Vintage-Style Halloween Decorating

I am very keen on decorating for holidays. I decorate for most all holidays, but my biggest efforts go into Halloween and Christmas. I've collected Halloween decorations from all over the place, and have a mix of new, vintage reproduction, and family items. So step into my home for a little tour of some of my favorite spots!

I like to mix in Halloween all over, like pumpkins on top of my little antique dresser or rats on top of my books. I also put masks on my family portraits. Everyone gets a costume, including my Lucy and Ricky dolls! 

I wish I could get a better picture of these! I have three vintage reproduction Beistle scratch cats that go across the arch between my living room and kitchen.

The always dapper Oxford dresses up extra special to greet trick or treaters. 

We're all ready for Halloween! 

Vogue 8811: A Vintage Halloween Novelty Print Dress

A few weeks back on ye olde Pinterest, Jessica of Chronically Vintage and Rochelle of Lucky Lucille both pinned a fabulous vintage advertisement of a spiderweb dress. I was immediately overcome by the urge to sew it! I love that the ad says, "a year around dress." I think I'll wear mine just for Halloween, thank you.

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In the ad, I noticed a fitted bodice, full skirt, and kimono sleeves. I knew Vogue 8811 would be the perfect pattern. I wanted to test it out for a potential winter dress anyway, so this gave me a chance to see if the pattern works for me. In the end, I think it does! There are some great French darts that are tough to see on this black fabric that are very nice.

The spider web fabric is completely sheer, so I underlined it with a black cotton. I also found a fun little bat button at the Round Top Antique Fair for the opening at the back of the dress. There's the quirky fellow in the top left-hand corner!

I wish I had kept the length a bit longer, but I'm still fiddling with a good vintage length for me that will also flatter my short stature and curvier figure. I put horsehair braid in the hem to give it a little bit of extra flare!

Oooh, and can you see my fun novelty brooch? No outfit is complete without a novelty brooch! 

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Later this week, I'll post up some vintage-style Halloween decor from around the house. The spooktacular fun continues! 

Hocus Pocus Sanderson Sisters' Costume

We are now in the full swing of October, which means it's time for the Sanderson Sisters to come back to life! I am referring, of course, to the 1993 classic, Hocus Pocus. Since vintage is technically anything 20 years or older, I am stunned to tell you that Hocus Pocus can now be considered vintage!

Vintage or not, I have an annual Hocus Pocus viewing party, and I am already menu planning spooky treats for this year's festivities. I get pretty excited about it, to say the least.

Really Bringing the Sanderson Sisters Back to Life

Creating a Sanderson Sisters' costume is as easy as some thrifting, hairspray, and a wee bit of sewing!

Mary, Winifred, and Sarah

Getting Ready to Run Amuck! Amuck! Amuck!

I will refer to the sisters by their movie names for simplicity sake, but Winifired and Sarah were played by my dear friends Whitney and Lindsay.

The Clothes

• Mary's under and over blouse and skirt, Sarah's skirt. Thrifted at Goodwill. 
• Striped tights. Target. 
• Note: Winifred's tights are the same as Mary's, just dyed with green Rit Dye.
• Winifred's dress, coat. Anthropologie. 
• Sarah's corset. Simplicity 3623, view B.

Winifred also has on various underskirts that came from her personal closet.

The Hair

To make Mary's hair, you'll need: 

• A wire hanger.
• Hair spray. 
• Bobby pins, hair tie. 

Steps: 

1. Unwind the wire hanger and coil it into the desired shape. 
2. Put your hair into a high pony tail. 
3. Secure the wire hanger to your hair at the base of the pony tail. 
4. Wrap the hair around the hanger, pinning and spraying the begeezus out of it with hair spray.

You can see the wire hanger fairly well in this photo. I did a bit too much dancing late in the evening, and it flopped. Sad Mary.

Winifred curled her hair with a curling iron, then pinned it up with bobby pins. Sarah did simple, loose curls. We also did a bit of fun 90s makeup styling to really complete the look.

Other Things You'll Need

• A dedication to make the same face in every picture, if you've chosen to play Mary or Winifred. 
• Brooms, mops, swiffers, etc. for your midnight ride to meet Billy in the graveyard.
• Wigs, if you aren't lucky enough to find friends who love Hocus Pocus as much as you do and have the right hair color. I struck gold!

Stay tuned for more Halloween sewing and decorating fun!