Light Up Halloween Decorations: The Best Part Happens After Dark
Light Up Halloween
The best Halloween decorating happens after dark
Once the sun goes down, the room does something different. The mantel glows, the stairs glow, the little houses come on. Everything that does not light up quietly disappears around seven o'clock.
How it started
It started with three little paper houses
We put them on a mantel, switched them on, and that was pretty much that.
The village is eight houses now, three of them new this year, and there are bats, brooms, hats, and a banner to go with it. The glowing stuff is easily the most fun thing we make.
leave it glowing all month
The centerpiece
A whole village, lit from within
Eight paper houses now, and every one of them has a light inside, so the windows glow rather than the house sitting in a spotlight. On a mantel in a dark room they read like a little street after closing time.
- Heavyweight paperboard, built close to the same scale year to year
- The light comes with the house, you add the batteries
- A timer runs them six hours on and eighteen off, so they come on at the same time each evening
- Three new houses this year bring the village to eight
After several years of selling out our Halloween Village collection, we've designed three new pieces that you can add to your collection or you can start here.
candice stringham
The one we are proudest of
The Maren Baxter Haunted Paper House
$49.99
Eighteen months in the making, and the biggest thing we have attempted in this category. Norwegian artist Maren Baxter drew every ghost, skeleton, and crooked tree by hand, and our studio brought her drawings to life in layered paperboard and gold foil.
- Sixteen inches wide by sixteen tall, a statement on its own
- Fairy lights included, so you place the glow where you want it
- Runs on a timer, so it comes on each evening by itself
- Her design, our paper, one limited first run
Where to start
Six more that glow beautifully after dark
One glowing thing changes a room more than five that do not. If you add nothing else this year, add one of these.
Light Up Decor Broom
Fifty inches of witch's broom wrapped in string lights. Leans in the entryway and glows. This one plugs in.
Hanging Light Up Fabric Bat Set
Two bats, twenty and twenty six inches across, with wire frames that hold their shape. Hang them at different heights and the whole ceiling gets involved.
Light Up Witch Hats, Set of 3
Twelve, fifteen, and eighteen inches tall, and they come with a remote, so all three go on from the couch.
Spooky Season Lighted Banner
Six feet of layered felt with eight feet of fairy lights running through it. The cheapest way into this whole category.
Madame Mystic Paper House
Seven inches tall, and the timer means it comes on at the same time every evening without you touching it.
Bootique Paper House
The little witch shop on the corner. A good anchor piece if you are starting a village from scratch.
Little signs
You know it's October when
Good questions
Light up decorating, answered
Do the light up pieces need to be near an outlet?
Almost none of them. The village houses, the witch hats, the banner and the Maren house all run on batteries, so you can put them where the room needs them instead of where a cord reaches. The one exception is the Light Up Decor Broom, which plugs in.
Do batteries come with them?
The lights are included, the batteries are not. Worth having a pack on hand the day it arrives, because the first thing anyone wants to do is switch it on.
Are these meant for indoors?
Yes. These are designed as indoor decorations, and paper, felt, and fabric all do best out of the weather. The mantel, a bookshelf, a console by the door, and the window a trick or treater looks up at are where they earn their keep.
How many houses do I need to start a Halloween village?
Three is where it starts reading as a street rather than a single house. The houses are built close to the same scale from one year to the next, so a village started a few seasons ago keeps growing instead of restarting. Most people add one or two each fall.
Do any of them turn on by themselves?
The paper houses do, and so does the Maren house. They run on a timer that stays on about six hours and off for eighteen, so once you switch it on the first evening it keeps coming on around the same time each night. The witch hats work a little differently and come with a remote. That matters more than it sounds like it does, because the thing you have to remember to turn on is the thing that ends up staying off.
How does the Maren Baxter house light up?
Fairy lights come with it. You tuck them gently between the layers wherever you want the glow, so you decide which windows carry the light. Maren designed the house and our studio brought it to life.
Behind the video
Candice Stringham
Candice is the Marketing Director at My Mind's Eye and helps bring our brand to life through photography, video, styling, and social media. She films our product videos so you can see each piece up close before it lands in your cart.
Light Up Halloween
Turn something on this year
Thirteen pieces that glow, from a nineteen dollar banner to a village you build over years.
