The signs of Halloween!

I know of at least two locations where the 'Spirit' Halloween store is coming in. One is right next to my gym, so I will be over that way a lot! I drove by it today, and there were people inside starting to set up. Oh, joy! I love to see that huge, orange and black Halloween banner hanging on the building for all to see, announcing Halloween's arrival! It shouldn't be too long now until they start bringing in the goods. Walmart, and other stores like it, probably won't be far behind. I already found Fall/Halloween, (and even Christmas!) fabrics in Walmart when I was there a few weeks ago. Another place I've been keeping my eye on is TJ Max. They had some great stuff last year, and when I went back a few days ago, sure enough, they had started putting out Halloween! I bought a few things I just couldn't resist buying. One was a large October calendar made entirely of fabric. It has a haunted house design on it with little pockets that are the windows on the house, and mark each day of the month. Attached to the top by a string is a little candy corn-shaped piece of wood that you slide inside the pockets as you count down the days until Halloween. It is just too cute. I also purchased a new pumpking carving pattern book at Micheal's last week. It's one of those "Shadow" ones. I thought I'd give it a try. I plan to go back and buy a few of the fake pumpkins to do some of the carvings. I carved one last year and was very happy with how it turned out.

'Spirit' Halloween is on its way!

You know the Halloween season is really on its way when you see the first Halloween superstore sign. As I was driving to my dance class today, I noticed the huge 'Spirit Halloween' banner on one of the buildings that I drove by. It didn't look like the store was actually there just yet, but the fact that the banner was already up told me that the grand opening would be happening very soon! I failed to make it to a 'Spirit' store last year (*hides her face in shame*), but I have every intention of going this year. I always loved that store. They truly have some cool stuff. I put up my first decoration yesterday, but I have so much more to do! I can't wait. I decided that I want to make a cemetery scene. I think we have a nice location for one. I just need to get some headstones, lights, and a few other little goodies, and I think it will look pretty good. I really want to not only take pics of it, but I'd also love to even have some videotape. I've never downloaded a video onto the Internet, so not quite sure how that works. Hopefully, it isn't all too challenging, and I'll be able to do it without any real trouble. Maybe someone can offer me some good tips, and I can have my first video of a Halloween haunt!

Halloween is beginning to show its face, my fellow fiends. We don't have too long to wait now. I am looking forward to this night of nights as I always am.

A Fall teaser

I couldn't believe it when I got up at 6 a.m. this morning. I went outside to let the dogs out, and it was as if time had jumped ahead to the beginning of October or November. It was actually chilly. The air felt like it had a slight dampness to it, and I noticed the faint smell of rain. We have been turning on the whole house fan in these wee hours of the day, but this morning, instead of having the fan on in my room, I seriously considered putting on a sweater. It felt so much like a brisk autumn morning that I felt excited! It gave me an early taste of those wonderful fall mornings that I love so much, and that I look forward to during the dry, scorching days of summer. Before long, every morning will be like this. Fall is not so far away now. Signs of it are already showing up in stores and mail catalogs. We even received a Christmas catalog the other day! Michael's and Hallmark already have Halloween inventory on the shelves, and Christmas won't be far behind. I am already thinking about my Halloween costume. I want to start ordering some new decorations and start putting up the ones I already have. Not everyone is ready for summer to come to an end, but I am. I guess autumn is in my blood. I am one of the Autumn People.

Welcome, Halloween!

I went into a Hallmark store today to look for a sympathy card, and I was excited to see Halloween stuff on the shelf! Not only was there Halloween stuff, but Halloween 'Peanuts' style! They had several of the 'Peanuts' characters dressed in adorable little costumes. One was Sally wearing a princess costume and carrying a treat bag, and the other was Lucy in her traditional witch costume. When you press a button on their foot, they say one of their lines from 'The Great Pumpkin'. They also had a really cool Snoopy in costume that plays a spooky little tune. He's holding a bag, and inside the bag is Woodstock, also in a costume, who pops up and down as the music plays. I couldn't resist purchasing the Lucy and Sally dolls, and I have every intention of going back and getting Snoopy, too. Hopefully, they will get some of the other characters. It wouldn't be right to not have good 'ol Chuck in his ghost sheet covered in holes! They also had some wonderful Fall-scented candles, a cute little candy dish, a black, bendable tree that you hang various 'Peanuts' characters from, and some Halloween books. One was 'It's the Great Pumpkin', and I noticed a newly revised 'Great Pumpkin' dvd that also had a couple of newer 'Peanuts' features. They had little ornaments, such as one that resembled Morticia from 'The Addams Family', holding a glass of blood, and a sign above her head that reads, "Partying is in my blood". I bought that as well to hang from my rear-view mirror.

After Hallmark, I ventured on over to Michael's, since I was told they now have some Halloween inventory on the shelves. Sure enough, I immediately saw some decorations as I walked through the front doors. I was so excited that I literally had a hop in my step as I walked over to the aisle where they were hanging! Some of the stuff was new, as I hadn't seen it before, but I recognized a pretty good-sized skeleton bust that I had kind of wanted last year. Thinking this was all they had out so far, I walked towards the aisle where the brunt of their Halloween stuff is usually stored, but I found that it was moved down an aisle or two. One whole side of the aisle was already filled up. Some stuff I remembered from before, but I did see a bunch of new stuff by the Spookytown collection. I will definitely be buying a few more of those this year to add to what I already own. I bought three little ceramic skeletons. They're the kind with the dangly legs, and the funny flat butt that enables them to sit upright. I've already placed them on the windowsill that overlooks my bed. There's much more to come, and I look forward to going back as often as I can to see what new things I can't live without! This is such an exciting time for me! I love it when Fall and Halloween first start to appear!

Halloween arrivals

You know the Halloween season is indeed on its way when you start receiving Halloween catalogs in the mail. Just the other day, I got the Fall '09 catalog for The Winfield Collection, and even I was surprised to see it so early! In case you aren't familiar with TWC, it's a company that makes all kinds of wood patterns. There are patterns for every holiday, and every season. I have never done woodworking, but those of you who are into serious prop-making should find it quite easy, I should think. There are even patterns for things that light up. I subscribe to the catalog because at some point I plan to give this woodworking thing a try. I would love to be able to put up lit-up displays for Halloween and Christmas. This new catalog has some new patterns this year, one of which is a large haunted pirate ship. There is also a very cool looking glowing graveyard that I would love to have in my front yard. You can make things for indoors, too, such as a 3' tall witch, vampire, or Frankenstein candy holder. These would all be perfect additions to any Halloween decor.

http://www.thewinfieldcollection.com/category/Lighted_Halloween

Evangeline's...UPDATE!

Just yesterday, I had the privilege of learning that the Costume Mansion will be opening its doors, not on August 1st as it usually does, but this Thursday, July 16th! Apparently, the owner has decided to try opening the Halloween store a few weeks earlier this year to "see how it goes". I am hoping it goes very well, so that the owner decides to do it this early every year. It just gives me more time to save up and buy more Halloween goodies to decorate my house with! I hope to post pics of the Mansion soon, as I will certainly be paying it an early visit! Oh, joy!!! ;)





On August 1st, Evangeline's Costume Mansion will once again open its doors to the public to prepare for the Halloween season. Evangeline's is the best Halloween/costume shop in Sacramento (and possibly in all of northern CA). Located in an huge old, three-story building, the lower half of the store is open year-round, and you can find all sorts of crazy gags, gothic jewelry, games, incense, posters, and tons of other weird and wacky stuff. But it is the upstairs part, the Costume Mansion, that it is best known for. The upstairs section houses the wonderfully spooky Costume Mansion, which sells not only any costume you can practically think of, and is also decorated in all things Halloween and ghoulish. Naturally, it is my favorite part of the store, and it always bums me out that it's only open for this part of the year. They will allow you to take a special trip up there with an escort if you're in need of a certain costume or accessory, but is otherwise open only August through October. August 1st, to be exact, which means that I now have less than a month to go until my favorite store opens its doors! I always look forward to going there just to see the decorations, if nothing else. As you ascend the stairs, you gradually notice that the lighting is becoming dimmer, and then you realize the rooms are lit mostly by candelabras and wall sconces with flickering LED candles. There is a faint musty smell, and you truly feel like you are walking into an old, delipidated Victorian mansion. The walls, and even parts of the ceiling, are strewn with gigantic bats, spiders, spider webs, mummies, zombies and so on, while skeletons and other creatures of the night are propped up in corners, or glaring down at you as you pass underneath archways. There are different rooms, or different parts of rooms, with certain themes or types of costumes. One room has different styles of Egyptian, Greek, and Renaissance costumes; and then there is the Old West room ranging from saloon girl costumes, Can-Can dresses, and Wyatt Earp. They have a huge selection of wigs, too, and I love to go and try on all the different colors. Between all the make-up, costumes, lighting and other decorations, I could easily spend a fortune here. Oh, and did I mention that there is also a large elevator that you can choose to ride up in, if you'd rather not make the long climb up the stairs? Even the elevator is spooky! The inside has mirrors, and is dimly lit. The outside is black, and the walls leading up to the Mansion are also macabre looking. It is the Halloween lover's dream come true. You can find almost anything you need for a great Halloween party, or a night of trick-or-treating. I am so glad it opens in early August. It's wonderful for the Halloween enthusiast to have such an awesome place to begin his or her Halloween shopping early!

http://www.evangelines.com/

As Autumn nears, so the days grow shorter

Yesterday was the longest day of the year. From here on, each day will begin to grow shorter and shorter as Fall slowly creeps closer. I couldn't help but feel a little bit excited when someone reminded me of this yesterday. I love it when I can really start to notice it, when the leaves start turning red and orange, there's a chill in the air, and darkness descends before the clock strikes five. It's around this time that the autumn mood really takes hold of me. Signs of Halloween start popping up everywhere. Store fronts are lined with an assortment of pumpkins, and Halloween decorations and candy have their own aisle. I always buy a few pumpkins early just to have them around. I think I will carve a few extra this year. Maybe I'll do something totally different like paint one black on the outside so it looks extra creepy. I also plan to put up orange and purple lights all around the deck just like we do for Christmas. There are 130 days left until Halloween. I wish I could speed up time.