5 Awesome (yet Simple) Halloween Mailbox Decoration Ideas

Halloween is coming fast! If you haven't already put something up, you may be looking for simple ways to show your enthusiasm and indicate to trick or treaters that you offer candy. One of the simplest ways of doing this is to decorate your mailbox. Here are some easy decorations that will get you into the spooky mood and let everyone know you are taking part:

1.  Battery operated string lights – This is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to show your Halloween colors and, on Halloween night, these lights will act as a beacon for the kids. Battery operated lights are especially ideal for residential curbside mailboxes because you don't need to run an extension cord all the way out to the street. Get plain orange lights, purple lights, or orange and black mixes, or look for themed shapes like bats or ghosts.

2.  Big Halloween bows – Making a simple decorative bow to festoon your mailbox with is easy! Just head to your local craft store and grab some seasonally-themed ribbon (anything with skeletons or jack-o-lanterns will do) and a bit of floral wire, watch this video or one similar, and you're set! You can accentuate the bow with some fake flowers sprinkled with fake blood. Better yet, pull off the flower tops and glue in fake eyeballs!

3.  Menacing Figures – One great way to use your box is to prop a life-sized witch, ghost, or scarecrow up on the mail pole. You can find these at any local Halloween store or, for a more cost-effective option, make your own! For a scarecrow, grab some old jeans and a flannel, some string to tie the openings, and a bunch of plastic bags to use as stuffing. Add a scary, stuffable Halloween mask for the head. Tie your figure to the pole to ensure that they stand up. For some extra skin-crawl factor, get some fake chain and make it look like you're trying to keep them from escaping to wreak havoc on the neighborhood.

4.  Spider webs – Nothing says creepy like spiders! Cover your mailbox with fake spider webs and have some little spiders dangling beneath it and all around. If you want to add some variety, trap a couple of eyeballs or severed fingers in the web with the spider babies. Get one larger mama spider and place it directly on top of the box in a predatory position.

Something like this would work!

5.  Body Parts – One way to make this one eerier is to go a bit more subtle with it. Find a garland of fake leaves at your local crafts store and wrap it around the top of your box and down the pole. Next find a bloody severed arm or moss-covered skeleton hand at your Halloween store and have it creeping out from beneath the leaves. Aim it towards your visitors!

Don't forget to leave your address number visible for the postman when decorating your mail box. Aside from that, go wild! You can always check out Pinterest and various craft sites for more inspiration. 

3 Simple Things the Average Tampa Resident can Do to Boost their Home's Curb Appeal

If you're a homeowner in Tampa, you could be sitting on thousands of dollars that are waiting to be spent. People love living in The Sunshine State, and if you're in a city like Tampa, you have some much-desired property. You may be comfortable living in your current home, and may not see yourself moving for quite some time, but as the years pass and your life and family change, you may be willing to go to someplace new. Don't worry about scrambling to fix your home when you decide you want to sell it; instead, you should add some curb appeal to your home to make it attractive to potential buyers. If you do these small things to the outside of your home, you could make it one of the most coveted on the block.

Make your door memorable

Your lawn, siding, and window shutters are all an important part of your home's overall outdoor look, but your door can actually draw more attention than all of them combined. Your door acts as both a barrier and a passageway to your home, and making your door stand out can be a simple way to improve people's first impression. Adding a simple new coat of paint, or cleaning and varnishing your old door can make a huge difference when you are trying to sell.

Add simple decorative elements

If you want your home to stand out from the others on your block, a few outdoor décor elements can help. Lawn ornaments can also help improve the look of your home, as long as you get the right kind. When some people think about lawn ornaments, they imagine gnomes and plastic flamingos, but you don't have to decorate your lawn with clichés. A few stones to make an alternate path to your door, or some small stone sculptures can add some class to your yard and create a relaxing, garden-like atmosphere that buyers will covet.

 

Remember, a prospective buyer just might find these guys creepy. Look for tasteful decorations that hold almost universal appeal.

Replace your small and old home features

Has your doorknob lost some sheen? Is your wall-mounted mailbox falling apart? Sometimes simply replacing the worn out metal and brass elements of your home can help drastically change its look. Get rid of your old box and look at residential curbside mailboxes in different colors and designs. Find new house numbers for the front, and see if you can get them in a different font.  

Types of Mailboxes: Pros and Cons

Mailboxes come in many different shapes and sizes, and not all provide the same convenience. That means it's important to choose the right kind of mailbox for you. Not sure what to pick? Here are the pros and cons of the major mailbox types:

Residential curbside mailboxes

This is the most common kind of mailbox, and it's what most people think of when they hear the word "mailbox." A residential curbside mailbox is the archetypal variety located at the end of the driveway where the mailman can drive right up and drop off mail. Typically, residential curbside mailboxes are attached to a vertical post and have a weatherproof box with a closing door on the front. The main advantage is that these boxes have a "flag" that can let the mailman know there's mail to pick up, making it easier to send, as well as receive, mail.

A potential disadvantage of the residential curbside mailbox is that you have to leave the house to get to it, which may not be pleasant in inclement weather. However, this can also be a plus – after a heavy snowstorm, you do not need to clear your driveway and walkway to receive mail, because the mailman does not have to walk up to the door. This can also be good for dog owners who don't want a barking fit every afternoon when the mailman comes.

Door slots

Door slots are the older type of home mail receptacle and are more common in Europe, as well as larger American cities where space is limited. In an urban environment, it may be problematic to crowd the sidewalk with curbside mailboxes, so a mail slot in the door makes a good alternative. The advantage with these is that they take up no space and weather is not a factor. But to send mail, you have to hang it outside the door and hope the mailman sees it – not exactly ideal. Another disadvantage is that, depending on the design, a mail slot could allow a stranger to peek into your home. They may also cause drafts near the door.

Lobby mailboxes

Multi-unit buildings almost never have individual mail delivery to each unit. Instead, a set of lockable mailboxes in the lobby allow a central mail drop-off point for the whole building. The biggest advantage to this method is security: your mail is put into a locked box and cannot be stolen. The biggest disadvantage is that this is delivery-only and you have to go to the lobby to get your mail.

What kind of mailbox do you prefer? Why?