Collecting and Thinning Collections

This beauty for sale on ebay is one of those items I wanted to buy years ago and for some reason never did. As time goes by the NEED to own one has been fading. It might actually be time to thin some of my vintage Halloween collection again. Looking at my flat files and boxes there are so many pieces there will have to be some thinning before another move. It will be hard to live in that little cottage in the woods some day if we have to sit on boxes full of Halloween treasures.

No kids and no one in the family who appreciates paper ephemera. We have friends who collect political memorabilia. Their kids have no interest in what is a massive museum worthy collection. It makes more sense to me to pass things on sooner than later to loving homes. Since many readers here have large and impressive collections what happens to your Halloween collection after celebrating your final Halloween?

Hocus Pocus Prop

The Book from one of my favorite movies. Found a lovely tutorial on how to make your own here.

Missed one

This was my favorite carved Jack-O-Lantern in the October issue of Martha Stewart Living. Forgot to add it to yesterdays entry.

Martha Stewart October Issue

The October issue of Martha Stewart has some beautiful articles. Making ink jet tattoos to wear has downloadable art to print. The cake was made with edible ink printed on fondant. Frosting sheets can be found here.

Silicone Halloween Molds

Bought the Gothic Manor mold set at JoAnn Fabrics with the 40% off sale running right now. JoAnn was sold out of the Masquerade Animal mold set. The price was so good I had to pick up the set.

Food Network Magazine October Issue

Great recipes including a Salted Caramel-Orange Upside-Down Cake and decorating pumpkins with candy in the October issue.

Halloween Bedding

Readers may recall I have an absolute fondness for the dark and beautiful designs of Kambriel. Two different custom Cabaret Bustle Jackets made with fabric I supplied were made for me to wear at Steamcon. In her Etsy shop she also has bedding. This gorgeous coverlet or

these cute velvet bat pillows. Different fabric is available for the bat pillows including prints.

Highly recommend Kambriel for custom work if you still need an ensemble for a fancy dress ball or Halloween Party.

Midwest Living Magazine

Love this forest scene and many of the other decorating ideas in the October Issue of Midwest Living Magazine. Free printable woodland pumpkin stencils can be found here.

Halloween at Walgreens

Still setting up at this store but there were some cute black and white decorations. The skull rings for $1.99 were pretty cool.

Halloween Candy

Made by Jelly Belly there is a collection of vile villains jelly bean packets at Walgreens. Had to choose the Evil Queen with 3 different apple flavors. Reminds of the cool villains hot chocolate packets from a few yeas back.

World Market is carrying the Ouija Board mint tins again this year. For a really cool party favor you can have similar tins personalized if you order a dozen from Shindigz.

Halloween at Target

Animated werewolf skull Sadly it was a quick trip through Target so I didn't even see the piece was animated.

Standing Animated Owl The owl was really pretty in motion the head turns, eyes light up, and good sound.

Spooky Victorian Phone My favorite. You push the rotary dial and it rings. When you pick it up there is a spooky message. Great sound and for $15 it looks good. Some of my favorite goodies today. All in all some great stuff from Target. The $1 bins had tragic road signs, glowing fingernails with glow stick material in the nails, and tea lights.

Flaming Pumpkin

This little gem the Ichabod Flame was found at Lowes. My husband found one earlier in the day and told me about it. Went back for it and it was gone. He was on a quest the next day grabbing the very last one in the next town.

Ichabod Flame Pumpkin a video by dragonflydesignstudio on Flickr.

Its made by Southern Halloween and stands 13 inches tall. Made from a resin type material it is heavy and has a flame effects box to create the illusion. My assumption is this bad boy is rare and hard to get your hands on. The sound you hear in the background is not the pumpkin its my cat walking on the packing materials.

Window Shopping

Love this time of year for window shopping in the older downtown store fronts. Cute fall and Halloween displays. This little skeleton was watching the crowd walking by his window.

Halloween at Fred Meyer

Batty Wreath

Nice texture with the different papers used to make the bats. Found here.

Pumpkin Patch Report

The pumpkin patch got a late start this year so my only completely orange pumpkin is this little guy:

The larger size pumpkins at around 10 pounds right now are just starting to turn orange:

As you can see spotty mildew has been a big problem for me this year. Growing ornamental gourds in one bed with the baby boo white pumpkins.

Added one of the cedar tomato cages for the gourd vines to climb.

Halloween Fabric at Walmart

More Treats from The Vintage Halloween Store

Hanging from skeleton keys on my old sideboard cabinet are these cute pottery ornaments. The shiny glaze on the bat and raven is really pretty under the dining room light. Highly recommend these ornaments as they have already stood up to a cat trying to nibble the twine string hanger and my clumsy smacking against the cabinet.

Halloween Terrarium

Cute idea found here.

Animated crow in cage

Like the look of this little guy at Target. Only available on the web site. Boo. I want to see it in the store.

Country Living October Issue

The October issue of Country Living Magazine is a little slim on Halloween content compared to previous years. Nice article on Halloween treats and how to decorate cakes with spooky designs. 6 pages devoted to famous last words. Craft projects inspired by familiar phrases. This section was done really well.

Costumes-A Mermaid

Custom made mermaid tails found here.

Chalk Board Jars and Buckets

At TJMaxx I discovered this little shelf of jars in the kitchen section and thought oooh...these have Halloween potential. Wanted to write eyeballs on at least one jar. A few days later the same store puts out these fabulous metal chalkboard paint buckets.

Halloween at Walmart

Still setting up but you could find Halloween all over Walmart. This box of Skeletons looking like they are ready to break free was pretty cute. Photo didn't turn out but one of them had escaped to an upper shelf and was taunting the others to join him. Yeah, I don't get out much.

HOW TO MAKE HALLOWEEN LANTERNS

Great DIY project using old picture frames. Instructions are here.

10 DIY Halloween Decorations Made With Flameless Candles

Using old dental x-rays and flameless candles. Love the look only my dentist won't let me have any of my old x-rays. Source and more ideas can be found here.

Spooky Canapé Plates

West Elm doesn't have much in the way of Halloween this year. The Owl on this plate caught my eye.

Table Runner

Nice table runner project can be found here. She has several fun halloween projects with instructions.

Vintage Style Candle Set

They have the look and feel of the old Gurley candles. Found here.

The chair has eyes!

More photos and artist information can be found here.

Got my order from The Vintage Halloween Store

The Beistle Halloween - Scratch Cat & Beistle Lantern Plates are gorgeous. Warm classic orange and black. Planning a craft project with them I hope to post in a few weeks. The napkins compliment the plates with that classic scratch cat design. Ordered a set of the Beistle Silhouette Favor Boxes (scroll down the page same link) that are adorable. Using the set as bases to display halloween goodies. Tiny items that get lost if not elevated for viewing in the display case.

The set of Bethany Lowe - Spooky Halloween Invites has deep saturated colors. One of the best invite sets I've seen. Own the Bethany Lowe place cards with the little witch so naturally I had to have the Silhouette Placecards. I think they would make great name tags on favor bags too. The Silhouette Melamine Plates (same page) also have my attention. Have an odd an assorted melamine Halloween plate collection. All the great goodies can be found here.