how to decorate for halloween: a dark, spooky forest in the living room

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How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

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Decorating your living room and fireplace mantel f

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Page 1: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest inthe Living Room

Page 2: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

Decorating your living room and fireplace mantel for Halloween can be tricky. You donâÂ�Â�t wantit to be too spooky, and you probably want to have a little fun with it, but it has to be a look you canlive with for a several weeks. We think Jennifer Griffin nailed it. She says she has no formal designtraining, but she certainly knows how to decorate for Halloween.Ã�Â

Page 3: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

The fact is, Jennifer� clearly knows how to decorate for any occasion. Take a look at her blogDimples and Tangles, and youâ��ll see what we mean.

She is one of the terrific DIY and design bloggers we invited to take part in our Halloween StyleChallenge. We sent each blogger a mystery shipment of Home Depot Halloween decorations, andthen we stood back while they came up with fresh and inspiring Halloween decorating ideas.Ã�Â

Jennifer came up with a Halloween mantel thatâÂ�Â�s warm and colorful with interesting texturesand tons of wonderful detail. Read on as she takes us, section by section, through her creativeprocess, including how she modified some of the items we sent her to give them her special look.Ã� Ã�Â

I was so excited when my friends at The Home Depot invited me to be a part of this Style Challenge.I mean, doing a project for one of my favorite companies, in my favorite season, with some fun newproducts� what could be better?

After receiving the assignment of decorating my mantel, I wasn�t sure what direction Iwanted to go until I received my boxes of mystery items from The Home Depot. One item inparticular inspired the entire design. Keep reading to find out what it was, but because of it the ideawas born to do a dark, spooky forest theme.

Page 4: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

THE BASE

Page 5: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

Once I had a plan in my head, I started building my area section by section. First, I knew that Iwanted lots of branches to mimic trees. These urns were the perfect containers to keep them stableand steady. Just as my plan was coming together, my neighbors were having their trees trimmed.Perfect timing! They were happy to throw a pile of cast off branches over my fence.

Page 6: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

THE FOCAL POINT

Secondly, I focused on the actual mantle. I wanted something rustic and some kind of signage. Afterdiscovering spools of festive rope lighting in a mystery box, I thought it would be fun to use it towrite out a phrase. The lighting added an extra bonus and helped to set a mood, too. Since oursociety is all about #hashtags these days, my sister suggested adding one and I jumped on herbrilliant idea.

Page 7: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room
Page 8: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

To assemble the sign I re-used a section of an old fence panel. With its mesh coating, the rope lightwas really easy to work with and form. After sketching out my word�#beware� with apiece of chalk, I used a staple gun to barely grab the edge of the mesh and attach it to the wood.

When you do this, just make sure that the electrical light wire inside is moved to the other side ofthe rope, and that your staple only goes through the mesh, not the wire. Also, work with the lightsunplugged, just to be safe!

After putting the two main components of the sign and the tree branches in place, it was time to fillin the details. Now, here�s my inspiration for the entire design�. these guys!

THE CLASSY VULTURES

Page 9: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

When I found light up vultures among my mystery items, I knew right away they needed some treesto hang out in, and the idea of a spooky forest went from there.

I couldn�t resist giving them a little class, though, and added top hats and a bow ties withribbon from the craft store. Because vultures can be stylish too, right?

To place them in the branches, I rested their feet where I could, and then used strips of floral wire tosecure their bodies to the branches in various places. The cord for their lights blends in with thebranches and can be plugged in with an extension cord at the base of the urn.

These cute bats needed a home in the forest, too, so I used some wire to secure them as well.

THE LAYERS

Page 10: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

With the major pieces in place, it was time to add in accessories. Even with the height of thebranches, I wanted to fill in some of the area close to the ceiling. One more mystery item from TheHome Depot came to the rescue, but it�s serving a totally different purpose than how itstarted!

Page 11: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

These Halloween wreaths are festive, but as-is didn�t have a place in my plan. So, they got amakeover, turning them into some statement lighting. Every spooky forest needs some glowingchandeliers, after all.

Page 12: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

After disassembling the wreath, I wrapped it in jute rope, securing with hot glue once in a while.Since I needed to be able to get to the bottom of the battery operated candles to turn them on andoff and couldn�t hot glue them to the wreath, I used some pieces of a Scotch adhesivefastener strip to secure the candle to the wreath. Then I used some Christmas beading from the craftstore and some prisms I had on hand to add some sparkle, and embellished with some of the leavesfrom the original wreath.

To finish it off, I tied three more long pieces of rope in even sections around the rim of the wreath,knotted them together at the top, and hung with an eye hook� in the ceiling.

Page 13: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

With the high areas filled in, I moved on to filling in the area around the hearth, building on a hiderug to add some texture and interest. These lanterns from Home Decorators Collection are a verygenerous size and made a nice statement, allowing me to add some light at the ground level. I alsoappreciate how the rustic finish ties in with the branches. The tops are hinged, so it�s really

Page 14: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

easy to fill them and get access to light the candles.

A few curly leafed crotons from the Home Depot Garden Center filled in some spaces with fall colors,and some rustic pumpkins that I had on hand gave a nod to fall as well.

Page 15: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

With a cozy chair added in, it�s the perfect spooky story spot!

Page 16: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

My friend enjoyed the I Spy book as well�

Page 17: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

And, it�s even better at night when the lights are glowing and casting creepy shadows on thewall.

Page 18: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room
Page 19: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

I hope you�re inspired to add a bit of whimsy, a bit of nature, a bit of class, and a bit ofspooky to your home this season. Thank you so much Home Depot for inviting me to this challenge,it truly stretched my imagination and creativity!

Page 20: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

Jennifer Griffin says her home is her hobby. She enjoys blogging all about it at Dimples andTangles,Ã� where her posts focus on decorating and design, DIY, food, crafts, travel, and a goodthrift store makeover here and there. SheÃ� lives in Edmond, Oklahoma with her husband and twosweet children.Ã�Â

Page 21: How to Decorate for Halloween: A Dark, Spooky Forest in the Living Room

The mystery shipment of Halloween decorations The Home Depot sent to Jennifer included theseitems:

For more great ideas on how to decorate for Halloween, see other articles in our� HalloweenStyle Challenge� series here on The Home Depot Blog, and follow our� Halloween StyleChallenge� pinboard on Pinterest.

Visit The Home DepotâÂ�Â�s onlineÃ� Holiday Decorations DepartmentÃ� for everything youneed to decorate your home for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.Ã�Â

http://ext.homedepot.com/community/blog/how-to-decorate-for-halloween-dark-spooky-forest/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-decorate-for-halloween-dark-spooky-forest