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. 🧛

Menards Halloween ~ Worth checking out this year!

Hey everyone! I'm glad to be back on here. I've been wanting to blog, but had to finish backing up all the photos on my computer first. That process took several months, pretty much nonstop. My computer has been slowing down, and it seemed like possibly now or never if I wanted to get those photos backed up. I backed up my photos in a number of places, and Shutterfly was one of them. They'll give you unlimited photo storage, but you have to make a purchase every 18 months. So I created a set of coasters from some Halloween photos I took in Cedarburg years ago. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! I'll share some photos of those at the end of this post. 

So, Menards has some pretty great Halloween stuff out this year. When you walk into the store, you're met with some new inflatables. Of course you can't see this in a still photo, but this skeleton has inflated eyes that spin in circles.

Maybe you guys have seen inflatables with these cool, led light details. The green lights in the ghost's mouth and the cat's eyes are these little dots that have a 3-D effect like they're moving inward.

I love these half skeletons! I've seen variations on these in a few stores this year. It looks like this one might have eyes that do something. 

I think Menards has really stepped it up with their large-scale Halloween figures. That inflatable witch that you're seeing the back of is 20' tall! Next to her is the Wendigo. Can you see his hooves? I think they were calling the crow skeleton figure a Plague Doctor. 

I liked that Wendigo so much that you're going to see a few photos of him.

If you lived near a wooded area, or had a number of trees in the backyard, how perfect would this be behind one? I'm getting spooked just thinking of that. 

The Wendigo's eyes light up and he makes a kind of grunting/groaning/grrrring sound.

I really don't remember what the Plague Doctor had to say. He moved his clawed hands back and forth and lit up.

Here's a close-up of the giant witch inflatable. Her crystal ball has some light movement in it.

This was a new one to me too. I'm sort of remembering someone around here having a headless horseman inflatable, but I think it doesn't have a horse.

How about the "Inflatable Skeleton Highland Cow with Fur"? I got a kick out of this. Have you ever heard of this critter as a Halloween character? Unless I'm missing a reference here... 

These inflated tentacles look amazing, if you have the house for them. You'd need enough windows of a certain size in row.

Onto the gift/decoration section. They had a few new metal signs, and this one was my favorite.

This was fun. You can rotate the planchette so it goes over a certain zodiac sign and number. Of course I had to put it on my sign and birthdate. :)

X-Ray candle holders:

This is a close-up of a wreath. I'd like to try making one of these ornament wreaths sometime. 

This guy is another talker. I think he's supposed to blend in with a tree trunk. If he was a good match for the tree, I would think he'd be pretty effective.

Sssss...

Vintage-style cans:

I'm most happy with the next photos. These are going to be from the miniature Halloween village section. The miniatures were lit up really nicely this year, so they photographed well.

The Texas Hold 'Em riverboat. I'm just now noticing the hand rising from the waves.

So here we have the skeleton witch lady with... her daisy dog? Or maybe it has a cone around its head because it's injured? Can anyone help me out here?

The "Heads Will Roll" bowling alley:

The Witchy Candy Shop:

"Scaredy-Cat" Pet Grooming:

This is either a lighthouse or a water tower. 

There was a Mickey Mouse themed pumpkin house with some cute Mickey details. See the Mickey Bat weather vane? And there's a Mickey pumpkin next to the house.

There was a Looney Tunes house too. I have a vague memory of this Franken-Tweety creeping up on Sylvester. Was there an old episode where Tweety is turned into this creature by a Mad Scientist, or am I making things up?

I saved my favorite photo for last. This is something to do with toxic waste. I'm not even sure. But I really like the way the lights turned out!

So, there's Menards for you! I think they have a better Halloween selection than usual this year. And here are those Shutterfly coasters:

They have cork backs and are super sturdy.

I recommend their photo coasters! This was my first time ordering anything from Shutterfly, so I'm off to a good start. Do any of you use Shutterfly? If so, do you have any products to recommend?