Halloween Mantel Decor: Pumpkins and Spiders and Bats! Oh My!

So this is the first time that I’ve ever decorated a fireplace mantel for any holiday, let alone Halloween. Usually I leave up our neutral farmhouse decor year-round and then just add some festive pieces in between the regulars.

Lazy mom holiday decorating, all the way.

This year, however, I wanted to GO ALL OUT. Growing up, the inside of our home was only minimally decorated just for Christmas, so now that I have my own house with a family of my own, I want to sprinkle the festiveness around for at least the major holidays. My boys love it, too.

The best part is that I didn’t even fill my husband in on my plan in advance…I just let him come home from work one day and see the spooky surprise.

And you know what? He actually said it was cool! That means he’s pretty impressed.

I am SO happy with how our first-ever Halloween mantel turned out!

My boys’ favorite part is 100% without a doubt the ghosts! Those window crashers are just the coolest things (and yes, I know they’re not technically part of the mantel decor but they go so well with the rest).

Confession: We’ve actually had those up since August! As soon as the boys saw them, they were infatuated, so I let several stay on display inside.

The others that we got for our outdoor decor, however, didn’t go up until October hit the calendar…I don’t want our neighbors to think we’re too weird.

I knew my husband wouldn’t be too keen on removing the mirror for me just so I could add some holiday decor (such a buzzkill, I tell ya), so I didn’t even bother asking him.

Instead, I decided to just incorporate the Halloweeness into the mirror. I hung a glittery spider web (and some accompanying eight-legged critters) with some nearly-invisible clear jewelry wire, and some candy corn colored felt ball garland was draped around the top.

Now it blends right in nicely with the rest of the festiveness.

While my boys may love the window crasher ghosts the best, momma here has a favorite of her own: the DIY yearly Halloween costume photo frame that I made as a keepsake back when my oldest had just finished his third time trick-or-treating.

Now, his costume cuteness is filling up the top row, while his little brother is starting his own collection along the bottom. Eventually I’ll get around to making a separate frame so each boy can have their own.

But for now, this joint costume keepsake just makes my heart smile, so it’s on display front and center.

Another thing I’m really excited about is that my upcycled DIY ‘Happy Halloween’ sign finally has a proper home! I made it years ago from a hideous thrift store find, so it was about time that it gets the love it deserves.

You can snag the FREE cut file too so you can make one of your own!

And here’s a tutorial and FREE cut files for the trio of DIY Halloween pillar candles that I jazzed up using some transparent glitter vinyl!

This set of ‘BOO’ marquee lights are also another favorite. The best part is that each letter has a battery-powered timer that’s on for six hours, off for 18. So they turn on automatically around dinnertime and then shut off after we go to bed.

My oldest loves to announce that “the BOO lights are on!”, and we look forward to it every day now.

Even though my two-year-old is obsessed with unstacking and restacking these things, our pair of pumpkin topiaries makes the cutest little addition on the floor in front of the fireplace.

And I just love those candy corn colors.

Source List

Here’s a list of where I found these items, or tutorials showing how I DIYed them:

• Ghost window crashers | Grandin Road
• Stackable pumpkin topiaries | Home Depot (I actually combined pumpkins from this and this)
• Bat mantel scarf | Amazon
• Orange hanging spiders | Dollar Tree (I hung them with some black jewelry wire)
• BOO marquee lights | Grandin Road
• Candy corn cones | Grandin Road
• Yearly Halloween Costume Photo Frame | DIY
• Large glitter spiderweb | At Home
• Black and orange glitter spider clips | Michaels
• Candy corn felt ball garland | Jane
• Gray candlesticks | Decor Steals
• Black pillar candles | At Home
  • Vinyl Halloween decals | DIY (FREE cut files too!)
• White cake/cupcake stands | Target One Spot
• Felt bats | Grandin Road
• Happy Halloween sign | DIY (FREE cut file too!)
• Candy corn dish | Target One Spot
• Black spiderweb stand | At Home
• Pumpkins:
  • Yellow | Target One Spot
  • Black sequin | At Home
  • Silver | Target One Spot
  • Large orange | Target One Spot
  • Black wire | Target One Spot
  • Black & white checkerboard | At Home
  • Small orange | Target One Spot

Pin Me!

Don’t forget to share this post over on Pinterest, and check out my All Hallow’s Eve board for more Halloween fun and inspiration!