decorating Archives - Vintage Living, Modern Life

Photo of 1920s dining room. A long table is set for six places at dinner. In the middle of the table sits a large ball of popcorn wearing a large party hat. Windows behind the table provide light into the room. — Host your own vintage Halloween party

Want to get into the true vintage spirit? Host a Twenties Halloween party! Whether you plan a large gathering or merely entertain your own household, you can throw a Twenties Halloween party to delight your vintage-loving heart.

Halloween gatherings were hugely popular from 1910 through the 1950s. Some were simple, others more involved, but all provided a delightful evening of fun. Informal food, games, and decorations ruled the night.

When you recreate the Halloween parties of yesteryear, you bring vintage quirky, light-hearted entertainment into today’s drawing room. Or dining room. How do you host a Twenties Halloween party? First, the decorations.

Decorating for your vintage party

An illustrated row of halloween decorations. An owl, a witch, a girl doll wearing an apron with a cat's face on it, and a boy doll dressed like a clown stand in a line. Most of these are made from crepe paper. — Vintage Halloween decorations

Some parties took place over an entire house, but more often the living room and dining room were set apart for the festivities. Then as now, the Halloween party colors were black and orange. You can also throw in some ghostly white, but here are some additional suggestions for Twenties decorating flair:

Red or brown autumn leaves
Pumpkins
Corn stalks
Crepe paper decorations

Crepe paper was everywhere. Revelers used it for decorations, costumes, and party favors. Crepe paper used to be available at every five and dime store for party creations. Not so much anymore, but you can still find an assortment of colors at Amazon. Or, if you like, you can also substitute decorations made from card stock in the relevant holiday colors. Card stock is available from every craft store and online.

The table

The table can be as elaborate as you like. In the photo above, the centerpiece is made from popcorn. First you pop a large quantity of popcorn, using salt or flavored salt and seasonings to flavor it (garlic, dill weed, etc — not all at the same time!). If you include butter flavored oil or butter with the popcorn it will become greasy as it sits. Best to make this one simple.

Once you have 1 – 2 gallons measure in popped seasoned corn, wrap it in clear cellophane. Again, Amazon to the rescue. You should be able to find this locally in a party store or craft store as well. Your goal is a ball about a foot in diameter.

When you have the popcorn properly contained in the sealed cellophane (I have no idea how they did this before the advent of clear tape!) you can decorate it. A simple set of round eyes, triangle nose, and smiling mouth are cut from black paper or crepe paper and taped or glued onto the ball.

For the hat, use a large sheet of paper to cut a half circle and roll a cone hat. A sheet of white poster board would work well. If you like you can cover it with crepe paper and use crepe paper for the brim. Since you form the hat from a half circle of paper, you will probably want to make the brim separately and staple it on. Here’s a simple YouTube video that shows you how to make the cone if you’ve never done it before.

Attach the hat at a rakish angle for the full effect of your popcorn head centerpiece.

You can break open the cellophane and share the popcorn at the end of the party.

The favors

The dolls that appear in the second photo are all made from crepe paper and a little card stock. And candy. Did I mention the candy? The doll in the apron and the one in the clown suit both have limbs filled with stick candy. You can use any long thin candy that you like: Tootsie rolls would work well, using two stacked for the leg and one for the arm. Or you can use the stick candy if you can find it.

Snap headed dolls

Originally these dolls would be made with a paper snap, like a Christmas cracker. The snap would be attached between the head and the body. You’d glue the head to one end of the paper snap and a body piece to the other end. Then after the meal all the guests would hold onto one part of the doll, their neighbor the other, and give a pull. Snap! The head comes off with a pop and everyone giggles.

If this idea appeals to you, you can still get cracker snaps from Amazon.

Heavy paper or card stock makes the owl and the heads of the dolls. Draw a circle or oval and sketch the facial features. Then small pieces of crepe paper make up the rest of the dolls. Roll the candy in the crepe paper and tie the ends for arms and legs. The witch is made from a long thin piece of crepe paper that’s gathered at the neck, with a smaller piece gathered for her cape. Hats are cut from paper or crepe paper.

Easy pumpkins

If you want a simpler favor, cut a circle of orange crepe paper 6-7 inches in diameter. You can use a 6-inch plate as a pattern if you have one. That’s what a vintage host would do.

Cut the circles from the crepe paper. Place something to weight the favor, such as beans, nuts or rice (M$Ms are good!). Gather up the edges of the pumpkin like you see in the illustration, and tie the top with string, ribbon, or another strip of crepe paper. Place a stick of candy in it as a table favor. These can go at each place or around the popcorn head centerpiece. Little pieces of colored paper make the eyes, nose, and mouth.

If you want your pumpkin to be nice and fluffy, a bit of crumpled tissue (facial or gift wrapping) will fluff the top out. You will still need something to weight the ball, though, or the candy stick will make it fall over.

The glimmer

Keep the lights low and set candles around. These add an atmospheric flicker to your room and enhance the vintage spookiness of it all. Your party will be just as nice if you opt for battery-operated candles instead of the real thing. It will also be a lot safer. Although real fire would be truly vintage, the truth is that the Twenties partygoer routinely interacted with flames more often than most of us do. Flameless candles will work just fine, and you can use them again next year. Double win.

Next time: food

Decorating for a vintage party is relatively simple, but it does require some hands-on crafting since none of the original store-bought decorations are still available. In the next installment I’ll give you menu options. Stay tuned, and have fun with that crepe paper! When you host this Twenties Halloween party, people will remember it.

1. Suitcase Sewing Room or Hobby Holder

For somone living in a small apartment or living space, an inexpensive Japanese suitcase makes an excellent substitute for a sewing room. The bag (or elasticised pocket) inside the cover provides a splendid place to keep patterns, scraps of cloth, and so on. The case itself holds the sewing. A pincushion can be attached to the side. A box holds thread, scissors, thimble, chalk, tape measure and pencil. Such a suitcase looks neater than a cardboard box or open bin, is more durable, and easily carried about or kept beside the machine.

Old suitcase that dates from circa 1920 and was made in Japan. Image for 5 Vintage Craft Hacks blog post.

Japanese suitcase from 1920s. Photo by unknown photographer from shuttered etsy store. Retrieved from Pinterest.

The Japanese suitcase was simple, inexpensive, and extremely useful for short trips or household organization. Of course, this will work for any portable hobby. Do you like quilling, a form of paper craft? Interested in Chinese brush painting? A case like this keeps your supplies together. Many hobby stores sell comparable containers that add both organization and atmosphere to a small home space. If your interior decoration tends more towards the Forties, Fifties, or Sixties, a vintage suitcase works well there, too.

2. Counting While Knitting or Crocheting

Many needleworkers knit, crochet, or tat lace while talking with family or visitors. Or they watch a movie or television series while making progress on that new afghan or sweater. If the worker pays too close attention to the conversation or the show, mistakes work their way into the design.

Here’s a trick which helps with mistakes due to conversation or an engrossing movie. If you are knitting, say, eight stitches, count them backward. Eight, seven, six, five, and so on. When you reach one you know you knitted to the end of that count without needing to keep any particular number in mind. So if making shells in crochet, count: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 double crochet stitches, and that shell is done.

3. Store That Afghan or Blanket Away

Some things are better when they are hidden in this 1920s vintage craft hack. Perhaps you keep a fleece blanket or light afghan on your sofa or comfy chair. It’s not a current color, the thing doesn’t match your decorating scheme, but you love it. Its warmness, snuggly factor, and comfortableness brings a smile to your face every time you pick it up.

Make a simple square sofa pillow cover. It can zip, button on the back, or fold over. Look here to find instructions for a simple folding envelope pillow cover. If you want to be fancy, add buttons to the back to keep it more secure.

Then fold up your beloved blankie and slip it into the cover until you need it the next time. Voilá! Now you have a new decorator item and the blanket remains well within reach for those days when you find the air a little chilly.

4. Do You Carry a Handkerchief?

…and wear woven fabric blouses? Whether cotton or silk or linen, old clothing can be put to good use. When their time is over as tops, cut them down into individual handkerchiefs. From a button-down blouse with no darts you can get one from each front side, and two or more from the back, depending upon the cut of the material. You may even be able to cut one from each sleeve. You just scored half a dozen handkerchiefs for the time it takes to cut and hem them.

Roll the hems and sew them by hand. Make a pretty finish by overcasting the rolled hems in two directions to give the appearance of cross stitch. Then embroider a flower or emblem in the corner. If you prefer, use a sewing machine for a 1/8-inch hem. The corner embroidery really livens up the handkerchief and makes it a joy to use.

If you crochet or tat, you can always add a lacy border to the hems and for the price of your decorations you have a one of a kind, artisan vintage handkerchief. This is one of the vintage craft hacks I’ve used for years and it gives new life to old fabric.

5. Paper Reed for Basketwork

After World War I, basket making reed became expensive for home basket makers. One basket maker began using the brown paper that was used for wrapping packages. Brown paper grocery bags would work as well. Cut the brown paper into 2-inch strips for a large basket. For a small basket made with finer reed, cut the paper into 1-inch strips. Dip the strips into water and then twist them. When dry and stained with a coat of shellac, it’s strong enough to weave with and more artistic than imported basket reed.

This technique continues to be used today. Not too long ago, in 2019, one of the shops sold baskets made from twisted newspaper strips. Periodically you can also find baskets in the stores made from twisted paper strips, which is what this describes.

While all of these vintage craft hacks might not appeal to you, I hope that one or more sparks your creativity today.

Tag: decorating

Host a Twenties Halloween Party