Halloween Countdown Day 7: A Grab Bag of Orange Halloween MAAAAGIC!!! (Plus some other stuff)

For tonight's program I wanted to showcase some recent Goodwill finds. But the main purpose of this post is this wonderful bag of bright orange Halloween goodness: 

I didn't really look the bag over too carefully, but I saw something witchy in there that I wanted for sure, so I picked this up straightaway. Let's see what was inside, shall we!

The least interesting items in the bag for me were these two bits. A plastic pumpkin and a yarn and canvas jack o' lantern pin. I have zero to say about wither of these. They were just sort of in there.

Some more filler items here in the form of some treat-bag skeletons and a big black rubber spider. The spider immediately took up residence in the dining room chandelier: The skeletons joined int he fun on the bookshelves in the dining room (more on the dining room decorations in a future post!) 

Now we're getting into what I consider to be the "fun" stuff. Look at these guys! I am especially enchanted with the one in the dead center. Look at that face! The ones on the left and right went into the dining room decorations, while the awesome guy in the middle lives on my year-round Halloween shelf in the cave now.

These ladies I went absolutely NUTS over. LOOK at them! No idea when these would have been produced, but they're made of a hard orange plastic with black highlights painted on. They are adorable! These are what made me pick up this grab-bag in the first place. 

AND THEN THERE'S THIS CAT!!! My absolute favorite number one item out of the whole bag is this guy right here. A black cat with a Jack O' Lantern on its back? Yes please! This item absolutely SCREAMS Halloween! Now, I'm not sure but I think these are supposed to be some sort of candle holders? I don't think I would dare to use them as such... and that might not be what they're really for at all anyway. Either way, as an objets d'art of the spookiest holiday season? Perfect. One of the witches and this kitty right here ended up as permanent members of my year-round Halloween shelf.

Here's a look at the bag in its entirety. There was more packed in there than I had suspected when I picked it up! Those are always the best kinds of grab-bags. If they're cheap and I see one or two items in there I know I want, I usually don't look any closer, because I like to be surprised when I get them home. Now onto the decidedly UN-Halloween-y items in my haul! 

I've mentioned recently that I have begun collecting old cassette tapes. This small batch came home with me the other day. Susanne Vega's 99.9 Fahrenheit Degrees, a couple of episodes of the old Shadow radio show, Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson, and the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. Loved Suzanne Vega's catalog of music, I've always wanted to hear some of the old Shadow radio shows, and I love both the movie and soundtrack to O Brother. The Louis Armstrong tape is especially exciting for me though because some of my greatest musical pleasures in life are the songs of Louis Armstrong. "Just One of Those Things" "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and yes, the ever classic "Wonderful World" are songs I can play time and time again. I have a collection of his duets with Ella Fitzgerald which are some of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Their version of "Summertime" is slow and sultry and amazing. So anytime I find a new collection of songs to listen to is a good day. 

To store my cassettes, I picked up a couple more drawer-cases to store them in. I dig the old-style faux wood paneling on these bad boys. My Aunt used to have a set similar to these back in the day, and I now have a much greater capacity for storing my wonderful retro collection. 

When I first saw the price-tag was 1.99 I scoffed, and then I noticed that these were being sold... AS A SET!!! So I got both cases together for this price. 

There was one last grab-bag in the bunch, this set of minion toys! The one in the middle is a cereal premium, and the other two came from McDonald's Happy Meals. I believe these were the last two I needed to complete the set! Love these guys. 

NOT a terrible haul for a quick trip into Goodwill! I didn't even bother looking at the books section! 

That's all I've got for tonight kids. But I'll be back tomorrow with more Gangrenous Goodwill Goodies... Until then, Happy Haunting!