Here are simple ideas to decorate your mantel for Halloween with a retro vintage aesthetic. These cheap and affordable vintage inspired Halloween decor ideas take you back to the 50s and are fun and easy to recreate.
When I was growing up, my mom was all into Halloween. She loved decorating outside, dressing up like a witch, and handing out candy to all the kids in the neighborhood. As a family, we had a blast working together to create a spooky house and then got lots of giggles when kids would come to our home for trick or treating. It was one of our favorite time of year.
Today, my daughters and I still love to decorate for Halloween. Last year our old-fashioned Halloween mantel was designed by my daughter, Hannah, and this year she has done it again with classic halloween decorations and fun vintage inspired Halloween decor ideas for your mantel.
Vintage Inspired Halloween Decor for your Mantel
If you have been around me very long, you know I encourage everyone to find an inspiration piece when developing a design. For our mantel, this beistle inspired Halloween printable is where it all began. Well, that and our love for vintage decor. LOL!
So to start this project, here is a supply list of what you will need if you want to recreate this retro Halloween fireplace mantel.
- Retro Halloween printable art and frame
- Moon face art
- Halloween garland (bats and felt balls)
- Jack o lanterns (dollar store plastic ones and smaller ones)
- Battery powered candles
- Cake and cupcake stands
- Vintage retro radio
- Ghost DIY
- Tall candle stick holders
- Black paper bats
Now that we have the supply list, let's start building this vintage inspired Halloween mantel.
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How to Make a Vintage Inspired Halloween Mantel
When decorating your mantel with a vintage vibe, you will want new and old pieces that fit the period. Let's make a statement with a large piece of art filled with colors that were popular during Halloween in the 50s.
Step 1: Large Beistle Halloween Printable
This beistle inspired Halloween print can be easily printed from our Etsy shop. All you do after you purchase it is to download print and frame. We have many more designs you can choose from if you want to create something a little different.
This print is 20″ x 30″ and was printed at Walgreens. If you go to the Walgreens photo lab online, you can upload the print and pick it up on the same day. Also, I search the internet for coupons and usually get them for 50% off.
Next, I found the frame from Walgreens, right by the photo lab counter. For some reason, the plexiglass on the front of the frame was bowed, so I asked for a discount and got it for 40% off.
By the time I was finished, I paid under $25 for this large piece of art. That's not bad for a piece of large art for a holiday. Now let's talk about the moon man sitting next to him.
Step 2: Smaller Halloween Art or Printable
For the next piece, you will want something a little smaller. We used our moon man or man on the moon Hannah drew last year.
If you do not have a large moon face, we have a printable option in our Etsy shop here. The same moon face is on our mantel but with a quote. You can print it larger and cut it out or keep the print like it is and frame it.
Now set your man on the moon, slightly covering the beistle inspired print, and you are ready for the next step, adding accessories.
Step 3: Fireplace Mantel Halloween Accessories
Things are starting to get fun now. First, let's place traditional orange jack-o-lanterns on the ends with battery-powered candles inside. I grabbed these orange Jack o lanterns from my Harry Potter table decorations. When I did the party idea, I cut their eyes, nose, and mouths out, making them perfect for this project.
On one side of the mantel, set a cake stand and an orange Jack-o-lantern. Then on the left, set the orange jack-o-lantern directly on the mantle. Don't forget your battery candles.
Next, place a retro-style radio on the left side and a cupcake stand on the right with a smaller jack-o lantern.
Our radio came from Homegoods, but I found many more with a similar look in this online shop. I love the vintage look, these are my absolute favorites. It is the coolest thing ever because it plays tunes and has fun news and radio broadcasters that sound like witches, Dracula, and many more.
The choices are endless and I'll bet you can find some adorable vintage Halloween decorations at your nearby thrift stores. Or maybe your family has passed on some vintage halloween items.
Step 4: Halloween Garlands
Next on our agenda are garlands on the front of the mantel. Using the color scheme of black, orange, and off-white, we found this cute felt ball garland and bat garland to dress up the front of the fireplace.
Step 5: Paper Bats
You will notice that the mantel design is heavy on the right. To combat that problem, we printed bats on black paper, cut them out, and created bats flying from the back of my antique mora clock across and over to the prints on the mantel. You can find these bats in our Etsy store. These also make great, inexpensive Halloween party decorations.
See how things are starting to get batty around here? LOL! Repeating the bats from the Beistle art and the bats on the garland is a designer's trick of repetition and gradation. Your spooky decor is nearly complete. Now that the top of the fireplace is finished, let's don't forget the hearth.
Step 6: Halloween Decor for the Hearth
So often, I have neglected the hearth when decorating our fireplace for holidays, but this year Hannah and I focused just as much on the hearth. We decided to go with something more prominent, like this ghost.
There are so many ways you can make a ghost like this. Simply think of something round that sits on top of something tall. But make sure what is sitting under the ball is not as wide as the ball. Here is our clever trick for making a ghost.
First, we placed my mom's old baby doll high chair on the hearth, then set my grandma's old lamp on top. This lamp was perfect for two reasons. First, it provided a round head for the ghost and a creepy light inside. LOL!
Next, we draped a thin sheet on top of the ghost and taped black construction paper oval dots for the eyes. Last, I used a Ryobi mini generator under the chair with a battery and plugged in the lamp. Like magic, we have a three-foot ghost that is almost the star of the show. You can get the details in my post on a DIY sheet ghost Halloween decoration in 4 simple steps.
We placed tall candlestick holders painted black with vintage jack-o-lanterns on the other side of the hearth.
Final Thoughts
After your vintage Halloween mantel is done, sprinkle more vintage-inspired decorations around the room. We added a real pumpkin on the coffee table, a bowl of faux white, and real pumpkins.
On the dining table, we added more mini pumpkins in the orange color along with cute vintage-looking ghosts I borrowed from my sister. Little pumpkins are endlessly fun to decorate with at Halloween. This would also be a great place for a vintage-looking black cat decoration.
Once you have everything set, you are all ready for a movie night, a Halloween party, or for your everyday Halloween decorations. We love turning the light off at night when sitting down to watch tv and turning on all the candles and the ghost light.
I hope you enjoyed our vintage-inspired halloween decor. If you'd like to see more of my Halloween decor, check out my Halloween home tour. We also have a fun post using a Victorian theme you'll enjoy, Classy Halloween Decorating: A Haunted Hearth. Do you love to decorate for Halloween? Maybe you even have authentic vintage halloween decor passed down through your family. If so, we have many more ideas like these printable Halloween decorations or these Halloween party table decoration ideas, and you will love this simple DIY dollar store Jack o lantern. If you're looking for something fun to mix in with your vintage decor, check out How to Paint a Ghost on a Vintage or Thrifted Painting. I'd love to see your Halloween table display. Happy Halloween!
Happy Decorating!
