I’ve previously linked to some neat DIY tutorials for spiked heels, such as these chain heels and these Christian Louboutin knockoffs. If you’d like to extend the spikes beyond your feet, here are a few other items that seem ripe for the DIY treatment.

Incidentally, the studs and spikes required for these projects can often be found at craft and sewing supply stores. They’re also available online here and many other places (search “jewelry supply spike” for other sources).

Sunglasses – It’s hard to tell for sure from the photo, but these appear to be wrap-around sunglasses. Choose a style with a fairly wide side piece (such as these) to give you room to decorate, and use jewelry adhesive to attach spikes and other decoration. Obviously, you’ll need to be mindful of weight limitations, since too many spikes will make it hard to keep the glasses on your face.

Bracelets – These photos are nice in that they show what the back of the piece looks like, although I do question how comfortable those screw heads would be against one’s skin. The construction should be relatively straightforward: Get a metal cuff bracelet blank (available at craft and jewelry supply stores), decide on the placement of the spikes, mark each spot with a grease pencil, drill the appropriate holes, and screw in the spikes.

Top Hat – Seen in several photos in this gallery. This project seems like it’d be extremely easy: Get a top hat and stick spikes in it. Mark the desired placement using tailor’s chalk (which is easily rubbed off if you change your mind), use an awl to punch a small hole, and then carefully enlarge it with a small pair of scissors until the spike’s screw back will fit properly.

Hair Accessory – Last photo on the page. There’s no real detail on how these are anchored, but attaching the spikes to a strip of sturdy ribbon and then braiding the hair around it would probably be sufficient.

Handbag – I love the medieval look of this thing. If you can’t find a spherical handbag to embellish (I couldn’t), this would probably have to be a DIY effort from beginning to end. Given the weight of the spikes I don’t think you’d be able to use fabric for the body lest it sag, so hard plastic would likely be the best bet. Carefully saw a hollow plastic ball–something like a costume ball and chain might work–in half, attach a hinge and clasp (available at craft stores or search “pursemaking supplies”), drill holes to accommodate the spikes, and use jewelry adhesive to attach the studs and other bits. Add a leather strap (such as a thrifted belt) to the top, embellish with a few more spikes, and you’re in business. Quite a bit of work, to be sure, but I’m willing to bet that it would be significantly cheaper than the designer version.

A while back the HiLoBrow site ran an article titled Hoodoo You Know, about the “Lucky Mojo” company. It’s an interesting enough read, but what really caught my eye was the accompanying examples of product labels.

The site has dozens more, and they’re all marvelously kitschy. The simple line drawings and primary colors remind me quite a lot of images from Golden Age comic books. I think they’d be splendid re-purposed as labels for homemade bath products, spice mixtures, or potpourri blends. A variety of items labeled in a similar style would make a unique gift.

If you’re sufficiently artistic you might draw your own illustrations for your labels. If you’re more like me,* it should be reasonably easy to adapt clip art. Since their garishness is part of their appeal, you don’t have to worry about fine detail or subtle shading.

The various “purposes” of the nostrums sold at Lucky Mojo should be a rich source of inspiration. I may re-label all of the spice jars in my kitchen with names like “Aunt Sally’s Lucky Dream” and “Jinx Killer.”

*I have the artistic ability of Rembrandt. If he were hogtied and trapped in a sack of live weasels.

(No prizes, but if you can answer them all without googling you get bragging rights.)

1. The first substantial vampire fiction that approximated a novel was a long-running serial (popularly known as a “penny dreadful” or a “penny blood”) published between 1845 and 1847. When finally compiled into book form, it stretched to 868 pages over 220 chapters. What was the name of this Gothic epic?
2. In the Halloween movies, the mask worn by Michael Myers was actually fashioned after the face of what famous TV actor from the 1960s?
3. What 1764 novel by Horace Walpole is generally regarded as the first Gothic novel?
4. “The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.” What character is described here?
5. Who wrote the horror tale “Lamb to the Slaughter,” in which a housewife bludgeons her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, then cooks it and serves it to the police?
6. H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional town of Innsmouth is located in which state?
7. What is the first title in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries series?
8. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” is what Gothic novel’s opening line?
9. Which is the first sequel to the 1960 film Night Of The Living Dead?
10. Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 and married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, in 1835. How old was Virginia when she said “I do” to Poe?

(Answers below the fold)

Read the rest of this entry »