I’m a Major Halloween Head, and To Me, This Is *The* Halloween Find from Michaels

If there’s one thing I love as a decor maximalist, it’s interesting wall art. Paintings, collages, vintage posters, you name it: I have it all, and it’s carefully arranged from floor to ceiling in my white-walled Bushwick loft. I also love Halloween, and if you have been to my home in fall, you absolutely know this. That’s because I decorate for Halloween like the true maximalist I am.

Michaels is a go-to for me for Halloween, but this year, they have a collection that’s a bit more unexpected than skeletons and gravestones: an Alice in Wonderland collection, and I think this one will be the one to sell out. 

For me, the standout pieces and instant must-haves for my collection were the playing card wall hangings (specifically the Queen of Hearts). I tend to use a lot of red, black, and gold for a sort of “gothic lair” vibe, and I knew the Queen would be perfect for my purposes. 

I arranged her with a full tableaux where I also used several other “Alice”-inspired pieces for Halloween. My current vignette starring the Queen incorporates several pieces from the Alice’s Adventure line, including decorative chess pieces, the mushroom cloche, and the rabbit serving stand on which I’ve perched the Frog King.

(Mushrooms and caterpillars and red-eyed rabbits aren’t particularly creepy during the light of day, but pair them with some shadowy lighting and a venus fly trap and you’ve got yourself your new Halloween party theme.) 

Outside of Michaels decor, I’ve added a mixture of vintage glassware, Halloween florals from years past, a mushroom blow mold and various knickknacks I’ve thrifted. The Queen, to me, ties it all together, quietly ruling over her court of objets d’art. 

I’ve used the top of my kitchen cabinet as the setting for this arrangement, and mixing pieces of varying heights adds to the topsy-turvy, off-kilter vibe of Lewis Carroll’s original story, especially when you’re looking up at it from different angles throughout the loft. This lends itself well to the unsettling vibe of Halloween without using the traditional black and orange color scheme.

Although the piece looks flat at first glance on the website, the Queen of Hearts (and her accompanying King of Spades) is actually a woodcut in a shadowbox that adds texture and dimension wherever you place her. 

And it works great with my own color scheme and more-is-more approach; I can also see this being the perfect piece for the unexpected red theory in an otherwise minimalist or neutral decor scheme. 

Once October 31 has come and gone, the Queen will be staying up, even as I streamline her surroundings for a cleaner look. Over the years, I expect she’ll find new places in my collection — maybe a primarily red gallery wall or a game room in future homes will beckon — but I plan to keep her at the ready for Halloween and beyond. 

Buy: Playing Card Wall Decor, $23.99 (usually $30)