Monday, October 31, 2011

The Final Touch for Halloween

On Saturday the mailman dropped off my final
Halloween purchase this year.


That's them in the middle of the table....
the Poison Apothecary Jars.
I saw them last year in the
"Victorian Trading Company" magazine
and had to have them,
but it wasn't in the budget then,
this year it was!
where to get them
Here's a shot of them from their catalog.
 There's Belladonna (also known as Deadly Nightshade),
Arsenic, & Hemlock.
Just the thing for a mad scientist to have sitting around.
Or rather a mad Halloween collector!
Mwahahaha!


You can see I've moved the crow candle holders 
over to the table too.
On top of Eden's lovely new table runner she made for us!

This next picture is from the Woman's Day website
I saw it two years ago,
and it started my creative wheels turning!
How could I create that at my house?
You can see where I got the inspiration
for Eden's table runner.
I still have my eye on that white owl pitcher,
soon my table vignette will be complete.


The black cauldron was a lucky find at
Hallmark this year, just imagine what gruesome
treats it will hold next year.

Just a few hours more
and all the trick or treaters
will be knocking at my door!

Here's wishing everyone
a Happy and Safe
HALLOWEEN!


 Mwahahaha!



Saturday, October 29, 2011

Halloween Valance

Just a quick post to show off the wonderful work
my wife's friend, Eden did on our
Halloween valance.
Isn't it cool? 
Sort of reminds me of an old time shoppe.
Maybe what you'd see on Main Street at Disneyland.
That black stripe is velvet, and
I love the black ball fringe.

Eden was patient with us and
put up with a complete redesign.
After she had finished the first valance,
that was exactly what we had requested 
I got this feeling that it just wasn't right.
 My wife and I laid out exactly what we wanted
and thought it would work, but we weren't happy.
Here is the first design.

I take full responsibility for it not working.
It was made exactly as I ordered it.


I am very grateful that Eden was willing to take it
completely apart and start over. 
Using a design that she thought
would be exactly what I was after.
A beautiful Halloween valance.

Bravo Eden!!!
Thank you for a job well done!
I'll have a Happy Halloween for years to come!



Thursday, October 27, 2011

Smiling Halloween Cats

I love Halloween black cats!
I used to have a very wonderful black cat.

It's because of her that I have a small collection of Halloween
black cat collectibles.

I have a fondness for the smiling ones.

The one in the middle is from Dept 56.
"Cat on Pumpkin" candle holder,
I got it a few years ago from the
now gone Desert Passage Shops
Dept 56 store, at the now gone
Aladdin casino.
It's still available today
but it's now from Glitterville.
Glitterville Halloween, Cat on Pumpkin candle holder
All that candy stacked up on its back
is a sculptural wax taper candle.

It's from Dept56 too,
but it's no longer available.
So I'll never burn it.
The other happy cat
is a little wooden treat box,
I found at Michael's some years back.
Reach your hand in under the cloth
to find a treat....if you dare.
 Next
is another Michael's find

This smiling cat 
is a little bas-relief sign
wishing everyone a Happy Halloween! 
He is several years old too
but surprisingly,
 I saw one just like it at Michael's this year!

Some of my cats aren't smiling
but I think they're happy!
 
This one is a Radko cookie jar
from his Shiny Bright Halloween line.

The Cat-o-Lantern.
Based off of the old blow mold plastic light
Here's an Ebay image of one.
They go for quite a lot now,
this one is listed for $45.
I think I like my cookie jar better.

Another find at that gone Dept56 store,
The Dept 56 Cat in the Pumpkin salt & pepper shaker.
The pumpkin with google eyes is the salt shaker
and the cat's head lifts off as the pepper shaker.
This little HomeGoods Annalee black cat,
bewitched its way into my collection last year!
Because it's not a holiday
without a little Annalee!
Finally, 
I have a black cat pillow.

This one reminds me most of my
beloved cat, it looks just like her.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful
Halloween season.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Halloween in full swing

We've just added the table runner to the hutch -buffet


That's it under the Dept 56 Google Eye Devil Cider Server.
Isn't it fun, wild, and Halloweeny?
Eden, my wife's friend, did a wonderful job on it!
It captures all the colors of the Halloween collectibles.


In the back is the Dept56 Google Eye Witch Spreader.


Her fingers come off her hands to reveal spreading knives.


CREEPY!!!
In front of her is the Fitz and Floyd
"Pumpkin Ghost" candle holders.
They are holding Frankenstein's monster candles.

My mother bought the candles for me back in the early 80's.
They have such a cute expression on their faces, very content....


which is strange,
 seeing how afraid the monster is of fire!


Next we have the
Dept 56 Google Eye Skull chip and dip server.
I found this on Ebay seven years ago.
The Dip goes in the skull!


GROSS!!! 
Like all the google eye line,
his eye balls jiggle and wiggle around when you move him.
Just to the right
is the newest Ozark addition this year,
even though they're a few years old and discontinued.
The Dept 56 Crows candle holder.

 
The candles look like ears of corn. 
Just the thing for party crows!

Next we find the
Dept. 56 google eye Bride of Frankenstein candy bowl
from the "Dr. Frankenstein's Laboratory" line,
Below the Bride we find the
Frankenstein Hand Vase
full of Twizzlers. 
I found it at an online company about 5 years ago.
The moment I saw it I knew I wanted it as a candy server.
I don't know if it's safe for food,
so I always use individually wrapped Twizzlers for it.
Next to the hand is

the Dept 56 "Dr. Frankenstein's Laboratory" Donor Skull
google eye salt and pepper shaker. 
The skull is the salt shaker
and sits under the tiny cloche jar,
the base is the pepper shaker. 
I purchased it on sale, at the now gone Dept 56 store,
at the Aladdin Hotel Casino shops,
which is now Planet Hollywood Hotel Casino.
The Fat Bat is a cookie jar


I found him at an after Halloween 75% off sale at
Cost Plus World Market a few years ago!
What a lucky find he was.
He has become my wife's favorite.


Next  we have the
dancing Frankenstein's salt and pepper shakers
an Ebay find of three years ago.
And a Kohl's Jack o Lantern candy dish.
Reach in for a treat....if you dare!
The little Halloween plates in the back are
this year's find from Kohl's as well.
Do you see the little candy corn elf?
He's from Annalee,
I found him hiding at HomeGoods
Remember, It's never a holiday without a little Annalee!

 One last Thing


I added the Zombie Head cookie jar to the
Halloween hodgepodge.
He sits on top of the fridge next to a pumpkin tissue box cover
I found at Target five years ago. 
It was their last one, I was lucky to find it too. 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

When witches go riding



A little drawing I created last Halloween.
Just thought it would be nice to post it
on Ozark's blog.
Got the poem off of an old 1917 Hallowe'en card.
You will notice I borrowed the ghost and a bat
for the Halloween banner at the top.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Halloween Decorating!

October is finally here!
YAY!
I've been a little busy with other things
and haven't had time to blog.
 But I have been decorating!


My wife happened to catch a pic with her phone of
my Halloween hutch in the midst of being decorated.
We've hired her girlfriend to sew up a new
Halloween valance for the kitchen
and two table runners.
One runner will go on the buffet


This is the main fabric
that we found at Joann Etc.
and



this is the accent fabric. 
I love how it has orange and black stripes in it
to match the main fabric.
Check back soon as I post more about the decorations
and go a little in depth about the collection.