Halloween Decorating the Winery
If you’ve stopped by The Salty Blonde Wine Cellars lately, you may have noticed that things are looking a little… spooky.
Okay, maybe more than a little spooky.
Halloween has officially washed ashore at The Salty Blonde, and decorating the winery this year was every bit as fun, chaotic, creative, and family-filled as you might imagine.
And when we say The Salty Blonde is a family winery, we really mean it.
There was no professional decorating crew pulling up to transform the place. It was us—our family—painting, building, wrapping, carrying, rearranging, stepping back to look at things, changing our minds, and probably saying, “Wait… what if we put it over there?” more times than we could count.
And right in the middle of all of it were our two littlest helpers: a six-year-old and a one-year-old.
One was old enough to have plenty of opinions and ideas.
The other was mostly interested in running around, getting into absolutely everything, and making sure no project was completed without a tiny bit of extra chaos.
And we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
A Little Handmade Halloween Magic
One of our favorite things about decorating The Salty Blonde is that so much of what you see isn’t simply bought and put on display.
We make things.
We dream up slightly ridiculous ideas and then somehow convince each other that we can actually build them.
This Halloween was no exception.
There were pumpkins to create, skeleton sirens to bring to life, and—because apparently normal Halloween decorations just aren’t enough for a nautical winery—a Kraken had to make an appearance.
So there we were, turning ordinary materials into giant tentacles and watching our Halloween vision slowly come together.
There were moments when the projects looked exactly like what they were: piles of supplies and half-finished ideas.
Then, little by little, they became something magical.
That may actually be one of our favorite parts.
The Memories Behind the Decorations
Someday, the boys probably won’t remember every decoration we put outside the winery.
Our one-year-old certainly won’t remember running around while we worked.
But we will.
We’ll remember the six-year-old being part of the excitement. We’ll remember chasing a one-year-old while trying to finish a project. We’ll remember laughing, making messes, solving problems, and standing back together when it was finally finished.
Those are the memories tucked into the decorations.
And honestly, they’re part of what we hoped The Salty Blonde would become from the very beginning.
Not just a place where we make and serve wine.
A place where our family gathers.
A place where our kids grow up.
A place where our parents, siblings, spouses, kids, friends, and community all somehow become part of the story.
It Really Is a Family Winery
“Family winery” can sound like one of those phrases businesses use because it sounds nice.
For us, it’s literal.
Family is woven into this place.
Sometimes that looks like working behind the bar or helping with an event. Sometimes it’s making wine, moving furniture, planning the next crazy idea, or decorating the winery for Halloween.
And sometimes it looks like a one-year-old running through the middle of everything while the rest of us try to get something done.
It’s not always perfectly organized.
It’s definitely not always quiet.
But it is ours.
And we had so much fun creating this year’s Halloween decorations together.
So when you visit The Salty Blonde this October and see the Kraken, the sirens, the pumpkins, and all the other spooky little details around the winery, know that there’s a story behind them.
They were made with a lot of creativity, a lot of laughter, probably a little frustration, plenty of family opinions—and two very small helpers underfoot.
And somehow, that makes us love them even more.
Because around here, we’re not just making wine.
We’re making memories, too.
If you like it make sure to vote for our decorations on New Brighton’s website!
— The Salty Blonde Family ⚓🍷
Comments