Their neckties and other accessories are worth a look, too. If your employer forces you to wear a tie, you at least should be able to wear one with pentagrams all over it.
Extruded foam insulation is wonderful stuff: Very cheap, easy to find, and easy to sculpt. The fabulous Keeba has put together an excellent tutorial on making prop tombstones from the stuff, but it’s also the perfect medium for making smaller signs and plaques.
For example, these cemetery plaques from Mostly Dead are a nice accent piece, but a very similar item could be handmade using insulating foam for a fraction of the price. You could make mini tombstones as desktop nameplates, plaques for personalized door hangings, or an interestingly morbid wedding gift bearing the bride and groom’s birthdates with room left in for…other dates.
Pay careful attention to the various methods described for sculpting the “stones:” If you’re more comfortable with a Dremel tool, use that. If you’re happier using a woodburning set, that’s also an option. If you’re on a budget and don’t have either tool, just use an Xacto knife and be really careful.
I plan to make a “Wicked Stepmother” sign for my cube using this method. I like to brag.
Over at Cloth and Fodder, Beth noticed that most patterns for plush toys were awfully, y’know, cute. She remedied that by creating Terry the Tarantula, the most winsome little hairy spider you’re ever likely to meet. She’s kindly posted a pattern and tutorial so you can make your own.
The materials required are minimal, and her instructions are easy to follow. You could create a whole legion of crawly things over a weekend, in a variety of colors. (You could also replace the standard safety eyes she mentions with spooky red versions for something a little creepier.)
This probably wouldn’t be appropriate for infants due to the choking hazard posed by the eyes, but it would be an adorable gift for an older child or spider-loving adult. You could also make a larger version as a comical throw pillow. (Come to think of it, a smaller version would be an interesting ring-bearer pillow, too.)
As my cop-out post of yesterday attests, it’s been a busy week. I’ve got deadlines at work, unexpected travel, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.
So you guys get another link dump.
Arkham Studios – Sells limited edition bronze statues of such occult celebrities like Aleister Crowley, Anton LaVey, Edgar Allen Poe, and HP Lovecraft.
Artist Joy Kampia O’Shell crocheted this extremely awesome hamburger dress. She doesn’t offer a pattern, but perhaps the photos will inspire something similar.
Latex Leggings – Tutorial on making sheet latex into super-shiny leggings.
Hm. I’ve got the cool British band name, but somewhere I apparently veered into synthpop.
This meme was making the rounds about a year ago, and in the everything-old-is-new-again manner of the blogosphere, it’s recently reemerged. I’m pressed for content today, so I’ll wimp out and get on the meme bandwagon.
To come up with your own band’s CD cover, do the following:
Now go here: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3. The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album. I wound up with Thomas Jefferson’s “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
Then go here: http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/. The third picture on the page is your album cover. I unfortunately killed the window before getting the photographer’s name, so I apologize random Flickr user, for not crediting your picture. I can assure you that it wasn’t an attempt to pass it off as my own.
Finally, use the graphics program of your choice to put them all together. For extra credit, write a Rolling Stone review about the album.
Ray Keim, whose “paranormal papercraft projects” include amazingly detailed replicas of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion and Disneyworld’s Torre de Cielo tower from Pirates of the Caribbean, has just released a lovely pattern for the Bates Motel from Psycho.
The house is modeled to the same scale as all of the others, so it’ll fit nicely into the neighborhood. All patterns are free, and the attention to detail is just astonishing.
Also check out his over-the-top guide to replicating Disneyland Paris’ Phantom Manor…in gingerbread. Great googly moogly.
Steff over at Wedding Skulls has been posting awesome favor ideas all month, along with interviews of purveyors of gothy favors. She’s run out of legitimate interviewees kindly asked me for an interview as well.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Shadow Manor, go take a look. If you aren’t, um, go take a look anyway, because the rest of the site is pretty neat.
Here are a few items I’ve run into recently that might be of interest to anyone with small creatures running around that you’re expected to dress.
Etsy sellers Lou and Lee make all kinds of goth/hipster baby clothes, including onesies with cameo fronts or vintage lace detailing. They’re apparently sold out at the moment, but a crafty individual might be able to run up something similar.
Mysterio T-shirts – This powerful oracle “transmits his thoughts onto 100% cotton baby T-shirts,” predicting the baby’s future profession. The shirts have a vintage sideshow kind of look to them, and professions include things like “Mafia Accountant” and “Romance Novelist.”
LED Booties Tutorial – Instructions for wiring baby booties with flashing “fireflies.” These would be awesome if you substituted monster eyes for firefly rears.
Neatorama has a selection of cool onesies and baby T-shirts, including this “I (heart) Anatomy” design, with anatomically-correct heart.
If nothing else, these examples might inspire you to make something similar yourself. My standard gift for baby showers is a handmade crib quilt, but some of these clothes are so cute I may have to start branching out.
I may have to expand my shoe collection significantly. I keep finding interesting footwear.
Extruded foam insulation is wonderful stuff: Very cheap, easy to find, and easy to sculpt. The fabulous Keeba has put together an excellent 
Over at Cloth and Fodder, Beth noticed that most patterns for plush toys were awfully, y’know, cute. She remedied that by creating Terry the Tarantula, the most winsome little hairy spider you’re ever likely to meet. She’s kindly posted a pattern and tutorial so you can make your own.
Hm. I’ve got the cool British band name, but somewhere I apparently veered into synthpop.
Ray Keim, whose “paranormal papercraft projects” include amazingly detailed replicas of Disneyland’s 
Here are a few items I’ve run into recently that might be of interest to anyone with small creatures running around that you’re expected to dress.