I have this “thing” for crows. Maybe it’s because (1) I’m not a farmer and don’t have crops and (2) because we have a flock that are regular visitors on our land. In fact, here’s a photo of 3 of them on our bird bath chowing down on a block of bird seed:
This is a pretty good photo, if I say so myself {grin}! This photo was taken through Charlie’s office window (so inside through glass) with a 300 zoom telephoto lens resting on the back of a chair for support (the lens is heavy!). As birds do, they were moving around, flapping their wings, cawing in happiness, so I took probably 50+ photos to get this one, relatively in-focus, photo!
We had a mated pair of ravens that lived on our property for about 3 years. You can read about Racket and Ruckus (my name for them) here: Arrivederci.
Anyway, back to Nevermore: Decorating for Halloween…
I’ve collected a few fake crows over the years and this year, found this pillow online:
So, I decided I’d decorate our front entry hall with crows.
Here’s the pillow in the chair by our front entrance. The crow perched on the chair is actually a PicMonkey overlay. I decided I didn’t want readers to see down my hallway (which is to the right of this table), so I “cloned” the painted wall using PicMonkey and accidentally erased part of the chair in the “cloning” process, so stuck the crow there to compensate. Even though I use PicMonkey all the time, I still have lots to learn!
Here’s a close-up of the whole display without the chair and crow pillow. Last year, I painted the large black frame and the sticks from my yard. Want to see last year’s display plus painting the twigs and the frame on the back end of Charlie’s truck? See Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Boo!
I’ve had my Madam Zelda talking crystal ball for about 8 years. Inexplicably, she was rescued by firefighters. She’s really hard to photograph because light reflects off her ball and you can see windows and curtains and paintings reflected in her. This is her “in action” – she’s a hoot! Has a great repertoire of scary “predictions”. More about her in Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Boo!
Anyway, I still wanted to use her, the black frame, the black sticks, the black tablecloth, the string of bats, the spider webbing, the sparkly paper crows and the birdcage for this year’s decor, so started with that.
Here’s a close-up of the spider webbing and sparkly paper crow. The spider web is huge and covers lots of area, so a good value at about $4-5! I just cut off enough for the frame and stretched it and taped it to the backside of the frame. The sparkly crows are a set (about 8 to 12 to a package? I can’t remember exactly) from Martha Stewart available at craft stores. I just taped them to the spider web using double-stick tape.
These cute sparkly ghosts are a “pick” to add to a bouquet. I got it at the craft store. They only had one left, so that’s all I have! But, I added them to the black sticks for a bit of sparkle.
This skull was a surprise. I bought him at one of those “pop up” Halloween stores that are only in business this time of year. He was the right size and cheap – like maybe $3.00? Anyway, I got him home and he wouldn’t sit straight; he kept falling over.
So, I put him in an old colander (from an antique store) on top of birds nests collected from our yard. Whenever Charlie finds a bird nest on the ground, he brings it to me, so I have a small collection of five or so birds nests.
Here’s the surprise about the skull – he glows in the dark! I didn’t know that about him when I bought him, so even though I had to figure out a way to prop him up, he was a good value at $3.00! Whatever the plastic material he is made of, it apparently absorbs light throughout the day and at night he glows green! Eerie…
This smaller skull with the crow on top is made from some sort of composite material. I think I got this at Target along with the black and orange pumpkin. Anyway, I nestled them in a bunch of birds nests and placed it all inside a bell jar cloche that I already had. And, tied the top of the jar with a black and white plaid ribbon.
Two more crows from my feathered crow collection…one on top of a tarnished silver pedestal (another antique store find) with a bird’s nest with eggs (the eggs, by the way, are cracked…the baby birds hatched!).
This is my favorite crow from my collection. I like him best because he has his wings fully extended and appears to be in flight. He’s my favorite because he reminds me of Racket from my Arrivederci story. I had this cute little sign and it fit around his neck, so I put him on top of the birdcage.
I added Dorothy and Toto! While really, truly not “Halloween”, I think she is so cute amongst the crows.
She’s looks huge in the above photo! But, she’s tiny – less than 7 inches.
Here’s a side view of the decor without Madam Zelda.
And here’s a Pinteresting collage to save to Pinterest! I love decorating for Halloween even though we only get 5 trick-or-treaters at most! It marks the beginning of the holiday season and the count down begins!
Wait! There’s more…
The last stanza from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” to set the mood!
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – nevermore!
– Edgar Allan Poe
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other Halloween posts)
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