My Minimal Halloween Decor

I'm not really sure how I feel about Halloween. On the one hand, there's the fun and quirky "Nightmare Before Christmas" vibe (that I love), but on the other, there's the blood, guts, and gore vibe (not my favorite).

I also have a son that was born on Halloween and he happens to be slightly obsessed with the holiday (which makes it both fun and exhausting at the same time).

And then there's minimalism.

Although I wouldn't consider myself to be an extreme minimalist, I am trying to do better with being more intentional with my purchases and consumption. It just makes me feel better for so many reasons.

So, this year, when I was trying to figure out how to do Halloween in a way that would equally make my son happy and me not-so-crazy, I decided I would limit the number of purchase categories to these five things:

1. Pumpkins (Two large and three small)

2. Spiderweb (Just one bag)

3. Supplies for one easy DIY (I already had the supplies, so didn't need to buy anything)

4. Purple string lights (Just one strand)

5. One new decor item (One small Tim Burton inspired figurine - because, you know, my son)

We currently live in a townhouse, so it really helps that the main space is pretty small to begin with.

So here it is. Super simple and easy. I feel like we were able to capture a fun and playful ambiance, without overwhelming my space (and brain).

I had the mini pumpkins spread around the room, but then decided to put them all on one shelf (which gave them more impact, I think). Then I added a little bit of spider web to the shelf. The ghost is one my son bought - so that wasn't my purchase.

I did a little kitchen corner vignette that is more "fall" vibe than Halloween, but luckily the two go together. The photo in the frame is the one right here and the sticks and branches are just foraged from nature.

It's amazing how much beauty you can collect, just from your own backyard.

I also added a few fall branches to the vase on my coffee table.

The spooky cat is the one new decor item that I bought. I seriously think he is so cute! I love how his legs dangle over the books. I find that I enjoy small purchases like this so much more when I only buy one because my mind doesn't have to process as much. I can take the time to mindfully enjoy this one item. Every single time I walk by this, it makes me smile.

I draped the purple string lights over my curtain rod, which only took a few minutes.

The one thing that actually took a little bit of sit-down time was this ghost garland DIY. I looked up "ghost garland" on YouTube and mostly followed the basic idea of this one. I used thinner yarn than the one in the video, so I wrapped it around 25 times to get enough thickness. I already had the yarn and just hole punched the eyes out of the black cover of a notebook and hot glued them on. It only took me about 30 minutes, so not too bad.

And that's pretty much it. I used to do so much more decorating for the holidays, but I find that I'm so much more calm and happy if I just stick to a few key areas to add a little bit of joy.

If you're in the mood to do a little more, then I'd check out Emily Henderson's ideas here. She has some great ones if you're willing to spend more time and money.

Happy Halloween!