It’s Halloween!

I wish you visits from many ghouls and goblins tonight and warn you that even two (or seven) mini chocolate bars can add up quickly!

I purchased full sized bars because we don’t get many children and I discovered last year that it’s an entirely different sort of commitment to open and consume a big chocolate bar instead of just popping in the minis!

What other time than Halloween can we decorate our homes with the most ridiculous sort of themes and colours?

It is the time of year to play dress up for our spaces as we string skulls, cob webs and pumpkin-themed paraphernalia from windows and doors. Design sense is tossed out and we can be liberated in our choice of ghoulish and creepy decorations. It is the MOST fun you will have all year!

Years ago, living in an old 1914 home we decided to go all out with red lights in windows, zombie mannequins, freshly dug graves and a full sound system belting out scary sounds and music into the street.

We set up and waited with glee for the trick or treaters to experience our haunted mansion, but it backfired as many children were too scared to come up the walk! Lesson learned for the following year.

Even if you are wanting to keep an upper crust design theme at Halloween, you can go for the perfectly matched pumpkin Martha Stewart design route and paint them all shades of cream and tan.

It may not be as much fun as cheap fuzzy spiders, but it will certainly give your porch a beautiful scene that can stay for fall and not need to be taken down right after the 31st.

Personally, I am in favour of all things sparkly for Halloween.

The shinier, the better. I love purple and orange sparkles that play off black cats and witches, I think the colour combination is very striking and just fun.

The glittery pumpkins and skulls are like eye candy to me and I think I could get carried away with this kind of decorating every year and then build another shed to store all the extra decorations!

It’s a wonderful day to get spooky, string up those pumpkin lights and watch a creepy movie, I recommend Winchester for some good fright with a historical and true story.

We brew homemade apple cider to give out to chilly parents who bring their kiddos to our place and it is always appreciated.

Coffee and hot chocolate work well too for the adults who are trick or treating in the cold.

Take this one day to let your spooky decorator loose in your home, go wild with the creative and creepy factor as you prepare to welcome the little gremlins at your front door.

Halloween is an exceptionally fun day and a wonderful opportunity to meet neighbours and friends.

Remember the excitement you felt as a kid getting ready to go out and hit the favorite homes first?

Ours was a neighbour who made gingerbread men, we always went there first so we could have something to snack on during our trek. Looking back the gingerbread men makes no sense for a Halloween treat but as kids we waited all year for this special event.

Kim Wyse is a Central Alberta freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Kim Wyse Associate Royal Lepage Tamarack Trail Realty’.