Have I told you before how much I hate Halloween? The gore, the fear, the begging, and the origins of the holiday are just not my thing. I would actually ignore the whole thing, except for the man I love absolutely loves it. So I have to work extra hard at decorating for this, my least favorite day of the year.

This year, I’m taking all of my cues from Sesame Street. I visited the home of Big Bird, Cookie and Elmo and picked up some tricks that I totally plan on ripping off, lock, stock and pumpkin.

At a recent trip to Sesame Place, which is a theme park that is just upside of Philadelphia, I really liked the simple way they stacked their pumpkins and displayed them in the flower pots. Their pumpkins were randomly numbered (The Count von Count figures in big at Halloween Spooktacular), but I could see this being a great way to put up your house number for the season. And really, who doesn’t need a bit more glitter on their pumpkins, after all?

I also really liked their spide webs, which are strategically torn gauze sheets, much more than the fiber webbing that just never looks like its supposed to. Yes, it looks a bit cartoon-y, but that’s kind of the point.

Aren’t their scribble-bats super-cute, and something that I should totally be able to do with a Sharpie pen in about 5 minutes?

Sesame Place does a great job with their pots and topiaries. I’m thinking I might turn a few of my bushes into familiar faces for Halloween, like this one, or maybe ghosties. Not sure yet.

This cutout gave me an idea that I could use with a huge black cauldron that I picked up last week for $1. A few hedge-apples and green filler material might just give me the best weather-resistant front porch vignette that I’ve had in years.

By the way, if you’re wondering if we had fun at the Sesame Place Spooktacular, we did. You can read more about my family’s day with our Sesame friends, thanks to passes provided to us by Sesame Place, at an article on Juliverse. I’ve posted more thughts and a Cookie Monster exclusive over at Estelle’s site. Visit the Spooktacular by Halloween, or make plans to visit the Very Furry Christmas, which we visited last year. We’re not the only ones who love it. BuzzFeed calls Sesame Place one of the 19 Places that will make your kid’s dreams come true.

Do you, like me, have a blind spot when it comes to holiday decorating? Did any of these ideas sound like they could work at your place?