Shivers of Delight

Tomorrow morning my husband and I jump in the car and head out to Marshall, Michigan for the Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween art show. I am so EXCITED!  If you're going this year too, make sure you look for me and say hi! I'll be at the early buy part of the show at 8am, and I'll be wearing my new, bright orange, Halloween Witch dress- if I can wear my pumpkin shoes, I'll have those on too. This show really kicks off the season for me and believe me when I say it is magical. To be surrounded by such amazing Halloween artists all in one place is awesome, but add in the beautiful booths and you'll be in spooky heaven. If you haven't been before, make sure it's on your bucket list. Keep an eye on my Instagram account for photos of my trip. I hope to see you there!

What's the scariest hour of Halloween? It's not midnight or even 3AM. It's not the hour when your trick-or-treat candy is about to run out and you see a busload of kids pull into your driveway- although that ranks up there.  No, the scariest hour of Halloween for me is the hour before our Halloween party is about to begin. Ask my husband; he'll tell you. He gets really nervous as that hour gets closer. He tries to stay at least 8 feet away from me and gives me sly, worried, sidelong glances. He gets very quiet. One hour before the official start of our party I turn into a panicked maniac. I'm like a cross between a mad scientist and a werewolf. Simultaneously throwing food and alcohol around and biting the heads off anyone trying to help who cannot read my mind. My stomach is in my chest and my heart is in my throat.  What are you doing? Fan those slices of cheese! No the cookie tray is all wrong! Alternate colors for gods sake! Who put these napkins here! Turn the ...

It's not like I haven't tried several times before over the years, but each time I thought I found a way to easily document my Halloween art collection it failed. If you've been collecting Halloween art for a few years, I'm sure it has crossed your mind that you really should be writing down information about what you've purchased. I've been collecting for many years, and every time I thought about documenting the collection my eyes glazed over.  My first attempt at least four years ago was to use an app called Sortly. I love Excel spreadsheets and thought that an app might work well for me. I could take a picture with my phone and enter the info about the piece right into the app. There was also a variety of folders you could use and at first it seemed great. But after about 2 weeks, I realize that while it was useful it wasn't easy for me to just look something up quickly and I soon stopped using it. I had to pay for a yearly subscription and after a year ...

Eight years ago , I realized I wanted to share my love of Halloween with others. I had never blogged before and quite frankly, I hadn't really read many other blogs either. I told myself that I would just start writing and if I got bored I would stop. Well, 8 years later I may have slowed down blog posting a bit, but I'm still as passionate about Halloween as I ever was. It's been a long time since I introduced myself to my blog readers and social media followers, so here goes. I was born long enough ago to remember watching episodes of the original Dark Shadows tv series while hiding behind a chair in my parents' tv room. This strategic location - also used to watch the cartoon Scooby Doo - illustrates my utter fascination with the spirit world and my complete lack of understanding of how a television worked.  In middle school and then high school, I made my own Halloween costumes from things we had around the house and imagined what it would be like to attend a Hallow...

I happened to be scrolling though some old posts of the blog and came upon a post about a graveyard quilt in the possession of the Kentucky Historical Society. I want to share it with you again because I posted it in 2015 and you may not have seen it or have forgotten about it - I did. To learn about the quilt, made in 1843 and see more photos, check out my blog post Graveyard Quilts . I've updated the links in the post and freshened it a bit.  

Laura Zindel's pottery has been a favorite of mine for as long as I've been writing this blog. Made in Vermont, Zindel's pieces echo the beauty in nature. Creepy crawly spiders and bugs become things of beauty. You might not think you would want to eat off a plate with a giant spider on it, but I think you'll find that Zindel's reverence for nature will have you feeling pretty good about it! In addition to spiders and bugs, the pieces also contain mushrooms, birds, and other forest creatures. Find the pottery at Laura Zindel Design .  Harlequin Beetle Platter Tarantula Small Bowl Tarantula Small Serving Dish Ghost Pumpkin Small Bowl Parasol Mushroom Mug Set of 3 Jars Zindel offers both handmade (more expensive) and dinnerware pieces in her shop. Take a look and I'm sure you'll fall in love with something there.

If you're looking to spook your neighbors with a creepy porch or balcony garden I found the most whimspookal pots for your lovingly cultivated black petunias.  Really, how spectacular would a porch garden with bright pot and all black flowers be?! The ceramic pots from Smisi Vandal are just what you need. Devil and Angel Pot Vampire Pot Crazy Love Pot Jack and Sally Pot Devil Pot Queen of Snakes Pot Damn it! Now I'm on the hunt for black petunias... Check out the shop for mote pots, keychains, and even puppets!