For All Good Things Are Best When Shared ...

Looking for a fantastic fall banner? A cute and cozy button for your blog? Or a free "pick me up" to add to your online landscape, sure to attract a visitor's eye?

Like this one, for instance???

Then look no further than Life in the Craft Lane ... with artist Mandie, of course ... for free and for-sale treasures in the form of all the above-mentioned categories. Please click her link on the right (under "Artist Friends") or follow our little Halloween parade to the link below and click

HERE to go straight to her site and see if there is something for you. Right now, she's featuring wonderful Halloweeny banners perfect for Etsy shops, so drop by and pay her a visit!

Stocking Stuffers

Good haunted stocking stuffers aren't hard to find...

...all you need is a little voodoo doll, a poison apple, and a few handy cloves of dried garlic. And a few twisty orange-striped candy canes don't hurt, either.

See more pics of the Witch's Stocking on Ebay this week by clicking our Chessy Cat link on the right!

Gandalf Greybeard

Gandalf walks through the misty forests of Middle Earth ...

... where Hobbits glimpse his figure in the shadows beneath the trees.

See Gandalf Greybeard on Ebay this week; click the vanishing Cheshire Cat on the right for more details ....

Fifty Halloween Movie Horrors (or A Few of Our Favorite Things)

In all their B movie line glory, cheesy special effects, and predictable stories, absolutely NOTHING beats classic horror films of the '50's and '60's when it comes to Halloween entertainment.

I bought this 50 (yes, count 'em -- 50) movie DVD set on Ebay for around five dollars and have slowly watched my way through hours of horror films in anticipation of Halloween. Admittedly, there were quite a few duds, even by my low standards ... don't bother to catch "Swamp Women" on late night tv anytime soon.

But there were some absolute gems, such as "Creature from the Haunted Sea", whose laughs are on par with the average "Get Smart" episode -- and "Carnival of Souls", which came close to a chilling effect with its spooky story.

The absolute best (thus far) however, is "Beast of Yucca Flats" -- with dubbed-in dialogue, senseless chase scenes, and a monster with all the speed of a rolling pumpkin, it takes the cake for entertainment with sheer laughter.

While we may laugh at these films, there is a deep appreciation for the genre and atmosphere which these films created as they attempted to frighten (or simply entertain) audiences in movie houses and drive-ins across America. Pick up a few this Halloween and enjoy some not-so-scary entertainment courtesy of classic Hollywood.

Flying Lessons

Maybe it's Magic ... or maybe it's that handy instruction manual. Either way, this witchy little lady is willing to try her broom.

See more of this "Flying Lesson" fright on Ebay this week ... just click the vanishing Cheshire Cat link on the right.

Vintage-y Halloween Stuff

Calling all Vintage Halloween fans to visit the Vintage Holidays and Crafts site. Card collectors, artists, and Halloween lovers will be enchanted by the free vintage images, as well as silhoutte designs, masks ...

... and links to cool sites and spooky products. Just remember, follow their rules: don't bundle the images electronically for sale and give the site credit for use. Dozens of images are made available for artists and crafter to use in projects or enjoy through display, including cards like the one below.

The site is linked on our blog on the right, under places we love to visit. Feel free to check them out, along with their sister site on Vintage Christmas ornaments.

Trick Or Treat?

These two little Trick or Treaters are hardly spooky ...

...even underneath those funny little masks.

'Fraidy Cat and Red Robin are currently listed on Ebay (they are the 2008 OFG Halloween Celebration piece two of us created as a team). Click the vanishing Cheshire Cat on the right to see more pictures of them.

Madame Defarge

Madame Defarge is knitting up a little surprise this Halloween ...

... in scarlet thread between wicked wooden needles ...

... dyed red with a little help from three hapless (and now headless) victims of the French Revolution.

"There's nothing like a Basket o' Heads for striking terror in the masses," she says.

I think she might be right.

MaryAnne and the Pumpkin Goblin

Don't be scared on Halloween ...

Things are seldom what they seem.

Although MaryAnne's not so sure ... maybe that really is a goblin hovering behind her and not just a kid in a mask.

View MaryAnne and the Pumpkin Goblin on Ebay this week!

Mad About Wodehouse (or a Few of Our Favorite Things)

Among the many Favorite Things which we've collected over the years are books. The latest is my developed passion (nay, an addiction) to Wodehouse's novels -- the Jeeves series topping the list . Far and away, my favorite is "Right Ho, Jeeves", as pictured below ...

...which was adapted for the Fry and Laurie version of "Jeeves and Wooster". The addiction to Wodehouse resulted in a substantial Ebay purchase of 30 (yes, count 'em, 30) Wodehouse novels in a sizeable lot, complete with several Jeeves as well as the "Blandings" series and a couple of his best stand-alone works. Reissued dozens of times, the pictures and names vary from America to Britain, but Wodehouse's humor is equally funny on either side of the ocean.

The miniseries version is perfect adaptation for Masterpiece Theater fans (with a dash of Monty Python-worthy silliness thrown in). Check out the prices and volumes available on Amazon or Ebay for a bargain on Wodehouse's British masterpieces on page and screen.

Two-Faced Dorian Gray

Batman's nemesis and Jekyll and Hyde weren't the only two-faced villains in literature...

Say hello to Oscar Wilde's infamous creation ... and the beast within him. Just click the Cheshire Cat link to the right to see more of him on Ebay.

Mummy and Child

"Mummy dearest" cradles her baby ...

... all swaddled in ancient Egypt's bandages ...

... after all, it gets a little cold haunting those mouldering old tombs beneath the sand.

These two are currently haunting Ebay -- check out the Cheshire Cat link to see more.

The Turn of the Screw (Times Two)

Oh, dear, can it be?

That these children you see --

-- are just ghosts in the shape of a child?

Perhaps this young governess has been reading too many gothic novels ... or are their innocent little faces a tad too pale? Only Henry James knows for sure ...

Click the Cheshire Cat link on the right to see the Governess and her Ghostly Charges on Ebay!