Halloween

Halloween Witch’s Broom – DIY Tutorial

For me, Halloween is a time to celebrate my inner witch.  And every year, I strive to transform my home into a witch’s den. I try to stick to a theme because I think that the look has more impact when you have a theme. You’ve already seen my Martha Stewart cutout witch, and she’s the centerpiece of my Halloween decor.

So this year, I wanted to play up the whimsical and use a lot of brooms and witch’s hats. When I looked I could not find a witch’s broom that I liked. It was a goldilocks scenario. Everything I found was either too small, not full enough, or plastic.

To get the look I wanted, I realized that I would need to make my own. I have created a quick video tutorial to show you how I made my brooms. This broom is purely decorative and is made out of a birch branch and twigs. I ended up embellishing the broom because it needed a little something extra.  

Here is what you will need:

  • Natural Birch Twigs – I bought mine through Amazon. This link is to a box of 4 bundles. Enough for two brooms
  • Birch branch for the handle – 48″ in length, 2′ in diameter, but you can choose to make your broom handle longer or shorter, and it doesn’t have to be birch.  Choose any branch that is long enough for the handle. I recommend going for a hike and finding your perfect handle.  The more bends and knots the better.
  • Twine
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Scissors/clippers

I started the first layer by gluing twigs to the lower portion of the branch about 6 inches from the bottom. After the first layer was glued down, I then wrapped it with twine and followed with another layer of branches and then wrapped them again with twine.  The key is to line up the ends of the branches so the it looks nice and neat.

 At this point, the broom is done, but I prefer a fuller look, so I glued individual branches to give it a fuller look. You can leave the broom plain like this, but I felt like it needed a little something.

I added cedar roses, end of summer hydrangea (that means is already starting to dry on the plant, great for dry arrangements), and a few sprigs of black sparkly branches from a Halloween pick. 

And even after that, I felt it still needed something. So I took a little chalk paint and lightly went over all of the edges of the pinecones, hydrangea, and the twine.

But then it was too dark, so I went over everything with a bit of gold gilding wax to brighten it a touch. The final result is a slightly gilded and aged broomstick. I’m thrilled with the way it turned out.  It’s spooky and pretty.

cedar rose pinecones on witch broom
halloween witch decor

Above is a shot of the broom in my booth.  I hung it above a fireplace mantle and love how it looks. 

This is another version of the broom I made, but in this version I added some sparkly black and orange Halloween picks from the dollar store.  It looked great on  it’s on, but what can I say I am sucker for anything sparkly.

I hung this broom in my portico, keeping with my witch’s den theme.  

I love my Hocus Pocus banners, the black and orange works perfectly with my theme and they are perfect over my sidelights. 

Thank you for stopping by, if you end up making your own broom be sure to share it on social media and tag me, I would love to see your brooms!

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Outdoor halloween decor

Halloween Decor – Dressing up my witch’s den!

Outdoor halloween decor

What’s your favorite holiday? I genuinely struggle to choose my favorite holiday. It is a very close tie between Christmas and Halloween, and if you ask me in October. Halloween is my favorite. Ask me again in December, and my answer will probably change. I love the theatrics of Halloween, I am not one for blood and gore, but I love spooky and spectacular. Hocus Pocus is one of my favorite movies because it speaks to my inner witch. So every year, I try to transform my home into a witch’s den.

 

Pumpkin path lights

Because I love witches, they are a big part of the overall theme. But, I also love to use pumpkins (spooky, not scary ones) and orange and purple is a big part of my design. I think sticking to a theme helps make the look stronger, rather than a little bit of this and a little bit of that, which can end up looking like Halloween threw up on your front lawn.

martha stewart witch silhouette

The show stopper is my Martha Stewart Witch silhouette. As a lover of Martha and everything she does, I had saved the witch silhouette idea for many years, and I was so happy to bring that idea to life. You can find instructions here. She comes out October 1st and assumes her place out on the front lawn. The little ones love her, and I think maybe as much as I love her.

I dress up the front door with this spooky black wreath made of torn-up trash bags. It’s a wireframe and dollar store trash bags. I love how it turned out because it almost looks like black crow feathers blowing in the wind when the wind blows.

halloween decor

The portico gets lots of pumpkins, cobwebs lights and draped fabric.  I recently purchased these Hocus Pocus banner for my side panels and I love how they look.   That movie is the inspiration for a lot of my décor.  I try to incorporate a lot of vintage items in my décor like these beautiful lanterns, I think that it levels up the whole look when you can find vintage pieces to incorporate into your décor.

I like to have the stairs dripping with spooky pumpkins, and I try to add a few more every year. One of these years, I will make a pumpkin arch, but I am going to have to find a few more to make that happen.

Mr Bones Trick or Treat Halloween decor

Of course, Mr. Bones come out to say hello to all the trick or treaters.

pumpkin the snow

These are photos from last year, when it snowed the day before Halloween.  Due to Covid, trick-o-treating was different.  I am looking forward to a Halloween that is a little more normal and sharing this years additions to my décor.

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