This is a picture of a house around the corner from ours. Others just like it, equally or more Halloweened out, are starting to pop up all around town. And the girls LOVE it.

Which is fun, on one level: “Wow!” the girls will say as we stroll past a house with plastic tombstones in the yard, fake cobwebs stretched across the windows, orange lights along the roofline and an inflatable witch and ghost standing on the porch, “This is a really good Halloween house!”

On another level, it’s problematic: They want to know when we’re going to put our Halloween decorations up.

I can’t exactly tell them that, um, I don’t really think it’s tasteful to put that much plastic, made in China crap all over your house. How about just some pumpkins and chrysanthemums?

So, instead, I hem and haw: “Well, you know, we don’t really have a lot of Halloween decorations…”

“Then you can buy some at the store!”

“I’ve got an even better idea,” I finally think to say. “Why don’t we make some decorations?”

And so, over the past few days, the girls — with Alastair’s and my help — have transformed our house into a tasteful, understated Halloween wonderland by creating half-assed, rudimentary Halloween decorations, using the simplest of materials. (In keeping with the proud Baby Squared tradition of half-assed crafts using rudimentary materials.)  See the pictures below – and prepared to be inspired! And completely underwhelmed!

And, I know, I am violating my own no-more-than-one-slideshow-a-month rule. But this just lends itself so well to it. And it’s short, I promise. And funny, I hope! Please forgive me. In the spirit of Halloween. And also please forgive the fact that some of these decorations are a little hard to see, because they’re in the windows, behind the screens. I just wanted to show them “in situ” so you get the full effect. Enjoy!

Post-it Note Pumpkins

This was the girls' own idea. Step one: take a zillion post-it notes and draw a pumpkin or two on each one. If desired, write "Halloween" above each pumpkin. Affix with scotch tape to door, pumpkin side out. (Thereby rendering post-it stickiness irrelevant). Watch the confused look on delivery people / mail carriers' faces!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The upshot is, the girls are happy. I’m happy. Our house looks a wee bit…er…cluttered / strange. Especially the front door. But at least it doesn’t look like a pop-up Halloween store vomited all over it.

Closer to Halloween proper, we’ll get some pumpkins, carve them, and call it a night.

Of course, then there will be the issue of Christmas…

Baby Squared on Facebook / RSS Feed / Twitter

Check out my novel, EDEN LAKE