Halloween decorations walk a fine line between tacky and cool. Let's face it, how elegant can we make a spider or monster surrounded by cobwebs and hanging from a front door. It seems, though, that one of our neighbors has conquered the art quite masterfully by integrating the monsters and spiders into the landscape in a way that is both creative and in good taste. Madison Avenue move over.
I don't know how much time he and his son spend planning the whole thing but I can tell you that everything comes together in less than 48 hours. I know, I watched him. I go by his house practically every day and take note of what's new or sprouting in his garden. The landscaping around his house is beautiful and immaculate. The man is an artist. Just this afternoon at 5 o'clock he was in the garden putting on the finishing touches while his son helped with the lights and background music. Oh yes, there is music, scary and otherwise. By tomorrow afternoon the yard will be spotless again and he will start planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are so lucky to have people like him in this world.
These photos were taken late afternoon. If you look closely, you can see him in some of the photos hanging spider webs he makes himself. Talk about creativity and dedication ...
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| These are some of the best and most realistic monsters I've ever seen. Some of them speak! |
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| The ghosts are made by him. The heads underneath are pumpkins. |
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| About two weeks ago, the hands suddenly appeared in the garden and then nothing. I thought that was all he was going to do this year until ladders made their appearance this weekend. He likes to tease us that way... |
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| Here is another of the talking monsters. She greeted you at the entrance |
I went back around nine o'clock and this is what was waiting for me. The quality of the photos is pathetic but I was using the little camera with no flash.
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| The talented and gracious host between my daughter and his date |
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| One of the front windows of the house |
Meanwhile, back at Lindaraxa's I was greeted with this:
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| No, Coco is not part of the decor...although the Sous Chef would be delighted to see her mummified. |
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| What the%#^% |
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| I've been waiting for you... |
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| Guess who has your keys! |
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| Not much left! |
I think next year I'll go to Halloween School. Actually, this is more than we ever do thanks to some last minute touches added by my daughter. I guess she learned a thing or two at Parsons.
On to Thanksgiving...
Wow, I am impressed by your neighbor as well as your decorations. As a child I loved Halloween and liked to decorate my parent's house, but nothing this elaborate or creative. Your witch on the door is adorable, if witches can be adorable :) But I can understand why the Sous Chef was curious who took over her house.
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween,
Sam
You should have seen the cat's face! My Fall decor was taken down by my daughter and replaced with this cutie. I love H also. Used to give a dinner party and decorated the table with all kinds of fun things and served an appropriate menu. Very grownup though. It's somewhere in the blog. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteYou neighbor is quite inspired by Halloween. I wonder what the house looks like inside, or whether he reserves most of his energy for the exterior. In Ohio we had quite elaborate interior decorations, but not so much on outside--maybe because my house was on a low-traffic street, so few would see it.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to live in a neighborhood with a house like this.
--Jim
P,
ReplyDeleteNo, mostly outside. Just the window in the front. I wonder where they put the living room furniture. What work. Here we decorate outside the houses. Mostly it's pretty tacky...you know, inflatable spiders and the like. The smaller the children, the tackier it gets. He is special. Have never seen anything like it not even in New York and some of those townhouses on the UES can get pretty creative.
Thanks for stopping by.
Someone had way too much fun doing this. I think my favorite thing about it is all the tombstones they put in that look like they are meant to be there. They must have a whole room to store this stuff. Do they do this at Christmas too??? Thanks for the great reporting job....
ReplyDeleteDeana,
DeleteThey do this for every holiday, including Valentine's Day, albeit not as elaborate. Wait til you see Christmas. About the storage, I was thinking the same thing, although it must be the whole basement, compartamentalized. I am going to investigate. I am glad you noticed the small details. Did you see the tombstone coming through the bush?!