Every October it's the same story: I decide this is the year the house is going to be "really" decorated for Halloween, and I end up buying the first thing I find in the seasonal aisle at the grocery store. Plastic pumpkins that fade, a generic doormat I've already seen at three neighbors' houses, and not a single decent photo of my dog in the costume that took half an hour to put on him. This year I wanted to do it differently, starting with the front door.

The problem: the entryway said nothing about us (and neither did anything else in the house)

Generic "Happy Halloween" doormats show up on every house on the block, and none of them had anything to do with us. I have a dachshund who's basically the star of the household, so I wanted something with a bit more personality, not another black mat with orange lettering.

The solution: the doormat with a dachshund design

I found the Funny Halloween Dachshund Door Mat from Get Good Gifts while searching their seasonal collection, and it was exactly the middle ground I needed: a made-to-order design, just the right amount of humor for the holiday, without tipping into cheesy. It's suitable for indoor or outdoor use, so I put it outside without worrying about it getting damaged by the night humidity. (If your household has a different star, there's also a duck design version, same idea, different character.)

The problem: the snack table looked the same as every other year

With the entryway sorted, there was still the usual problem: serving that night's candy and snacks on some random platter with nothing seasonal about it, only because I could never find one worth buying for a single night a year.

The solution: a platter that actually stays out all October

The Personalized Halloween Duck Platter solved exactly that. It's microwave and dishwasher safe, so it didn't end up as one-use-only decor; I used it to serve candy on Halloween night and for snacking any evening the following week. The Halloween duck design gave the table its seasonal touch without looking disposable.

The result: a house that finally felt like ours

Between the doormat at the entrance, the platter on the table, and the blanket with the costume photo, the house stopped feeling "decorated for Halloween" and started feeling like our version of Halloween, dog included in every piece. And unlike the plastic pumpkins, none of these three pieces go in the trash come November: the doormat and the platter stay out, and the blanket is already in daily use.

If you want to decorate your house for Halloween with something that actually relates to you (and your pet) instead of the same thing on every corner, here's the full collection: the Funny Halloween Dachshund Door Mat, the Funny Halloween Duck Welcome Mat, the Personalized Halloween Duck Platter, and the Halloween Costume Woven Blanket from Get Good Gifts.