Intrepid commenter Sisifo pointed me to this Etsy shop full of “terrarium-style” dioramas.

As a child, artist Tony Larson was heavily influenced by the special effects of Industrial Light and Magic, Ray Harryhausen, and similar movie magicians, and grew up to create miniature “worlds of wonder” to display. His miniature vignettes are lovely little glimpses into fantasy worlds, depicting ancient ruined statues, fairy landscapes, and lost worlds.

The materials he uses are all either artificial or dried, so the landscape won’t change, but it might also be fun to do something similar with real plants. If you’re handy with polymer clay you could sculpt your own ruined towers, gravestones, ancient idols, or other interesting features. If not, pre-made miniatures abound; take a look at model train hobby sites as well as dollhouse miniature suppliers for various scales.

You can either make the miniature the focus of the piece–perhaps a temple slowly being reclaimed by the jungle–or tuck them away in the foliage to be stumbled upon; something like a dinosaur skull weathering out of the ground or a fairy staircase hidden behind a fern could suggest a much larger story that the detail only hints at.

This kind of desktop ornament would make a splendid gift, particularly if customized to the recipient’s interests. This is also a gift that can be made well in advance, since it’ll give the plants time to settle in and look more cohesive.

(Thanks, Sisifo!)

Artist Christine McConnell posted a series of cookie monsters to drool over (and, as someone on the original Reddit thread put it, “to make the rest of us feel inadequate”).

I have to agree with that latter sentiment; her caption under the photo above was, “I decided to try making homemade waffle cones; Then this sorta happened…” How does something like this just “sorta happen?”

The photo series has some amazing stuff, including a 3D sugar-cookie facehugger, a Danzig birthday cake, and a cake for a Voodoo-themed party with a snake on top: The snake’s forked tongue is a double-wicked birthday candle that she made herself. Why yes, I am feeling inadequate, thanks.

One of her creations is 3D tarantula cookies: Shortbread glued together with caramel, covered in chocolate, then dusted with toasted-coconut “hair.” I think the legs would be a little tricky and prone to breakage, but the bodies are comprised of fairly simple forms: A roughly egg-shaped abdomen, crimped oval thorax, and two small teardrops of dough pressed together for the head/fangs. Those might be manageable even by Muggles, and if the legs are too brittle to work with they could be replaced with something like pipe cleaners; the main part of the cookie would still be edible.

The fanged flowers in the photo above are probably do-able too, albeit a bit of work. The “heads” are strawberries with the stems carefully cut out in a V shape, then painted with chocolate and given little icing fangs. The tentacles are most likely modeling chocolate. The rest seems to be primarily cake-crumb “dirt” and icing details. It’d probably take most of an afternoon to put together, but it’d be a heck of a centerpiece (and also fun to bring to a company pot luck). Individual flowers would be fantastic decorations for cupcakes, too.

As commenter gluon said in the thread: “Finally, a diet that works. I’m too scared to eat any of this.”

1. Vincent Price’s last motion picture appearance was in this Tim Burton film.
   A) Sweeney Todd
   B) Edward Scissorhands
   C) Dark Shadows
   D) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
   E) Mars Attacks
2. Who died on Halloween 1926 from the results of an ill-timed punch to the stomach?
3. In Labyrinth, the head Firey is voiced by the performer who also voiced this muppet.
   A) Bunsen Honeydew
   B) Grover
   C) Oscar the Grouch
   D) Elmo
   E) The Great Gonzo
4. Complete this line: “Fair is foul and foul is fair…”
5. “No, nor did he believe it even now. Though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses.” What great ghost story is this description from?
   A) The Turn of the Screw, Henry James
   B) The Death of Halpin Frayser, Ambrose Bierce
   C) Afterward, Edith Wharton
   D) The Horla, Guy de Maupassant
   E) A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
6. What movie series, originally helmed by the Wayans Brothers, uses the title Wes Craven initially wanted for his slasher film, Scream?
7. This was H.P. Lovecraft’s favorite author, to whom he once referred as “my god of fiction.”
   A) M.R. James
   B) Algernon Blackwood
   C) Edgar Allan Poe
   D) Walter de la Mare
   E) Clark Ashton Smith
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer occasionally made favorable reference to this woman-warrior TV series, which returned the favor by mentioning a play titled “Buffus the Bacchae Slayer” in one episode.
9. This comedy/thriller short film was Sam Raimi’s first directing work; it also co-stars his future regular collaborator Bruce Campbell.
   A) It’s Murder!
   B) Easy Wheels
   C) A Simple Plan
   D) Crimewave
   E) Darkman
10. Perhaps best known for her short story, “The Lottery,” this author turned out many creepy classics including The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle

(Answers below the fold)

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