Halloween Displays: Count Duckula

This Halloween, I got a bit carried away with my displays. My office is on one of New York City’s Halloween streets, where thousands walk by to see the decorations or trick or treat.

For me, Halloween is about creativity, not candy. I love that people dress up, and I love that people decorate. It’s a fun time to express yourself and let your imagination take over.

Most residents decorate their brownstones with horror, blood, and gruesome monsters. My friend Lauren encouraged me to make kid-friendly displays.

I created a series of RiDUCKulous displays featuring four ducks dressed as my favorite Halloween iconic characters from back in the day. I’m not a crafter, so making these displays was a reach. I never used a hot glue gun. I never attempted paper mache. And I don’t paint. Between big moments of joy, I experienced a bit of frustration trying to execute my ideas.

Here’s my Count Duckula display. He’s made of recycled bottles, newspaper, and old-fashioned paper mache (flower and water). He’s covered in Tic Tacs, cake sprinkles, Red Hots, black licorice, Dollar Store eyes, cake sprinkles, black glitter, chocolate baking dots, recycled cloth grocery bags, and a child-sized wig.

One of my big takeaways from crafting my displays is how much garbage we make. I collected bottles and boxes so they’d be handy when I was making my displays. Reports estimate that each person creates about 147 pounds of trash per month, or 1,788.5 pounds yearly.

For inspiration, I googled Dracula, and found a picture of one of my favorite actors, Leslie Nielsen.