A spooktacularly stylish Halloween

Pumpkins and candles, spiderwebs and mist, hot tea and apples… Halloween’s showing its spooky face once again. Whether you like to be spooked or not, it’s an especially cosy period filled with candlelight and wonderful scents.

Here are several Halloween traditions that also double as fun decorations!

The origins of Halloween

Halloween is also called All Hallows Eve, which is the evening before All Saints’ Day, on which we remember those who have passed away. It is believed that the veil between our world and the hereafter is thinnest on Halloween, thereby allowing the spirits to come through. Good spirits are attracted by leaving an offering of food at the door, while evil spirits are repelled by wearing masks and carving scary faces into pumpkins.

Carve your very own pumpkin using this fun pattern

The Jack O’Lantern is the most well-known Halloween symbol. You can put whole pumpkins, decorated with chestnuts and apples, around your front door as a ‘harvest offering’. But carving your Jack O’Lantern adds a great Halloween touch and is a really fun activity. It’s also the perfect decoration for your front door or patio.

Find a good pumpkin at the shop. Once you get home, start by cutting a hole in the top, around the stem. Hollow out the pumpkin by removing all the fibrous strands and seeds, and some of the flesh as well. An ice-cream scoop is a really useful tool for this and you can use the flesh to make a delicious pumpkin soup.
Use a marker to draw the pattern you want to carve onto the pumpkin – this could be a scary face or another fun design. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut out your pattern.
Once you’re done, you can rub coconut oil over the inside and cut edges of your pumpkin. This will keep your pumpkin fresh for longer.
It’s best to use a Clearlight in smaller pumpkins to get as much light as possible. You can put a refill in larger pumpkins since these will burn for at least 24 hours.
Put your carved pumpkin by your front door or out on your patio (keep your pumpkin fresher by putting it under some kind of shelter). Let an awesome autumn walk inspire other decorative ideas. Collect some acorns, chestnuts, fallen leaves, and pinecones to create a colourful autumn scene at your front door.

Read the article ‘Maxi Clearlights make your pumpkin even prettier’ to get more inspiration on how to tackle carving your pumpkin.

Shiver with orange and black

Black and orange are the traditional Halloween colours that also put every room of your house into an October mood. The easiest and most stylish manner to integrate these colours into your interior is by using candles. Combine black and orange candles – you can use different candle shapes and sizes to create a playful effect. This way, your house is Halloween-ready and you can make it incredibly cosy during those darker evenings.

Bobbing apples

Another well-known Halloween tradition is bobbing for apples, which is a game that used to be played during the autumn months. Apples are put into a tub of water and you have to get the apples out without using your hands, meaning you’ve got to catch them with your teeth. This tradition is a great game for outside – laughs are guaranteed! – and also has a lovely decorative aspect. You can put a large bowl out on your patio for a pretty effect. Put a smaller bowl inside.

Make sure to pick a large enough bowl – it could be glass or ceramic – and fill it with water. Let several red apples float in the water. Then add a few Spaas floating candles and light them. Naturally, it’s not a good idea to go bobbing for apples with lit candles in the tub too!

Read more: "Maxi Clearlights make your pumpkins glow", "Create your own autumn warmth"