3 Months

...till All Hallow's Eve. 53 days till the first pre-haunt yard decorations start going out. 10 days till Father and Stepmother Holidays arrive for a week-long visit.

All Souls Day

Saw this post over at Pumpkinrot's blog. Beautiful. I plan on decorating for All Souls Day as well this year.

Let there be light!

Spirit Grove I featured 65 luminaries. Spirit Grove II: an enchanted forest had 32. This year, Spirit Grove III: advent of the coven could have up to 100. And instead of just orange luminaries, there will be an array of colors to accentuate the magical ambience.

These 12 will be converted into purple luminaries and hung on the tall cherry tree in the front yard

2 More Months

...till the first Halloween decorations go out, which will be the first day of Fall. This year, I'm going to do a pre-haunt yard display, which will contain a host of classic Halloween decorations for the first month of Fall. Then, about a week before Halloween, I'll make the transition to decorating for Spirit Grove III: advent of the coven.

Spirit Grove III: advent of the coven

Since Mother in Law Holidays has decided to serve as Grandmother Holidays' assistant witch, I've decided to rename this year's yard haunt.

Passing the Torch

Since Father Holidays will not be here to pass out candy on Halloween this year, Grandmother Holidays has surprisingly agreed to accept the duty. Not only that, she's agreed to dress up as a witch. The vision is to get her a nice witch's hat, drape some blankets around her (if it's cold) and let her sit in the rocking chair by the front door. Maybe we'll have to set a broom by her too. And maybe we'll have to change the name of this year's theme.

Michaels

Toddler Holidays and I dropped by Michaels today, and we were surprised to see a little bit of Halloween stuff out:  crows, spooky paper wreaths, ribbon, and a row of empty shelving already marked with pricing for incoming decorations. This is the earliest I've ever seen Halloween decorations. Usually, the first week of August brings the initial wave of decorations. I wonder if they're moving Halloween up a bit so they can further extend the pre-Christmas season?

PS One more month till Father Holidays and Stepmother Holidays come to visit. By the time they come, Michaels, JoAnn's, and Home Goods should have a lot of decorations to peruse. Plus, Father Holidays will be helping me with a couple of Spirit Grove projects.

4th of July Celebration

2 Goodwill residents and 1 staff member showed up for the display. Some friends came over to help with the sparkler lighting.  All in all, a very fun evening. Now, we begin looking ahead toward Halloween. One month till decorations start hitting the stores.