My Michaels Haul II

As August and summer draw to a close, Halloween fast approaches.  Stores are slowly, ever so slowly, displaying their Halloween merchandise.  I previously mentioned my endeavors this year in locating spooky merchandise, so I guess this is the second in the series.  Perhaps there will be more?  They better not all be Michaels entries!

Onto this shopping experience, which is actually two.  The first took place on Friday.  I was invited to a birthday party.  There was a gap between the end of my work day and the party, so I killed some time at JoAnn's (gotta buy fabric for my Halloween costume, of course!).  It wasn't my local one, and was quite a bit smaller, so I didn't really know what to expect.  Harvest/Thanksgiving decorations were displayed front and center, just as my local one the last time I was there.  As I walked past the first aisle, the next was nearly empty.  There were a few items at the end of the aisle, so a glimmer of hope blossomed in my dark little heart.  I went over to inspect - a few Halloween decorations (nothing to my taste), and loads of candy!  I grabbed some gum drops (I had been craving them all day, so I took it as a sign of fate), but nothing else.  That they had anything out pleased me greatly.  Sadly, their fabric selection was small and I only got one of three fabrics I need for my costume.  I guess I will need to hit up my local one after all.  I'll just give them a few days to put out their decorations. :)

The rest of my stops took place today.  The hubby casually mentioned that a Spirit store was opening by Michaels.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to stop in.  I almost never buy anything in these places.  It's usually of extremely poor quality, but I occasionally will buy decorative items or be inspired by their displays.  Mostly, they just convince me than ever that I'm better off making my own costumes.  Anyway, this one doesn't open until September, so I will save my judgment until then.  However, I did notice on the way there that my local Hancock is closing.  I guess the poor service I've always gotten there (except last the last time) finally did them in.

So now, onto Michaels.  Once again, they had so many fabulous items.  I have a Halloween tree (a gift from one of my sisters-in-law) that I have never hung any decorations from.  There were quite a few ornaments available.  While I didn't buy any, I think they'd be fantastic.  I'm waiting until later in the season so I can see what's for sale elsewhere. The first picture contains two cat collars and a skulls and bones bracelet.  Yes, I am one of those horrible people who dresses their cats in costumes (incidentally, you'll see glimpses of them in the pictures - I guess they also have the Halloween bug).  Last year, Theora was a catfish.  I'll try to post a picture of it as we get closer to the season.  The bracelet is going into my jewelry box, because yes, I am one of those people who wears cheap Halloween jewelry on non-Halloween days. The next picture features two hanging ghosts.  There's nothing too special about them, but they were cheap and I thought they'd look nice hanging from the chandelier. Picture #3 is a set of haunted portraits (the kind that change from a normal picture to a skeleton, demon, etc).  Obviously, hard to photograph, but I had to give it a shot.  You kind kind of see the effect in the picture.  Lydia is sneaking in a peek. The last two items are a hearse and what looks like a recipe box.  I call it a recipe box because that's the sort of box (with the rounded lid) my parents and my mother's parents kept their recipes in.  (My dad's mother seemed to keep all of hers in her head.  She's still going strong at the age of 85.)  I don't know if that's the actual term for it or not, but that's what I'm calling it.  I planned on using this to store my trivia questions, as every party I host has a trivia contest. Theora is hanging out behind the hearse because she knows how awesome it is.  Look, it even has a skeleton chauffeur!  Even my husband likes it, and that's saying something.  I immediately took this out of its box and put it on display.  This puppy is going to be a year-round decoration.