Witch Collector’s Open House

My friend Dan lives in small house on quiet suburban street in upstate New York along with more than 500 witch dolls, witch figurines and witchy accessories – some of them are valuable collectables, some of them are just plain fun! This past Sunday I was invited to his “Witch House Open House” where he had on display about three quarters of his collection. Oh my – what a kick! Every room has little groupings and vignettes of witches – yes even the bathrooms! Here he is in his dining room standing in front of a curio cabinet stuffed with witchy delights. His china cabinet holds no dishes – only witches!

Dan started collecting in earnest about 6 years ago and now he has a fantastic collection of witch figurines by Tony Costanza, maybe a couple dozen of Jim Shore’s witch figurines, a really unusual set of erotic little witches from the UK, pieces by Williraye Studio, Katherine's Collection, Pendle Witches, Jacqueline Kent Witches, lots of different kitchen witches, Leo Smith and some from a local ceramic witch figurine maker/painter. At left - shelf of living room curio cabinet stuffed with witch figurines.

He is a “regular” at the Salem stores where he makes annual buying to trips to find pieces that are new and unique. He’s also become a good customer and friend of MoonStruck Gifts. I thought I knew a lot about collecting witch dolls, but I learn a lot from Dan!

At left - the other shelves of the living room curio cabinet - stuffed with magical witch figures, statues and sculpted vignettes.

In Dan’s House, family pictures mingle easily with the witches!

How to have a Witch Hat Party

There's a little bit of witch in all of us, Ladies! Celebrate that part of you with a gaggle of your best girlfriends - have a witch hat party! If it's a big party, you might want to have a prize for the most elegant hat, the most unique hat, etc. If it's just a small group like my friends pictured here, just spend the night complimenting each other's hats and make sure you've got plenty of potion!

The white witch is my best friend, Betsy in her white witch hat by Dept 56. Damn! That hat has been discontinued... it was to die for!
What a blast we had, everybody brought their brooms and a dish to knosh... lots of fun!


Check out our fantastic collection of witch hats!


I know of a group of witchy girlfriends in West Palm, Florida who call themselves "The Witches of West Palm" (what a great name!) and they go all out for their parties. Take a look at the table for their little "party"!


Is that fantastic or what?
Hand painted "Wicked" wine glasses make a bewitching table setting and fun take-home favors. Easy to make - take a look at my blog prior to this one for instructions on how to paint "Wicked" wine glasses - I use a quality Libby stem, but you can go to the Dollar Store and get your's.




For witchy party favors -

Take a look at these little "Sinister Stilletos" by Katherine's Collection - $5 each - love 'em!

How to paint your own Wicked Wine Glasses

Well, since blog content is supposed to be informative as well as self promoting... I thought we'd have a little lesson in painting Wicked wine glasses. I sell lots of them in the shop - both the simple design you see pictured here and the more intricate design with the painted base.

The secret to painting words on a glass is simple - Pick out a cool font, type the word "Wicked" or whatever word you want to paint and size it to be about 2 inches wide. Print the word out and then cut it out close to the top and sides. Put a little scotch tape on the piece and tape it to the inside of the glass so that the word reads from the outside of the glass. Then just paint the word on the outside of the glass "tracing" the taped image. If you're using black paint, print the word in another color like green so you can see the difference between what you've painted and what you haven't.

I use Liquitex Glossies for paint - it's more expensive than the Enamels brand you can find at Michael's, but I paint a lot of glasses. There's nothing wrong with Enamels, just make sure you don't let the paint get too thick or it becomes really hard to get nice smooth lines. Most important - Get a good brush! It's all about the brush! Then you bake the glass according to the directions on the paint.
And if you don't want to do all that (but really, it's fun) go to http://moonstruckgifts.com/halloween-home-decor/witch-hats-more/ and buy one!

Link to Pendle Witches

What a dingbat I am! I was just looking at the Pendle Post I did a week ago and I realized I hadn't included the link to the page to see them all! Here it is: http://moonstruckgifts.com/witch-dolls/witches-of-pendle-dolls/.

Also a couple more pictures... these girls are just charmers!

My favortite time of year - Fall

Well, it's getting to be my favorite time of the year - Fall. I can just smell the change in the air! (Also the early Cortland apples on my kitchen table!) Started selling LOTS of witch dolls and kitchen witch dolls... I mean they sell all year round, but they really fly outta here in the fall!

Well, as far as I know, we're the only place in the US that sells the Pendle Witch dolls - and they are fantastic! All hand painted porcelain faces, hand and feet, layers of skirts, shawls - they even all have earrings on!

Each Pendle Witch doll has her own personality and attitude - and they are extremely well priced for the craftsmanship you get. I love them!  Take a look at our collection of "Kitchen Witches."