Fall Forest Life and Crafty Christmas at Farm Girl Antiques

I have some photos to share with you guys from Farm Girl Antiques! My mom and I made it there last week, so there wasn't much Halloween left. I'm going to start with the vaguely Halloween/Autumn displays and move into Christmas. I think you guys will still enjoy the Christmas antiques, because there are some unique, funky items. You might also get inspired to decorate or craft something similar. So, we're starting off with one spooky owl. Those eyes! And it's a little creepy, if realistic, to see that this owl has caught dinner. 

This owl lamp is much less menacing.🦉

The owls here... um. If you think that middle owl in the painting is sleepy, check out the owl candle at the bottom. :) Oh, I just noticed there are more owls on that sugar canister. 

I like these mushrooms. 🍄 It looks like someone rolled some birch-looking material around them. 

These little ornaments look like pumpkins to me. 

This deer area was lit up so well. As I'm looking over these photos, I'm realizing how many forest-themed displays were there. 🦌

You can see a few of the old buildings in this neighborhood from the store windows. The Farm Girl building has large storefront windows going around it. You know, the ones with plenty of space to put displays back in the day. She's filled all these little nooks and crannies with mini displays. I think some of the more interesting finds are in these areas.

Here's a view facing the back of the store. You can see the old tin ceilings being revealed. I try to imagine what it once looked like in here. 

I think every Christmas tree in there had a different shape. Many, like this one, had twisty little branches. Maybe some of you will recognize these vintage ornaments. A few of them are classics. 🌲

I was so focused on these cute pinecone critters, that I didn't even notice the book underneath them. 

I wonder what That's Why is about?

We're entering the retro pink and turquoise Christmas section here. 

I like this rainbow wreath. I wouldn't have thought of transitioning color around a wreath, but I'd like to try it. Think of all the color combinations or different shades that could go around a wreath. 

I have a feeling this doll head was part of a Halloween display before. I may even be remembering it from previous years. I'd figured it was the hat that was for sale, but now I'm not sure if this is all one piece. 

Here's a closer look at that ceiling. I wonder what the purpose of that ceramic couple is? I can tell that they held something. They look sort of St. Patrick's Day themed to me. 

This gives sort of an idea of that window space. As you can see, it's pretty roomy in there. 

The string lights add something festive. I bet this place looks interesting at night. Or it could, anyway. It's not open to the public past 4 pm. 

That glittery Santa sign is similar to the deer sign by the entrance. Now I'm wishing that I would have touched one of the signs to see what they were made of. Probably some type of cardboard. I doubt those large signs are vintage, but they have a definite vintage look. A number of items in this store are vintage-inspired crafts. I noticed that the store's name online has been changed to Farm Girl Art & Antiques, so maybe she's going more in that direction. 

I see another one of those little velvet mushrooms here. I may even like them better in pink. It's looking like she took actual pieces of birch bark to make that stand. I'd thought the stands were wrapped in some kind of birch-looking paper before. 

I like all these reflective objects together. That clear glass under the trees looks almost like rippling water. There are actually a few details I didn't notice before, like that planter behind the ornament. There are so many creative uses for containers in this store. I think every tree is standing in something unusual. 

I feel inspired by this icicle box. I'm sure we all have some sort of wood box like this around. Adding some icicles to the front of it makes a perfect container for whatever winter decorations you'd like to put inside. I see ideas like this online all the time, where someone has designed a centerpiece with candles and some sort of foliage in a box. 

Leaving Farm Girl Antiques now... This building neighbors the antique store and I'm sharing a photo of it because I thought you'd all appreciate the architecture. Look at the date up top: 1883. Someone has kept this building in great shape. I looked up "Lamers Building" and found a bit of history provided by the Grove Gallery which now operates in this building: Lamers Building History

I'd remembered taking this light fixture photo about the same time I took the above pic. I'm not seeing this fixture anywhere on the building, though. I don't get it, because the brick and trim are the same. Where is this light hiding? Maybe there was a twin building next door that I forgot about. Anyway, pretty cool ironwork! Even the lightbulb looks twisty.

We visited the Layton Fruit Market on the way back. Like a lot of places now, it was decorated with a bit of fall and a bit of Christmas. I was happy to see some painted store windows, which I haven't seen in a while. 

How cute is this ghost? 

I'm feeling inspired by those planter designs, and might try something like that with some greenery and a bow this year.

In case you missed that toothy little pumpkin in the corner. :) 

This display has been inside the store for years. I wonder how old this horse and cart are? If anyone has any ideas about this in any way, I'd like to hear them. This is an Italian grocery store, so that's a bit of a clue. I'm going to assume this is an Italian antique. 

There's a mini horse and carriage at the bottom. I'm not sure if I even noticed that little guy while in the store. 

And I can't leave out these guys. :)

I hope you guys enjoyed the virtual antiquing! Maybe you even feel inspired to put together some similar displays? I'd be interested to know if you recognize any of the antiques. 

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!