The spooky season is upon us and the Heights House has been haunted!
A swarm of bats flew in from the night…
I know I’m only the millionth person to jump on the bat train, but no one else has this cute little batbaby…
I bought three sets of these vinyl bats (180 total) because they included larger sizes, and I didn’t use any of the smaller sizes. They come with double sided tape and stick to any surface.
We ended up using over 80 of them on our house, and I think they’re my favorite part!
If you read my fall patio post, you’ll remember these DIY painted pumpkins. Here’s how they turned out:
I’m happy to report that they’ve done great so far in the rain and heat (we still have a few weeks to go, but I’m feeling pretty confident!)
This spiderweb door mat was the first thing I bought for Halloween (I couldn’t pass it up for $13!)
I thought these black cat silhouettes would be fun in the windows. We always mistake them for Susie when we walk in the living room…
The spiderwebs were a last minute decision when I spotted them at the thrift store. I’m so glad I grabbed them because I think they make a big difference! It’s a little time consuming to stretch everything out the way you want it, but worth the effort IMO. You can buy some inexpensively here.
Another fun DIY project we took on were these ghosts.
I used these styrofoam balls (6″ for the head and 3″ for the arms) along with heavy duty wire from the hardware store to form the arms.
Then I drew on eyes with a sharpie and draped white curtains from the thrift store + cheese cloth. These have also held up in the rain!
They look so creepy blowing in the wind (check out my Instagram stories for videos).
The rainclouds were out during this shoot and made for the perfect eerie sky, and the Spanish moss is just icing on the cake (these clouds are real, I just darkened them!)
I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve ever decorated my own house for Halloween, but I feel like this house was made for it!
Look what I’ve started… now we’ll have to do this every year.
I know one person who won’t mind…
I have been wanting to add landscape lighting for so long, so this was the push we needed to finally make it happen. Rather than take on a major project like hardwired lights, I ordered 12 of these solar spotlights (they’re currently on sale for $10 off!)
These are the same lights we used in the backyard at the Poolside Palms so we had tested them and knew they worked well. Not as bright as hardwired lights, of course, but all you have to do is stick these in the ground—and you can’t beat the price!
What good are Halloween decorations if you can’t see them at night?
They add a whole new element of spooky…
Alright guys and ghouls… that’s all for our haunted house tour. I haven’t decided if I’ll be bringing any Halloween indoors this year or just sticking with my fall decor. What about you—do you have any Halloween decorating traditions?
Maxine says
Love what you have done…especially bat girl and your black cat
Jessi says
That looks great! You’ve made Halloween elegant! Have you seen the brownstone in NYC with all the gold skeletons? I think they were gold…it looked great.
You are so lucky that Esmé smiles for the camera! My girl immediately starts sticking out her tongue and making other faces. It’s adorable but I wish I could get her non clown face photographed some times!
Happy Halloween!
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Jessi! I haven’t seen that Brownstone but it sounds amazing. Maybe skeletons next year?
I don’t think Esmé quite understands yet what’s happening when I pull the camera out, but I’m sure she’ll start acting goofy one of these days! I’m just enjoying this while it lasts 😉
Jessi says
Sorry Jenna…just saw your reply! Habitually Chic took the photo of the gold skeleton house in NYC last Halloween. Sherry from YHL spotted it and talked about it on their podcast last year as well. It was pretty epic. I’ll link it if you want to check it out.
https://habituallychic.luxury/2019/10/67701/
melissa says
The bats look amazing! I had never thought to use them outside! Will you keep us updated on how they hold up over the next few weeks?
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Melissa! It turns out they hold up fine in the rain, but not so much in 90º + direct sunlight + humidity! It only affects the ones in direct sunlight for most of the day when they have time to heat up, the vinyl just warps and falls off the sticky tape. We’re going to leave the ones that fall off until Halloween and put them back up.
April Hoff says
Everything looks spooktacular, but that baby is the best part! She is so cute!
Jenna Sue says
Thanks April! She’s definitely my favorite part 😉
Liz says
She’s not afraid of bats! ?
Jenna Sue says
She looooooves Halloween! ?
Ryann says
Love this!! Do you mind sharing your exterior paint color?! I love how the painted stone turned out!??
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Ryann! The color is SW Oyster White.
Erin Prohaska says
SO GOOD!!!! ?
Andrea says
Love the decorations and the bat baby….So cute!!!
I hope the double sided tape doesn’t pull off any paint when you go to remove the bats. That little window at the top is calling out for a ghostly figure peering out though…Hahaha.
Jenna Sue says
We’re crossing our fingers on that too–so far so good! And yes, we need to get some solar lights up in the window boxes and put scary things in those windows too, good idea!
Catherine says
Wow! This looks sooooo cute! I love everything- especially those ghosts! I think I will have to make some of those. Of course, that little bat on your front porch is the best part 🙂
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Catherine! It doesn’t get much cuter than a baby bat ?
Marcia says
She is the cutest! Love the bats!
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Marcia!
Kathleen says
love everything . I love my solar lights! I can move them around and see where they look best and one night I couldn’t find the flashlight when the power went out so I trotted outside and grabbed two of my solar light! ??
Jenna Sue says
Haha yes, they come in handy for many things! How did the world survive before solar lights ?
Christina says
Amazingly cool! Love it…that home is perfect for that decor. Enjoy! (And the cutest part is certainly your daughter.)
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Christina! We always thought it would be perfect for a haunted house. 100% worth the effort–next year we might have to go even bigger 😉
Lindsey Ballard says
Cutest little bat ever!! Love everything about this post!!
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Lindsey!
Wendy says
How did you adhere the bats to the house? Something like command hooks?
Jenna Sue says
Hi Wendy, they come with double sided sticky tape! You can see a photo of it in the post 🙂
Robin says
Good morning, I love the bats, your house looks amazing. Just a question, when you take off the bats and sticker is there residue left that you have to try and get off? Thanks
Jenna Sue says
Hi Robin, I haven’t noticed that yet but we haven’t had them up very long! Hopefully there will be no damage after a few more weeks 🙂
Liz says
Your decorations look fantastic! But oh my word she is adorable!! Happy HALLOween !
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Liz! Halloween is even more fun this year with her ?