Halloween mantle and tablescape

Where has October gone?  Heck, where has the year gone!?
I just realized yesterday that I hadn't bought any candy to hand out to the trick-or-treaters nor had I bought pumpkins to carve.  I asked the fam if they wanted to carve this year, I mean my kiddo's are getting older they may have grown out of the carving pumpkins phase.  I was met with looks of suspicion and shock!  How could I ever, EVER think we'd NOT want to carve pumpkins?!  Has a coconut recently fallen on my head? 
I went out and bought pumpkins for carving.  Lesson learned, don't ask just do. 

With that 'task' out of the way I worked on my mantle and dinning table.  I can't do a whole lot as my foot is still in this crazy boot thing but I've managed with some help. 

Lets start with the mantle.  I always have a difficult time with my mantle.  My fireplace is dark, I want to paint it sooo bad but I am really just scared I'll mess it up bad.   The mantle itself is dark and when I put dark things on it I feel they just get lost.  My mantle is very rustic and for Halloween I do have some metal to put there but I still have a really difficult time decorating it.  I mean I just don't want to line things up on it, boring.  I understand the rule of 3 and the triangle methods for decorating but my love/hate relationship with my mantle just goes on and on.  I put things up, I live with them for a while, take same said things down and put new things up and the cycle goes on and on. 

This is what I've come up with for Halloween this year.

I like to use natural elements in my decorating and on the mantle I went outside and had my hubby cut some dead limbs.  Good for the tree and good for my decorating!  WIN-WIN!!

The next steps is to have your objects at different heights and vary the heights across the space.
I got these beauties on sale at Kirkland's this year.

The little orange candle holders I got at Gordman's last year.

I have crows on my mantle, lots of crows.

They have wire legs that I wrap around the dead branch and precariously balance them!

This year I also added a banner.  I was going to make one but I found this one at Kirkland's for $2.00 can't beat that and I can't even make one that cheap. 

Now on to the table. I have a much easier time decorating here.  I should probably apply the same principles from my table to my mantle - that would be logic and I'll have NONE of that!

This year I bought a bag of bones for 6.00 at Home Depot along with a chain for $2.00.  I added some dollar store skulls and then I broke my own rule and bought picks in season. Resist the urge to do this.... even on sale they are cheaper off season.  I added some sprigs of Halloween type picks from Michael's (they were a bit more expensive even at 40% off) and put them in a beer growler.  

 

 I wrapped the chain around the growler and arranged the bones and skulls on the chain. 

I also bought some really cute plates at Home Goods for a whopping $5.00.

Finally my hubby climbed the ladder and arranged a spider web, spiders included, in my chandelier chain.  It was his idea to add the dollar store skeletons to the bottom so they hang from the chandelier. 

 Lots of spiders - big ones and small ones.  My hubby painstakingly put all those spiders in the web for me. 

The overall effect is pretty cool I think.

How do you decorate your mantle and or your table for Halloween?  I'd love to see examples! 
In case you missed my Halloween totem's from last week here.  I think they turned out crazy cute and they were so easy to do. I'd also love to hear your ideas for my mantle - PLEASE HELP!  I want to really love the mantle but ugh...

Next week is Halloween week and I'll wrap things up here in the house for the spooky night.  I don't put all my outdoor décor out until Halloween afternoon. It is crazy windy here in Colorado and the weather is pretty unpredictable so I don't want things blowing away but I do a graveyard with a spooky fence and fog.  I've also got a scary IT type of clown and several ghosts and ghouls that are motion activated.  I'll share that next week along with some ideas that I've been toying with for Christmas, yep Christmas!  In November I'll be sharing more Christmas ideas along with my Thanksgiving décor and at least 1 mason jar craft.

Until next week Stay Safe,
Victoria

Please follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I've been pinning Christmas and Thanksgiving ideas like crazy mad. 

I'm also on Facebook though due to how FB works I'm not too active.  You must like my posts each time and interact with the page to see it in your news feed regularly. 
https://www.facebook.com/Dragonflies-and-Thistles-491393717621010/?ref=hl

Thanks for your support, help and suggestions!  I really appreciate it.