branches from my early autumn mantel, and add a few other touches with items I already owned.




The birds are the only new purchase for this Halloween mantel. All the other items were plucked from my holiday storage bins or stash of  trusty decor basics. I love mixing old and new to come up with a fresh look each year.

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Vintage Halloween Decor... it can be cute, scary, or even... weird. I think this little retro witch is all of those.  A few weeks ago I happened to hit Goodwill on the opening day of their Halloween Shop. It wasn't planned.

 
If you remember, I picked up a few little trick or treat buckets, one of which was a lovely Empire Plastics kitty. I mentioned that a few larger items made their way into my cart as well....



and here they are. Although this witch was the one that caught my eye, the second figure was even better. It's an Empire Plastics figure. The clue was in the face... modern Jacks don't have the same wide-eyed skinny smile.


His second half is just a silly ghost with a goofy smile.



But together... the pair is  pretty cute. Not too spooky, not even weird... like the witch. It was a very good day at the Goodwill.


These light up figures are large, hard to store and don't appeal to everyone. I like them... I guess that's all that matters. I have a little neighbor girl who loves all the light up Jack-o-Lanterns in my windows each year. Won't she be surprised to see what I have added to the decor this year!


P.S... not everyone in the house is thrilled with the new decorations. Hopefully Marley's attitude will change before they go out October 1. 




 

I stopped at the Goodwill shop in my area today to drop off some clothing and household goods for donation. Of course I had to stop in the store and see what was new. Today was the first day the Halloween Shop was open according to the sign on the window. They must have had a storage unit full of Halloween items. There were racks and racks of costumes, home decor and on top of every rack throughout the store were plastic pumpkins!


I picked up a few; I like to send one to each of my daughters at college as Halloween nears, filled with goodies from home. I always look for something a little different and not too big. I found three to bring home (even though I only needed two). Yes, some may think it's early to be posting about Halloween, but if you are looking for vintage, now's the time to shop. If you'd like to see all my Halloween posts, click HERE.





I think I will keep the kitty bucket. It was made by Empire Plastics, a maker of many plastic blow-mold figurines through the years. They are no longer in business. As I was taking photos of this bucket that tongue reminded me of an earlier post I did featuring one of my golden's "smiling"



Each of these buckets were marked 49 cents. I also came home with a few{much} larger pieces... {couldn't help myself, they were so cute!} they need to be cleaned upa bit and then I'll share them in a future post. Happy hunting!

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I have quite a large collection of vintage Christmas glitter houses {also called putz houses}. I have never made one myself, although I have quite a few blog friends {especially Robin from Happy at Home} who make fabulous reproductions. She also has a great tutorial on her site and links to house patterns if you'd like to try making your own!

I came across these cuties on some Etsy shops. This would be a nice fall craft to make, and I haven't really seen anything similar in local stores.

Check out this parade of reproduction vintage Halloween glitter homes!

JCKeever on Etsy

via Jennifer Arndt on Etsy

ClearbrookHollow on Etsy

countryvintage etsy shop

Jennifer Arndt on Etsy

Jennifer Arndt on Etsy

Jennifer Arndt on Etsy

ReverieandFancies on Etsy

TheSaltBoxCollection on Etsy

CareysQuirks on Etsy

Aren't these fabulous? Click the captions below each photo to be taken to these wonderful Etsy shops!

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