How to Decorate an Open House Halloween Party

Hi I'm Jeffrey Moss, with Pottery Barn. Halloween marks the start of the autumn holidays, and it needn't always be about haunted houses and headless horsemen, we're throwing a festive autumnal party, and as a seasonal welcome for our guests, I decorated a vintage pickup truck with bales of straw and copious amounts of jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin candles, garlands and wreaths, made from all weather fall leaves, owls doubling as lanterns, lights strewn, spider webs, and pumpkins, and outdoor seating to encourage lingering and conversation. We've approached this party as an open house for the neighborhood, and set up a station for food and drinks on the front porch. Adults and kids alike can find tasty treats and beverages, and help themselves using drink dispensers and punch bowls. Wrapping the columns of the porch with dry vines, strewing straw, and piling up pumpkins, is a quick and easy way to embellish the porch and celebrate the post-harvest season. Complete your welcome by decorating a fireplace with seasonal splendor. We created this mantle as an early autumnal gesture that will last well into the holidays, using wood and mercury glass pumpkins, silver candlesticks and straw vase filler, then added a Halloween sheen by spinning webs of burlap and silver twine, in the polished trays and vintage pewter trays set up above the mantle. The Halloween elements can be added and removed as the holiday comes and goes. Be sure to explore the many articles and how-to videos available at potterybarn.com, to make the autumn season easy and fun to celebrate in style. Happy Halloween!