If you’ve been on the run so much that your brain is drawing a blank and you have no inspiration whatsoever…then this post is for you. Enjoy. 🙂

I believe there are some things in life that require a certain skill set which, for whatever reason, I simply don’t possess. I don’t know if it requires natural talent or if it’s learned behavior or simply patience.

Take weed-eating, for instance. I’ve tried to on more than one occasion; it’s simply beyond the scope of my capability. Is it because it requires too many body and brain parts to operate together in order to do it successfully? Playing the piano is another: I took lessons and advanced to the point where I began to play with both hands, and my brain simply shut down. You want me to do WHAT now? It was as if  my head was full of bumblebees. 😀

Also in this same category is large, elaborate autumn displays. I tried to create one last year; I bought a hay bale, a scarecrow, some mums, pumpkins, and other ‘accessories’ and created a small vignette on my front deck. I was never really happy with it.

The scarecrow kept blowing around backwards – I never really liked him anyway! – the hay bale got wet and heavy, and ended up remaining on my front porch for months afterwards. It lived there through the snow, sleet and freezing rain of winter, and carrying on through spring rains, until it finally started sprouting weeds. My husband hauled it off in the backhoe when we were installing our new stone flower bed. :-/

Over time, I’ve learned to accept my limitations, play to my strengths, do what I can reasonably do (and love!), and move on and enjoy my life.

Less is really more!

Simplicity is always elegant, and always in style.

Better to have a few, well-placed items that add to the beauty and harmony of your home, rather than to have it overdone and risk people thinking it’s a haunted house. (Although that does have some appeal for me, but see the above paragraphs should you need clarification on this issue.) 😀

Those of you who have the ability/time/desire/motivation to do the large, elaborate and/or clever displays may not find these ideas interesting, and that’s okay. We have different goals. But for those of you who are already overloaded, may this be the ‘push’ you needed to do a little something. Or to tweak what you have.

Remember, it’s all a matter of perspective.

1. Fill an unusual bowl with small pumpkins or gourds for a cute centerpiece.

Choose a decorative serving bowl or platter, and place an odd number (I have 5) of pumpkins/gourds/whatever in it. The bowl should look full yet not overcrowded. You can go with a theme of two colors, or a variety of autumn tones. Whatever your fancy, it brightens your table, reflects the season, and is easy to see over if you’re eating dinner at the table.

Is this bowl cute? I bought it at Tractor Supply. Yes, really! Doesn’t everyone get their home furnishings from farm supply stores and the local Fair? 😉

I’d been on the hunt for something since after Christmas last year, when the platter I previously had there mysteriously disappeared after I stowed it away while a Christmas centerpiece was in its place.

What I suspect happened is that since I stowed it in a handy, but unsafe, place, it was accidentally broken. Learn from me, grasshopper.

2. Switch out your candles for fall colors.

This is a simple fix. These candles are obviously ones I used last year, and looking at them standing alone on the holder doesn’t really look like much.But when you take into consideration that I’ve placed a couple of pumpkins alongside them as well as an autumn arrangement I’ve had out on display for several weeks now…

It brings the whole picture together in perfect harmony. Do Be Do Be Do.

3. Add some color to your porch lights.

If you have large porch lights, you may have to settle for switching out the bulbs to some Halloween-y colors. I chose to take it a little further, however, and picked up these plastic pumpkin treat buckets to place over them.

Aren’t they adorable? They look like such happy little guys! I had to slit the back of the pumpkin about two inches in order for it to slide over the bottom of the light. But the handle helps secure it at the top and it fits perfectly.

An Important Note: This works for me because my bulb is recessed way back up into the fixture itself and does not come into contact with or close to the plastic. Make sure yours doesn’t either, and be sure to monitor it closely in order to avoid risk of fire. 

I took this picture in the early morning hours today. Although the camera doesn’t allow you to see the pumpkin faces, rest assured they are there and they look adorable! They give my porch an eery orange glow.

4. Switch out your outdoor summer pillows for a fall or Halloween version.

Currently, my front deck looks exactly as it did this summer, except for some ‘tweaking’. In the last month, I moved my houseplants indoors, created a fall arrangement in what used to be my onion planter, swapped mums for petunias when they looked scraggly, and swapped out the pillows. And added a real pumpkin.

Voila! I have a fall-ish front porch that’s ready for Halloween.

Over the next couple of weeks, my water feature will disappear, and so will some other items on there. If I remove them a little at a time, the porch still looks good, rather than to have everything disappear at once.

Except for where my girls have been on the hunt for the critter who has taken residence under our front deck. My beautiful new petunia flowerbed now looks like this:

Ya win some, ya lose some. Good thing it’s the end of the season!

Sorry. Squirrel.

5. Add an unexpected element.

Regular readers of my blog know I enjoy adding in unexpected things. And, if you read my blog regularly, you’ll also know I love dogs. Especially black ones!

Your unexpected element could be painted pumpkins, pumpkins wearing faces, a cluster of unusual pumpkins, or some unusual displays. Something unexpected that adds a touch of humor or catches a person’s eye is a great choice.

I just happened to find this adorable black dog at Home Depot, and thought it had my name all over it. HA He lights up at night, and is a fun change from a simple jack o’lantern. 🙂

Everything you have here, my friends, is the sum total of all my decorating this year. I may yet haul out another thing or two, I haven’t really decided. I have significantly more than this, I just choose not to use it. I haven’t had the time this year.

Just because you have it doesn’t mean you have to use it.

Think of your Halloween supplies as your inventory, from which to pick and choose. This allows your display to be fresh and different each year.

What I’ve done is tasteful, elegant, cheerful, and understated. It’s not a pain to clean around. And it makes our house feel festive without feeling cluttered. We think it looks great.

And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😀