Brian Moran sold off his holiday collectibles in multiple auctions over several years. This page has some nice celluloid Christmas decorations. The composition devil/skull lantern in the top left hand corner sold for $880.
My step-father passed suddenly on Friday the 13th. The same day my father in law was admitted to OHSU to remove an intestinal blockage. They discovered he had cancer in several places. He passed away on Wednesday. We were at the funeral home making arrangements the day before Thanksgiving for a funeral 3 days away on Saturday. This may lead to some life changes for us including a move. Good news is that means I am selling more of my vintage Halloween image collection including Bee Girl on ebay. 
I would love to dress my crows in Santa hats and put name tags around their little necks. Each crow would have the name of one of Santa's reindeer.
For some of us Halloween is our Christmas. Over the next 2 months I'm going to post some ideas on how to Halloween-ify that other holiday. The bat treat cone kit was an item offered in the old Martha by Mail catalog. The idea however is simple to replicate. String, construction paper, and glue.
The advertisement from my collection was in the trade magazine Playthings. The Crickets are my favorites.
A little blast from the past. We still dress up every Halloween. :0 )
I'll try to get photo's up before the end of the week of my night at the haunted attraction. It was so much fun watching people go through the haunt Saturday night. My bandolier slipped a bit in this shot. It had rusty safety pins, thimble, pinking shears, thread, measuring tape, and a tiny brass spyglass on it. My hat has buttons sewn on rick rack trim.
The day has arrived. I will be spending the evening at the haunted attraction my talented spouse designed. First time in years we won't be home to hand out candy! Please have a magical and safe Halloween!
This Bubble wrap JellyFish costume is one of my favorites along with the trash bag witch costume. You can find courtesy of Martha Stewart's site 8 No Sew Costumes here.
Click through to flickr for the complete instructions.
If you have vintage lanterns with missing or damaged inserts. Go here for incredible reproductions for only $2.50 each. Richard's site Spookshows.com has great resources and eye candy.
We have been so busy this season the annual trip to the pumpkin patch is still on the to do list. Gourds in the photo above are from last years road trip. The weather doesn't look promising but we hope to take in the road side farm stands on the way to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. Fresh apple cider, bins full of gourds, and boxes of apples make me happy!
Found this lovely project here. Scroll through her blog to see the rest of her amazing Halloween home decor ideas.
Pottery Barn Kids always has something that appeals to the child in me each Halloween. This year its the Star Canopy.
One of the best do it yourself crafts found while browsing.
Trying to dig out some photos of molds in my collection. This one is for chocolate. Right now I could really use a dark chocolate pumpkin snack!
The gal in this photo was my favorite costume of the day. My friend the mask maker had the booth next to me so we got to visit. My niece who is about to finish her last treatment for breast cancer came to help watch my booth. It was wonderful to see her. The Voodoo Doughnut truck parked out front and a handmade chocolate booth was close by. It was a dangerous weekend! It was wonderful to meet customers from the web site! Thank you for stopping by!
for the Hallowe'en Bazaar. On the road tomorrow to set up and spend the night in Portland. Looking forward to meeting Halloween fans and getting to see all the goodies.
Love the owl on this noisemaker.
After a very long summer of higher than usual temperatures fall made a brief appearance yesterday. Overcast, cool, and windy. Leaves were swirling about falling from our front yard trees. This is our yard from 2006. Tall shepherd hooks found on clearance at Lowes line our front walk. The paper lanterns are from the light section of the web site. The glowing lanterns on the ground are the cheap plastic $1.00 candy pails found at chain discount stores. Weighted with river stones and lit with battery candles. I reuse the plastic pails as flower holders with bright fall color mums on the porch during October.
Found this magazine at Target. Very enjoyable party planning section. The entire menu with recipes for a specific theme party. A buffet style party, Masquerade dessert party, and a murder mystery dinner party. Nice decor ideas including lovely table centerpieces. If someone makes that cake on the cover...please invite me to your party! Its five layers of chocolate, pistachio filling, and topped with a chocolate ganache icing.
A quick reminder for locals to save the date:
The 2009 Bazaar will happen on Saturday, October 3rd, 11am till 7pm at the Lloyd Center DoubleTree Exhibit Hall, nestled neatly between Lloyd Center Mall and the Lloyd Center Max stop, and facing the lovely Holladay park. Admittance is only $5 for those 10yrs+ and kids 10 and under are FREE! Hallowe'en Costumes for all are greatly encouraged.
One of the more affordable vintage Halloween collectibles is the bridge tally card. Colorful with beautiful art work you can still find the tallies for less than $20.
In the rush to decorate what to wear sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. Flipping through old costume catalogs I had to share this page from a UK costume company. The chick, the beautiful butterfly wings, and the little candlestick boy. So cute! Now, what to wear to the Portland Hallowe'en Bazaar this year?
On my quest for more cat decoration ideas I had to share the Kitty-Kart. There is a rip through this entire book so please excuse the damage at the top of the page.
Highlights include Include Know Vintage Like a Pro by Mark Ledenbach and 2 darker decor features. Gothic Gala and Black & Bling. There are cutesy articles as well only I was pleasantly surprised to find a macabre twist to more grown up party ideas.
I was asked about the source of the fireplace screen in the image at the top of this blog. It was made by Bruce over at HalloweenLanterns.com click here to go to the fireplace screen page. His work is worth every penny. He cuts everything by hand! I own 2 screens and 4 lanterns that hold a place of honor in my displays each year. He also has a full scan of the entire page of the Ladies Home Journal images I have been sharing with you in sections. Its under Treats.
Clever idea from the same magazine as yesterdays entry. Black umbrella with paper ears, nose, mouth, and whiskers. Flickering LED lights behind the eyes would look very dramatic! Thinking about using orange and black felt attached with velcro for a longer lasting Halloween prop and easy storage.
This dining room decor photo is used on our web site. Every year customers write to ask how to get this amazing crepe paper tablecloth. Sadly, only with a time machine! Pieces of this Jack-O-Lantern pattern do show up on ebay.
We have a Halloween parade in the neighborhood that winds around a short path and then they all hit the houses for treats. Big rush righ...
