This blog post was originally published in September 2019 and last updated in July 2024 to reflect the closure of Treetopia and remove a previous giveaway.
Are you ready for the Halloween tree with the most, babe? Cause here it comes!
Last year I put together my first Halloween tree with the help of my friends at Treetopia. This year when they invited me to join their Scary Room Series with a ton of amazing bloggers, they also gave me a challenge: design you tree around a haunted house.
Well, my house is already kind of haunted so that shouldn't be hard, right? But man, did I spend way too much time overanalyzing! One Friday at lunch I was discussing it with one of my coworkers, and she said, "What about a haunted house from a movie?"
And it clicked: the Maitland's house from "Beetlejuice".
Earlier this year, my friend Matt and I saw the musical version of "Beetlejuice" when I visited New York, and that gorgeous set has been in my head ever since. I mean, seriously, how killer is this? (Be sure to click through the images so you see all three versions of the set!)
So why not take inspiration from my favorite haunted house to create my tree?
I present...my Beetlejuice-inspired Halloween tree!
I am obsessed with the silver shadow ombre tree from Treetopia - it fades from black to silver, and man that silver absolutely sparkles with those green lights on it at night! Mine is the seven-foot tree, and it's the perfect size for the Spooky Little Apartment. I also like that it's a slim tree so it doesn't take up a ton of room.
It definitely gives my apartment a ghoulish glow at night, which I'm loving. But I'm sure you want to see some detail shots of everything on the tree, right?
I tried to stick with icons specific to the Maitland's house and events that occur there, so of course my own copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased had to find its way onto my tree.
My friends over at Two Ghouls Press were kind enough to grant me permission to turn the artwork for their Maitland pins into ornaments for my tree.
Barbara and Adam as green ghouls was the perfect addition.
I love Lydia's Polaroids she takes to try and capture the Maitlands throughout the movie, so those had to be on the tree as well.
I made two versions of those ornaments - some with and without ghosts.
And, of course, I had to add a few extra handbooks!
While it's not the right colors, my own Polaroid camera a friend gifted me years ago found its way onto my tree.
And I added some "sandworms" snaking through my tree using girls' tights and a bit of stuffing. Those were fun - and simple - to make!
Add lots of purple and green ball ornaments, and it's the perfect nod to a film about the ghost with the most.
This frame usually holds a vintage typewriter, but for this particular project...I knew I had to mix it up, so I created my own Beetlejuice-inspired poster! Never trust the living, indeed.
What kind of Halloween tree would you decorate?
As always, let me know in the comments!
