Black cats, scary crows and spooky spider webs are here just in time for Halloween!
Scaredy Cat really isn’t so scared as he is scary, for you and your guests this season. Our Scaredy Cat Accent is purrrfect to place in a window or door frame to set the tone for your Halloween and harvest décor. The lace details are seen by the hairs that are standing up strait on the cat’s back. Don’t let this black cat cross your path or be prepared for a series of bad luck.
In Great Britain and other parts of Europe however, a black cat is actually considered to bring prosperity and good luck. In Germany, if the black cat specifically moves across you from left to right, it is granting you favorable times; though other way around it’s a bad omen. The superstitions surrounding black cats in western culture, may have came about due to our pilgrim ancestors. They believed a black cat was a companion to the much hated witches of the time; thus they were evil because they were associated with the devil. Anyone caught with a black cat would have been severely punished or killed. Opposite superstitions arose during the time of the Pharaohs in Egypt. The Egyptian Cat Goddess, Bastet, was believed to favor households that owned black cats. You may be familiar with various black feline, Egyptian statues that appear the way they do, because of that belief. Whether you believe a black cat is good luck or bad luck, decorating with them for Halloween has never been more fun!
When it comes to spider webs, at Sturbridge Yankee Workshop we have a couple of options for you. Our Spider Web Valance, (as seen here to the right) has the look of a black cobweb with spiders to add instant drama to any window or door. Use alone or with other curtains, hung either high or low. Perhaps you would like to coordinate with our Scaredy Cat Accent? We have small spider webs too. Our Lace Spider Web Accents mimic the intricate silk webs that spiders produce, these webs can be displayed separately or in a grouping for a greater affect. Packaged as a set of three spider webs of different sizes, our Lace Spider Webs are of course a crisp black color.
Spider webs unlike cobwebs are webs that are still sticky and currently in use; cobwebs being abandoned spider webs. That stickiness is what allows the insects or other prey to be trapped and provides nutrition to the spiders. Though the initial reason for spiders creating silk webs was for their own protection or to shield their eggs. Spider silk, or silken thread, is produced in the spider’s glands. Different types of silk are generated based on the current needs of a spider or the type of spider it is. Did you know that spider webs several hundred years ago, because of their high level of Vitamin K, were used as gauze pads to clot blood?
Perhaps you know about the crow, but did you know that the crow is now one of the world’s most intelligent animals? They are able to comprehend the need and use for tools. Like us humans, this remarkable bird can solve problems with the use of tool making. For example, in a 2002 study, researches witnessed a crow bending a piece of wire to assist himself in making a hook, in order to grab a bucket of food! Due to this fascinating behavior, some scientists believe it puts the crow’s intelligence level above that of the chimpanzee.
A black lace design of a crow walking along in search of its next meal on an autumn day, is seen here to the left, in our Lace Crow Accents. We see details on the body, face and feathers of the crow and a small background behind the crow’s feet. All of our lace accents include suction-cup hooks for use on glass or other smooth surfaces.
For more Halloween decorating ideas click here. Happy decorating and Happy Halloween from Sturbridge Yankee Workshop!
They only come around once a year and now that we are nearing the start of fall, that time is here. Pumpkins are a gourd like squash that are native to North America. Most commonly having a thick orange or yellow shell, pumpkins truly are a treat this season. Having received the name pumpkin by the first American colonists, from a root word of pepon in Greek; which means “large melon.” Pumpkins, depending on where they are grown, can weigh anywhere between less than 1 pound to over 1,000 pounds. The record for largest pumpkin was topped in 2010, with an astonishing 1,810.5 pound pumpkin!
