Spooky new finds at the mall

I have a mix of fun Halloween stuff to share. I saw these items while out and about at the mall yesterday. There are so many Halloween-themed goodies out there that I could be picky and choose my favorites from each shop. Starting with T.J. Maxx, as expected everything looked different from the last time I was there. I'm not sure how quickly the Halloween stuff sells there, but it was like a different store from a few weeks ago. 

Starting with this goofball! How funny is he? It looks like he has marshmallow teeth. Someone probably has stuck marshmallow teeth into a real pumpkin with toothpicks at some point.

I love this little guy. Again, how classic! He looks like he could fit in with some of what Michael's has to offer this year. 🎃

This next one is a candle, which I included because it has something different. The "Autumn Apparition" label is pretty enough, but wait until you see the lid.

How neat is that? It comes with its own little apparition on the top. This looks like a chalkboard ghost.

I'm not sure if you guys can tell, but this giant bow is made of metal. So it won't lose its shape. This bow is actually from the Martha Stewart brand.

This next decoration is so fun! This old-fashioned looking TV set is pretty cute even if it did nothing, but you press the button on top and...

Woo! Skeleton party time! They spin around and the lights flash and some kind of party (rap?) music plays. It's really fun.

T.J. Maxx had a few packs of coffee from the "Bones Coffee Company". Are you guys familiar with that brand? I love the "From Dusk Till Donuts" label in part because I love the movie From Dusk Till Dawn, but also because... everything else about this design.

This one looks like something for those skeletons inside the TV set. "Electric Unicorn - Fruity Cereal". I wouldn't know what to expect from this. Fruity Pebbles flavored? Again, great packaging design.

And then, there's this - "What the Fluff?!" I laughed out loud when I saw this one. I mean, I laughed at the name. The art is yikes. Has the skeleton mad scientist filled them with evil cotton candy fluff? What the fluff is going on in this picture?

This picture was taken through the glass case at the fancy jewelry counter. I think that's mostly Betsey Johnson jewelry under there.

A closer look:

After T.J. Maxx, I revisited Spirit Halloween to see what they had added in the past week. They had a number of miniature backpack coin purses out. I thought this little Mystery Machine one was adorable.

They had some new press on nails out too. These funky nails were in the Hippie section:

For being called a "Killer Jester" I thought this mask was pretty.

They had out tons of socks too. How creepy would these Jeepers Creepers socks be peeking out from under some pants legs? 👀

Little selfie bat and ghost!

This is a close-up view of a tray. Check out the eyes on the sand castle.

Beetlejuice fans will understand the shape of this frame and the finger. Look up "Beetlejuice fireplace" and you'll see that a number of people have actually built their own.

It took a number of tries to photograph this mirror without someone's reflection in it. You can see a bit of what the store looks like in the reflection, though.

OK, so this section is a little off color, but they have some Jack the Ripper and Lizzy Borden themed things. I personally wouldn't want to go there with some of those decorations, but this Jack bust is pretty cool.

I mean, a skeleton with a mustache!

And these! Pink Chihuahua skeletons. They're probably about the size of a real Chihuahua.

So moving on to the Rock America store. I don't think I've taken pictures here before, but this would be a good place for you fellow Halloween people to shop. Starting with the window display. Can any of you tell me what band this shirt goes with? I'm sure it goes with a band and part of me thinks I should know.

A close-up of the eye escaping from the socket:

They have so many T-shirts! Wall after wall of them. So here is part of the Horror shirt display. I'm seeing things here I didn't even notice at the time.

The Boogeyman up there is hands down my favorite. I'm a big fan of the original Halloween and this sort of comic design with the retro font and border is great. I like the colors too. I found the shirt online and as you probably guessed, the whole words are "The Boogeyman Followed Me Home".

If you guys have a Rock America store nearby, they have a sale going now with those shirts on the wall. It's a buy three, get $10 off sale I think. 

Rock America has more Grateful Dead shirts than you can shake a stick at! 💀🌹🐻 This Tarot one is a favorite of mine. And I'm counting cool skeleton shirts as part of my theme.

So there's a glimpse of what's new and spooky at the mall. I'm sure there will be much more in the coming months, and you know I'll keep you updated. 😀

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. 🧛