Halloween Antiques ~ Mostly friendly and a few that look haunted

I'm happy to be blogging about a recent trip to Farm Girl Antiques! I was wondering how different this year's trip would be, or if there would even be an open store to visit. Things seem up in the air for a lot of shops. But Farm Girl was doing well and was decorated festively for both the Halloween and Christmas seasons. Of course, I'm only going to be sharing the Halloween stuff with you guys. You'll probably remember this store from blog posts past, but every year there is different.   

I can't remember if I've ever shared what the outside of the store looks like. If I have, it probably didn't look as spooky as it does in this view. I don't know why the store was looking a little darker than usual; it could have been because it was an overcast day. This place really does look perfect to hold Halloween antiques, doesn't it?

I like the shapes in these windows. It appears there's some kind of book storage going on in the upper floors of this building.

So here we are at the front door where things are looking a little more friendly.

It's fun how even the most simple things can make a display. Our minds can fill in the blanks. It looks like this scarecrow has been doing some drinking...

This is a view into one of the front windows. You probably remember that this place has large old display windows. You can walk into these spaces from inside the store too.

How cool is this bat violin case? I feel like a short story could be written around this.

Same thing with this little rotter!

These look like printed copies of vintage treat bags. I'm not sure if this is a large piece of art paper, but I think it would be cool for scrapbooking or wrapping presents. 

I assume this felt party hat is vintage. Some of the items in this store are modern artistic creations, but this looks vintage or very vintage inspired to me. I was just searching the words "Felt Vintage Halloween Hat" online and saw some similar examples from the 1920s.

I like that chipping wall in the background. At least with Halloween decorations, it really adds something. 

This looks like a Bethany Lowe to me.

Oh, I'm now noticing that the "chipping wall" I mentioned is actually an old door. I can see where the knob would have been. And I'm guessing this is an old window frame that has been made into a sort of bulletin board? 

And how about this little ghoulie? I had been exclaiming how cool he was to my mom who I didn't realize was looking elsewhere. As it happened, one of the people running the shop walked past as I was saying that and said "Yeah!" So that was one of those funny, startling moments where I at least got an answer. :)

This looks like a decorated shelf that is actually in someone's house. I like that grumpy cupcake witch.

I didn't notice that kitty cat cupcake topper on her hat until seeing this picture at home. The brim of the hat reminds me of a flattened cupcake wrapper. I feel like this doll should be scary, but I think she's pretty. Wait, I'm looking at this and wondering if those are mossy spider legs attached to her?

Crepe paper decorations:

Some crunched cat lanterns:

This looks like one of those decorations where you wrap the paper fan type thing around the picture. I'm looking at these pics and appreciating the various shades of blue and green that are in the background. It looks good against the orange!

I ended up finding this paper skull ornament kind of buried under some other decorations. I took him out and made my own little display. Do you guys ever do that in stores? I mean, take various parts and put them together into a display and then leave it like that? 

OK, this was maybe the freakiest thing I saw that day. What even is this? My mom thought it was a mask. I don't know. It looks kind of small for that. But if it isn't a mask... ? 

Yeah, we're getting into the creepy stuff at this point. I think that doll face is far creepier without a wig, hat, or body attached to it. That bowl at the top of the pic was pretty cool. I liked the way the colors were going together on that.

And woo! This is maybe a little too real looking. And I feel like it's looking at me.

I noticed that this head reads "Debra Manikin" by Burmax. I googled that and saw that you can buy her at Sally Beauty. :) She's $62.99 there for a new one. OK, this has just led me down a rabbit hole of looking at cosmetology heads. 

This photo gives a nice view of the ceiling, which as you can tell is chipping. It looks like painted tin, which is now returning to tin. Again, another perfect background for Halloween photos.

This one feels full of life. Even though this mask is clearly empty, I feel like it is looking at me. 

How fun is this handle? The metal leaf is a nice touch too. 

I love this book cover. The Hardy Boys finding The Clue in the Embers. I don't think I've ever seen such a scratched up, textured book cover. And you see who is down there next to them? "Aunty Gravity".

Now onto what I'm going to call "The Owl Section".

This is a sweet one.

So funny I had to include him twice.

I took this last pic while standing in one of those display windows. The building you're looking at is now for rent, but was once used by the Milwaukee Ballet and before that it was the Schlitz South Side Palm Garden. Here's some fairly detailed history of the building and a few old photos you might enjoy:

Urban Spelunking: Milwaukee Ballet/Schlitz Tivoli Palm Garden

It always amazes me to see such an empty building that was once so full of life. Maybe there are still some beer garden ghosts hanging out in there.

Michaels Part 2: This Time More Halloweeny!

To my surprise, I am writing a second blog post about Michaels! I'm writing a second post, because recently I visited a Michaels with a different selection of Halloween items. It could be that some time has passed and they are just more fully stocked by now or it could be that this store ordered some different items. Either way, this might as well be a different brand of store from the last one I shared.

I found the selection at this store to be a whole lot more Halloweeny, and in that classic sort of way. I mean, these could be vintage blow molds. They were about the size of the smallest blow mold yard decorations. And how about that fierce little cat? I love that.

This pumpkin man was near the top of my favorites list from this trip.

This sign was set to 39 days till Halloween. I guess someone was thinking ahead at that point. Let's see... We actually have 44 days as of now. So this is getting near accurate.

A can of Authentic Black Cat's Hiss and Premium Bat Wings from "The Hocus Pocus Pharmacy". 😺

Oh, and I see they were bottled in Old Salem too...

The Genuine Bone Powder label is my favorite.

A couple adorable vintage-inspired pillows:

Another favorite:

I think these characters are candy bowl holders.

It was difficult to photograph this sign without catching a bunch of glare. But still, I'm sharing it because it's just so different. Kind of creepy in a way, with all those cats crawling around.

There's something sort of circusy about this one.

How cute is this?

I thought it was clever how someone designed this label to look like a Ouija board even though it has different text on it. You can still tell what it's referencing.

As I recall, this was made from a heavy ceramic type material.

This Michaels had quite the fun kitchen section. Just look at all these designs.

I would think a lot of these items would be good just on display. I wouldn't want to get them dirty with actual food or dishes.

This is actually a pumpkin made of super thin wood pieces. 

I saw a couple more pieces of what I was calling the miniature haunted bar crawl. I think it was called "Spooky Town" or something like that. Here we have "Death's Door" cemetery gates.

And the way I see this is as a witch leading her cat choir in song. I mean, what else could this scene be?

This was a fun, new kind of skeleton animal which looked more painted on than bare bones. It reminded me of some Day of the Dead folk art I've seen. It appears like the eyes might light up too.

This could be cute year-round and if I got my hands on it I would probably make the light pink bow a bubblegum pink and glittery.

I liked how this photo turned out, with those little skulls looking at me. It's like they're saying "Cheese!" for the camera.

I love these! When Michaels has their After Halloween sale, I might be back for a cluster of Venus Fly Traps. And in those bright colors too! They would be great in with a Halloween bouquet.

Michaels had several different takes on the Audrey 2. 

Nice skull vase:

I now notice those little tombstone votive holders back there. I bet those would look pretty good by candlelight. 

It looks like these three are singing to me. And I liked the way that little skull ended up peeking through. Remember that skeleton cat from earlier? I just noticed its box to the right. It looks like those eyes light up and big time.

And speaking of light up eyes...

What a furry coat! A somewhat less furry version:

How about this gremlin? Pretty spooky stuff. I'm not sure if he talks or lights up, but it seems like he should. And that sign: "Boo it yourself"☺

Don't you get excited to decorate when you see a wall of decorations like this?

This sign looked like it was laser cut from wood.

Selfie skeletons☺

There's a lot going on with this book design. Kind of a Sacred Heart, Loteria card mash-up? But with the eye... It looked familiar. I'm seeing stuff about the Eye of Providence. Is Michaels getting all Masonic here? 

Anyhoo... I'm not usually much up for things in cages, but I don't mind the skulls in there. This makes me think of some kind of pirate display.

There was a small but very fun Day of the Dead display too.

I like that they thought to add the marigolds. And how great would these look lit up?

Cuteness! 

Some fairly large skull platters: 

And lastly, this little cutie reminds me of Lydia from Beetlejuice. I mean, if she was a skeleton girl. It's the outfit. 

Well, there's Michaels Part 2. I doubt there will be a Part 3, but you never know!