Halloween at JoAnn's ~ Part 2

I returned to JoAnn's to see what had been added to those empty shelves I saw last time. There were a few new goodies. For the most part, the new items matched that classic Halloween theme you saw in the last post.

Here are more of those cutie jack-o-lanterns you saw in the last post. I think that "BOO" wood square decoration is sort of a take on wood lettered blocks for kids. I feel inspired to craft something like that. A "BOO" painted on totally square blocks with sort of a vintage look would be cool. 

This funky glam beetle and spider were fairly large. If someone was decorating a large-scale Halloween tree, these could be a fun addition.

This different type of spider looks like a fun way to display treats.

I love these twisted spooky trees. Of course one could look cool alone, but they're pretty striking as a forest. Imagine how fun it would be to decorate these as a group. Maybe some tiny fake leaves could go under them.

Of course there were some skeleton decorations. This guy was cool because his eyes changed colors off and on.

I know you see some form of skeletons doing yoga on my blog each year, but these are metallic. 😉 They're really gritting their boney teeth in holding those poses, which is understandable for that one on the left. 

And then there are these two. He's just bathing in his top hat, swigging away. I'm beginning to think that I'm with skeletons how some people are with garden gnomes (that I find them funny just doing anything). Those "bubbles" are actually marbles. 

There were a couple new skeleton creatures too. "New" is saying something, because every year I feel like I've seen it all with skeleton critters. Isn't this a happy skeleton rooster?

This metallic rainbow sea creature lights up. A bright blue light emanates from his brain.

There were a number of patterned Halloween fabrics out. Here are some of my favorites:

Look at those spooky cat eyes! And it goes without saying how cool those Day of the Dead patterns are. I guess the first one is kind of a Day of the Dead/Halloween mashup.

And a few classic patterns:

Like last time's JoAnn's post, I'm going to end with a few Dollar Tree finds. You're looking at a pack of eight wood fox cut-outs that you can make into a garland. Below the foxes are some wood acorns and mushrooms.

I still love the truck carrying something craze and I guess everyone else does too, because I keep seeing trucks everywhere! These could look cute on a wreath.

These velvety small pumpkins are a great deal for $1.00! (You're looking at two sprigs here.) These also come in a bright reddish orange and white. I have a white set that I'm planning to put in with some silk roses for autumn.

Can you even believe that these three signs came from a Dollar Tree? These vintage-inspired signs were above and beyond what I'd expect to see there. They're pretty sturdy too! It might be hard to see here, but they're on stakes. The heads are roughly the size of a human head.

Dollar Tree has had a pretty impressive Halloween selection this year, and it's fast moving. So if your store is anything like mine, grab what you like when you first see it! I haven't seen most of the same Halloween items on my next visit. But the good news is that they always seem to have a different Halloween item in place of them! 

A Halloween and Christmas Switcheroo!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I was surprised to actually get my wish and have a Christmas with Halloween weather after having a Halloween with Christmas weather! I know we all had unusual weather this past Halloween. In my case, that meant a good amount of snow. As for Christmas, I was treated to a sunny day that was in the 60s - at least where the sun had collected on the porch. I had a tiny bit of time to enjoy that porch on Christmas and I did so with a Halloween book.

The inside cover:

Someone I follow on Tumblr had shared this book and said it was the best Halloween book they'd read in years. So I checked to see if it was in our library system and was surprised to see that it was! The librarian I checked this out from said "Oh, preparing for next year?" and I said "Oh, I'm a Halloween year-round kind of person" to which she said "Why not? It's fun!" Yes, yes it is.

This book is a collection of vintage Halloween traditions and history. I have already learned so much from it! I'm tempted to share all the trivia I learned, but you'd probably have more fun reading it for yourself. You get an idea from this book about the Old World celebrations around the end of October and you also get a clear idea of how Halloween would have been celebrated in early 1900s America.

The book is beautifully illustrated! The old Halloween pieces of art really add a lot.

And there are such fun details, like burnt edges and decorative corners. Even the sides of the pages are orange!

I think it's awesome that the author did so much research into early traditions and is keeping them alive through this book. I really can imagine what it was like back in the day from reading this.

I think Halloween may have been filled with more surprises and danger a century ago. I can go without the pranks, but they sure are interesting to read about!

I plan to investigate the author's reference material at some point. Perhaps some of you would like to as well?

Hopefully you can read this. As decorative as that page is, the design makes it difficult to read. 

So I had to shovel snow on Halloween night, but I got to read a Halloween book on a sunny porch on Christmas day. I'd say that evens things out in a way. :) Here's a glimpse of what Halloween looked like for me this year:

As for Christmas, I didn't have a lot of time to blog this month. So I'm just going to add a few highlights from the month to the end of this blog post.

Starting with a few of my favorite photos from this year's Miller Lights show.

We didn't have real snow that night, so some had to be created. I think this is probably some form of soap?

The beer tasting was fun as usual! Mom stuck with Miller Light and I had Miller, Blue Moon, and La Colombe. 

The tour and tasting were so packed on the night we went that we couldn't even get a table right away! I had to get resourceful in finding a place for my beer.

Yes, at Miller even the fire extinguishers make fine beer holders. :)

So here is that La Colombe I mentioned. It was listed as a "hard cold brew coffee", as you can see. I figured this was either going to be very good or very bad. It turned out to be very good! I was suspicious at first since it was listed as "black". I was thinking it would be a mix of beer and black coffee. But there was a good deal of sugar in there. Have any of you tried this drink?

I'd wanted to share some pics from Farm Girl Antiques earlier this month too! Mom and I went to their Christmas party and had a good time. They had Christmas music playing and lots of good snacks. As you're about to see, they had some great displays put together. I thought you guys might be interested in seeing how this shop looks at Christmas after seeing it at Halloween. I'd be interested to know if any of these antiques or vintage pieces look familiar to you!

Thoughts on this? :)

Kind of a neat bird's nest display:

Isn't a muffin tin or cupcake holder a cool way to display ornaments?

Isn't this a pretty display? I'm feeling motivated to put something together like that garland or swag up top.

Didn't the store look beautiful for Christmas? It's hard to believe that's even the same building we saw at Halloween! I'll leave you guys with a pic from our village. This Santa statue is new this year, and isn't he the perfect photo opp?

In case I don't update in the next couple days, Happy New Year everyone! 💖