Michaels Halloween Part 1 ~ Bound by Magic

Hey everyone! I hope you've all been having a nice summer so far. I've been having a pretty good time, although nothing I've been doing has lent itself to Halloween-themed blogging until now. 

Michaels has their Halloween out already! They have only rolled out a few themes so far. I think they're counting everything I'm about to share in the one "Bound by Magic" theme, but to me it feels like it could be split in two. I saw online that they are previewing a few additional Halloween themes, but they haven't been released yet. I like the idea of slowly rolling out different Halloween themes over the course of the summer. That will give me something to look forward to over time. 

So, I know I have some magic fans out there! Especially of the antique magic posters. I think you guys are going to really dig what Michaels has done with this theme. Some of you might even recognize the face on this tray.

You can get the matching hanging advertisement too!

These are probably some of those book box/storage type decorations, although they do have a more realistic book look than usual. I didn't open them to find out. 

Another view of those electrifying hands, this time on a tray.

Part of why I am loving this collection is that it reminds me of my times visiting a certain antique store. I'm not sure that place even exists anymore. Anyway, that store had some old stuff, and unusual too. They had actual old circus posters and they were massive! Maybe "posters" isn't the right word. They were more like massive painted tarps with these crazy images of sideshow performers. I may have even shared some photos from that place years ago. 

I'm aware that these are reproductions of images from actual magicians' advertisements. And much like those sideshow advertisements I was just mentioning, these show some pretty impossible stunts. A floating head? Really? If he did try to do something like this back in the day, well, let's just say I'd like to have a time machine to see it. I'd like to go back in time to see any of this, really. 

This may be rack for wine bottles. If not, it could be! It kind of goes with the image above. 

How fun are these shelves? She hasn't quite been put back in order yet.

And the matching disembodied heads. The girl's expression on the left makes sense to me! The one on the right is really holding it together. There's a joke in there somewhere. 

This next section is listed as "Bound by Magic" on the Michaels website. Now, I'm a little confused, because I would have named the first photos I shared under that name. I would have called this "Celestial" something. Also, I wouldn't consider any of this strictly Halloween themed! These seem like year-round decor, but... oh well. OK, so we're starting with some shimmery led lanterns. 

Triangular boxes:

I thought this was a cool message and I'm surprised to have not seen it on something before. 

A zodiac-themed mirror that I wish didn't have so much reflected in it. It's always challenging to photograph mirrors in stores. 

And speaking of mirrors, I think this one probably hangs on the wall and then you put a candle in front of it on that tray. I really like that old-time look of candles in front of mirrors on the wall.

This mirrored container was probably a candleholder. I can't find it on their website to be sure.

How old-timey is this mirror? It looks like something that could be hanging above a bar a century ago. 

An up-close view of that pillow:

As you can see, they're doing a lot with eyes in this collection. These are wall hangings. 

These eyes are actually kind of spooky to me. Maybe because they remind me of something, although I'm not sure what.

I know what this reminds me of, though! The leg lamp from A Christmas Story! Must be the fringe.

This is maybe another storage cabinet? 

These velvety zodiac pillows are so cool!

Shout-out to my fellow Libras. ⭐♎⚖

Michaels had their Spooky Town out and there were a lot of little buildings in that town! I wish I could have seen these little displays lit up and moving, but they either weren't plugged in or turned on. If you would like to get a glimpse of what they look like lit up: 

Spooky Town on the Michaels website

From the pictures on the Michaels site, I think I would really like this one lit up with those little pink lights. So, here we have "DJ Decay's Roller Rink Rave". If this had been on, I would have seen the little monsters gliding or "skating" around. 

How great are these hand-like trees?

Check out the porch on the "Frightful Fangs Dentistry".

Looks like the werewolves hit up "The Full Moon Bar". 

I like the "Misty Grave Mausoleum" so much that I'm including two pictures of it.

I appreciate the detail on this one. It actually resembles stone. I also like the ghostly figure in the doorway. I just noticed its ribcage. I wonder if the ghost lights up? I just checked and yup, it glows a bright green. It would have been a missed opportunity if it didn't light up.

Little Shop of Horrors meets Harry Potter?

"Beware, the clocks keep on ticking" ??? I guess ticking clocks could drive someone crazy.

This one was one of my favorites So, here's the miniature seance going on:

And the full building:

This eye detail is why this made my favorites list. I just watched the video that goes with this, and yes, that eyeball moves from side to side! 

This is my other favorite, I think for obvious reasons. That pumpkin creature reaching over the building to grab a VHS tape. I feel like between this and the rollerskating rave, someone my age designed these. 😄

It's worth paging through the Michaels page I linked to earlier, because there are a number of miniatures there that I did not see in person. 

And lastly, I'm sharing a few favorites from the bead/charm/jewelry making section. These aren't strictly Halloween, but certainly could be. 

Well, what do you guys think? I think Michaels is off to a great start with their Halloween items, and as I mentioned there is more to come. I'm excited to see the other themes they roll out. It looks like they're going to be vampiric. There's definitely a lot of red and black going on. 🧛

A Full Snow Moon that is living up to its name

Tonight's full moon is called The Full Snow Moon. That seems like a pretty appropriate name, especially with the view I have out the window. We had a hardy snowfall today. It's beautiful out there, but we have the kind of night sky that generally goes with snow. It's kind of fuzzy and milky so I don't see the moon now.

I did take a photo of the moon last night, and I actually think it qualified as full at that time. From what I've been reading, the full moon rose last night and reached its full peak tonight.

I've been learning a lot about the stages of the moon lately, in part from this web site:

MoonSign.Today

I think all of you would enjoy at least casually browsing through this site. I especially like the Moon Calendar which shows you the percentage of the moon that is showing.

For those who are into astrology, you will also notice that there is an indication for which sign the moon is in for several days. I've been reading some books about Moon Signs lately and have been interested in the information about the signs the moon transitions through. The books I've been reading describe how you could expect different emotional reactions from yourself and others, depending on which sign the moon is in. This got me thinking about how it might be good to have a head's up about that sort of information, and that led me to this Moon Sign site.

My spooky tree shot. It looks like the moon is in a basket.

I have another recommendation for astrology buffs. It's a book titled The Moon in Your Life: Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World, by Donna Cunningham. I like Donna Cunningham. She's one of those writers where you feel like a friend is talking to you while you're reading her words. Her work is really accessible. Even if you don't know much about what she's writing about, she'll easily clue you in in a friendly way.

Another web site I really like for moon information is the Farmer's Almanac site. Actually, I like the Farmer's Almanac in general. I keep running into information about planting in relation to moon cycles, and I plan to keep that in mind in the future. Anyway, here is a specific page the Farmer's Almanac put up about tonight's moon:

Full Moon for February 2020

I got a kick out of the art there. It's like the moon is some kind of ice cream treat. :) It says here that tonight's moon is called The Snow Moon because February is typically the month where the most snow falls in the United States. That seems right to me.

Have any of you gone outside to see the moon over the past few nights? If you're like me, you got cold and quickly hopped back inside after taking a look. :)

Super Blood Wolf Moon

How's that for a title? Pretty spooky stuff and quite a mouthful. Last night we had a Super Blood Wolf Moon. That's an eclipsed full moon that appears red (blood) and occurs in January (wolf). And I was lucky enough to see it! I didn't see it for long since it was 15° (Fahrenheit) out there and I got cold. It felt colder than 15°, maybe because we had a wind chill situation going on. My camera also gets cold and appears to take blurrier photos when it is. So I was hopping outside the door and back in pretty quickly!

It may have been freezing out there but it was a clear night, so I could clearly see what was going on in the sky. Over about an hour's time, the moon did visibly become shadowed and took on a red/blue/purple tint. I took a few photos, but this one is my favorite.

That photo isn't retouched whatsoever! Look at that purple and red. Amazing. I've never seen a moon quite like this and I can't expect to see one again until 2022. If you're on the Pacific coast of North or South America, you have the possibility of seeing one in 2021.

Here's another shot that I used less of a zoom on. In this one you can see that bright blue on top of the moon.

Isn't that cool? This wasn't one of those times where my camera made things look brighter than they were. If anything, these pics look slightly less bright red than what my eyes were seeing. The sky really gave me the feeling of being in a werewolf or vampire movie.

So did any of you get a look at last night's moon? If you took some photos, I'd love to see them! From the photos I've been seeing online, people in different areas saw the moon in slightly different colors. Either that or they had some fun with Photoshop. ;)

This GIF looks similar to what my eyes actually saw last night, as far as the intensity of red, not the fast movement. Although how wild/terrifying would it be to see an eclipse moving this fast in front of your eyes?

P.S. ~ I was curious to see if any astrologers had something to say about last night's moon. It seemed like a pretty big deal so I expected to find something. Well, I found this list of horoscopes and they're all good:

This Super Blood Full Wolf Moon Eclipse Kicks Off 2019 In the Best Way

Reading over this page, it sounds like the Super Blood Wolf Moon is bringing something positive for everyone. And this Wolf Moon is in Leo. So how's that for some powerful animal forces? A wolf and a lion. If you read that page, I'd be interested to know if your horoscope resonates with you.