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 posing crow, essential oils, and palmistry

Happy Spring everyone! The Spring Equinox is here and it's starting to actually feel that way. We're getting near 50° and that's a big deal after this winter. I took a few photos recently that also feel like a big deal to me. They're a big deal because I haven't taken a lot of crow photos. Crows generally fly away by the time I've gone in to get my camera. But this one was ready to do some modeling! It not only waited for me to go inside and get my camera but gave me a whole bunch of different poses to photograph.

Don't you wonder where the crow's feet are? It's amazing to watch the balancing act of a bird that chooses to cling to the very top of a tall tree on a windy day. But this bird was balanced.

"Caw!"

"Just look at my bendy neck!" Did you know a crow could do a 180° with it's neck? I didn't. I guess no one is going to sneak up on a crow! This looks almost Photoshopped or unnatural in some way.

I was at the library a few nights ago and actually ran into a crow book. I didn't end up checking it out, because it was written in a pretty boring way. This is saying something, because I really like crows! So the interest was there. I actually put it back on the shelf, then picked it up again, paged through it and said to myself "Nope, still boring". It was written like the driest scientific manual ever. But someday I would like to read more about crows (in a different style of writing) because there is so much to know. They're some of the smartest creatures out there!

So I didn't end up with the crow book, but I did end up checking out some other books. I think some of you might be interested in these two. The first is about essential oils. That's my groovy skull scarf in the background. It ended up going with the kind of sketchy style of the book cover.

I've only just skimmed this book so far, but it appears to be good for the stage I'm at with essential oils. That stage being that I have a few oils and a few recipes and a handful of questions. This book looks like it will offer some explanations I'm looking for. I posted a pic of the contents here, in case any of you were wondering if this is a book for you.

From the parts I've skimmed, this is a pretty hip and up-to-date book. I could tell it was written recently. There are also some cute illustrations in it. This is a favorite:

He just cracks me up, pointing at his beard like "Check this out".

Another book I brought home was this one about Palmistry. As I paged through it today, I felt like I'd seen it before. This would have been years and years ago. It just seemed familiar. So far it's been pretty flattering in what it said about my hand. :)

The back, to give you more of an idea of what's in here:

The chapters:

The health part was surprising to me. I expected this book to mostly be about personality traits. But according to the health section, various bumps and lines on a hand could signal health problems. I dared to look at that page and I'm doing fine health-wise, according to my hand. :)

I'd be happy to discuss the subjects of either of these books if you guys have an interest. Anyone have a favorite essential oil recipe or use? Or maybe a little palm reading advice or thoughts about that?

P.S. ~ Besides March 20 being the spring equinox, there will also be a full super moon. So it is astrologically a big night! We haven't had a spring equinox and super moon together in 19 years.