{Day 18: Little Kid Halloween Decor}

"If my parents had a mantel, I'd be a completely different person."
George Costanza

As a little girl growing up in a home with a fireplace, I was baffled by homes that didn't have one. How did Santa get in??? Alas, of all the homes I've lived in since, only one has had a fireplace--and even that did not have a mantel.

Decorating for the holidays is a fun way to stretch out the joy of the season, and a mantel makes a wonderful display space for those decorations. Since Halloween is a pretty big deal with my kids, I wanted to make the house look festive but still be pretty.

Without a mantel in our house, I had to think creatively about how to replicate that look with what we do have. This lovely little space in our dining area makes a great stand-in.

The table against the wall in this small corner of our dining area is a great spot for extra dishes during big meals. It's also a fantastic spot for seasonal displays of holiday decorations. The three floating shelves above the table provide additional visual interest.

My vision when I put the shelves on the wall was to create a sophisticated-looking bar area. Bunches of liquor bottles on display is really not a super family friendly look, though. So now I just keep a few wine glasses there--two white, two red, and these two Waterford goblets in front. I occasionally change out the front glassware. For example, I had two margarita glasses there this summer, and I might do something else for the winter holidays. The bobble-head Dracula adds some Halloween fun!

The lantern is from my parents' yard. It is very, very heavy and Bela likes to open the little door and put things inside. I added a little straw witch for Halloween. To me it looks like she is in jail, which I thought would be fun for the kids. 

The lantern is a permanent element of the space. I plopped a cute china pumpkin next to it, all on top of a Pottery Barn placemat (clearance) and voila!

 

Next on the table is this display. Bela had put all of these little Halloween characters together once we got the decorations out of storage. I loved the charm of seeing all of them collected, and since this glass cake plate is another permanent element of the design, I set them on top of it. The basket of flowers in the back adds some color and texture.

A wider view of the whole area. The basket underneath the table is holding some little balls and glow sticks. We've been extremely lucky to not have anything broken, even with some lax rules about playing ball in the house.

On the first long shelf we have this now very old photo of me, baby Bela, and Griffin. To add some more visual interest to the area I hung the bat ornament on the wall above it. Note the gold star on the bat and the gold of the drapery in the picture--I love when colors can tie together like that! The spoon in front of the photo is a family heirloom.
 

Top shelf detail. This is kind of like a shrine to my little trick-or-treaters.  :)

Here is a wider view of the two shelves together. 

And a top down view of the little decorations on the cake plate. The orange box was a craft that Bela made in kindergarten that is meant to look like a grave. It has a note on the front of it that says "Here lie the bones of Bela" -- kind of creepy! We keep little Halloween treasures inside like bat and spider rings. 

I hope this has inspired you to do a little Halloween decorating around your house! I'm linking up to the Inspired Room's Fall Nesting Party and I hope you'll give the other bloggers there a look, too, for even more inspiration!