Legend of Sleepy Hollow Halloween Decorations

You are cordially invited to dinner at the Van Tassel home on this chilly October eve. I do hope you can join the Van Tassels, their lovely daughter Katrina and her two suitors, the schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt, though you may know him as Brom Bones.

It should be quite the feast…

…but you might not want to stay too late, lest you encounter the Headless Horseman on your ride back home.

He is probably just a tale men tell after dark, a ghost story and nothing more. But why tempt fate by venturing out into the hollow after dark?

As you may have guessed, Washington Irving’s short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” inspired this slightly scary — but dare I say, elegant — Halloween tablescape and vignette I created in our dining room and foyer.

We listened to an audio recording of the story on a trip earlier this fall, and decided we had to have a Sleepy Hollow Halloween. You know how much I love make believe!

As we listened to the story, I made note of details, nuances and mood I could use to transform our home into Tarry Town, N.Y., circa 1790.

This Welcome to Sleepy Hollow sign was my first project — and probably my favorite. I’ll be sharing the tutorial for how I made it tomorrow. It’s modeled after a real sign in the town.

My Legend of Sleepy Hollow Halloween table isn’t nearly as scary or as gory as last year’s hotel of horror tablescape.

I wanted to make it look like a fall harvest feast of the sort the Van Tassels and their guests would have enjoyed.

Fine china and black chandelier napkin rings (which I made by spray painting wooden chandelier Christmas ornaments).

But if you know the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, I think you’ll find some of the details chilling.

Like these tombstone-shaped place cards and the black paper trees I made using my Silhouette Cameo.

Or the jack-o-lantern with the glowing eyes and the sinister smile.

But I’m not sure there’s anything more eerie than Ichabod Crane’s hat and scarf resting atop a stack of school books.

As we all know, Ichabod was never seen again in Sleepy Hollow after he left the Von Tassel home.

Some believe he was chased away by the headless horseman…

…while others believe he suffered a more deadly fate at the hands of the Galloping Hessian.

Or maybe it was Brom Bones who orchestrated Ichabod’s disappearance to get rid of his rival for Katrina’s affection.

We all know the story, but the ending is the stuff of legend.

For more Halloween decorating inspiration, be sure to check out my spooky front porch.