halloween decorating

every year i try to use dried materials from my garden to decorate for Halloween.  this year i had a large number of dried Chinese lanterns from the garden, as well as dried ornamental grasses for one arrangement. 

for my pumpkin arrangement, i used dried walker's low catmint which grows in abundance in the garden.  these materials dry very quickly hanging upside down on a rack in my garage.  the catmint has a great aroma when dried and seems to attract the neighborhood cats.

for indoor decorating, i use dried ornamental corn and have used the same popcorn kernels for years.  this arrangement has been done in tall cylinders, short fat glass containers and this year in a round pedestal glass dish.  

another table arrangement i tried this year used black licorice strings, which are not very easy to find.  i finally located them in a small neighborhood candy store about 25 minutes away.  these strings look creepy when covered in a glass dome and have been fun to look at during the season.

finally, every Halloween table must have spiders of some sort, so this year i found these black metal spiders at crate and barrel. they are quite realistic when placed on the table runner.