UK-based jeweler Butler & Wilson offer a large selection of skull-themed jewelry encrused with Swarovski crystals. They aren’t cheap, but they’re certainly arresting. This skull tiara would be an awesome bridal accessory, and this trinket box is intricate and creepy.

If you’re patient and good with gluing on fiddly bits, you might be able to hand-make something reasonably similar. (You’d have to be much more patient than I am.)

Link (via Haunt Style)

The lovely Crypt Stitch recently held a contest to give away one of her Changeling dolls, and I was the lucky winner. It arrived last week, and it’s just adorable (you can see more pictures on her site, and there’s a similar one in her Etsy shop).

The doll is reversible; her skirt flips up over her head and she changes from dark to light. I just love the fabrics she chose, and the little lacy sleeves and necklace are nice touches. (Not that I’ve actually gotten to play with it much; Shadowboy thinks it’s the Coolest Thing Ever and is hogging it for himself.)

Go look! She has some lovely things.

It’s been 200 years today since Edgar Allan Poe was born. This will also mark the 60th anniversary of the Poe Toaster who, despite sounding like an eldritch kitchen appliance, is actually a mysterious man who visits Poe’s gravesite every year on his birthday and raises a cognac toast.

It’s hard to overestimate the influence that Poe has had on the collective goth psyche. Today would be an excellent day to get together with some velvet-clad friends, sip cognac, and read some of his stories. Project Gutenberg, Black Cat Poems, and PoeStories.com have many of his works online, and here’s an article on Poe and music if you need inspiration for mood music. And Cynical-C did a roundup of readings of “The Raven” a while back, by people like Vincent Price and Christopher Walken. It’s fun to listen to the different reading styles.

Have a gloomy and direful day!

Dot from Dabbled is running her second annual Black Heart Anti-Valentine’s Day Contest, looking for crafty representations of the darker side of the holiday. (You can see last year’s entries here.)

I’m sure that readers of my site have one or two ideas about Black Valentine’s Day* celebrations. Go over to Dabbled and share the love!

(Heart image from Etsy seller batteriesnotincluded)

*On a side note, last year I was looking for an appropriate quote to use on a Valentine’s Day card for Shadow Jack. I did find one that I liked: “A meeting between two beings who complete one another, who are made for each other, borders already, in my opinion, on a miracle.” Isn’t that pretty? Isn’t that an appropriate Valentine quote? Know who said it? Adolf Hitler. Makes your head kind of come to a screeching halt, doesn’t it?

Evil Mad Scientist Labs recently received a freebie plush pony named “Molly,” who sadly was soon attacked and killed by zombies. Fortunately they have Mad Arcane Skillz and were able to reanimate her as “Maulie,” the zombie pony.

They’ve posted detailed instructions with lots of pictures describing her transformation. The same technique should work with a variety of plush toys, so if you’ve ever wanted to zombify a favorite teddy bear, now’s your chance.

Incidentally, don’t let the fact that this involves working with simple electronics dissuade you from trying something similar. LEDs are easy to wire (here’s a tutorial to get you started), and once you’re comfortable using a soldering iron there are all kinds of neat projects just waiting for you.

Haunt Style recently linked to this site, listing all of the old Topps “monster stickers” from the 70s. Since I have links for a bunch of sites that feature weird/gothic/horror fonts, I thought I’d share.

These are a great resource for party invitations, craft stencils, Web graphics, and so forth. Nearly all are free for noncommercial use.

1001 Fonts – Heaps of freeware, shareware, and commercial fonts. See their Holiday, Horror, Grunge, and Warped categories.

All-4-Free Fonts: Spooky Fonts – Freeware and shareware Halloween fonts, as well as lots of non-spooky fonts.

Dafont – Lots of gothic fonts and dingbats.

Fontenstein – Comprehensive site of freeware and shareware Halloween fonts.

Horror Fonts – Large selection of fonts.

Specialty Fonts – Lots of spooky fonts.

ThemeWorld: Font Empire – Gothic/Horror and Medieval categories.

Wanted Fonts – Lots of unusual fonts. See their Gothic, Holiday, and Horror categories.

WebFontList – Very large site. Check out their Alien, Creepy, and Gothic categories for Halloween-type fonts.

World of Horror: Fonts – Small selection of spooky fonts.

Radiohead’s “Creep,” covered on a ukelele.

(via Cynical-C)

Etsy seller The House of Mouse creates inspired little felt mice dressed up as all sorts of things.

In addition to Axel the Executioner here (and isn’t he the snuggliest little killer you’ve ever seen?), she has Emily the Emo Mouse, Hannibal Lecter, Abercrombie the Zombie, and all kinds of famous mice, including Star Wars and Harry Potter characters. She’s in the Netherlands, but ships worldwide.

I just love how…I dunno…mouselike these look, with their little beady eyes and expectant expressions. Their costumes are just adorable, and I’m amazed at the variety of “characters” she offers. A little mousy companion would be a lovely gift for anyone from a librarian to a Rocky Horror fan.

She also does custom work; a pair of goth mice would be an adorable cake topper or unusual wedding gift (particularly if presented in the bell jars she also sells).

So! Cute!

Link (via CRAFT)

Unlike 97.3% of teenage females, Shadaughter harbors a deep disdain for the Twilight series.* Shadow Jack had a custom T-shirt made for her for Christmas, and so many of her friends liked it that he’s decided to make them available over at Cafepress.

If you feel like encouraging my husband’s peculiar sense of humor, go have a look!

*Not that I blame her. Somehow, vampires who have to avoid sunlight because when it hits them they become EVEN MORE FABULOUS leave something to be desired. (See also Eric Snider’s Rejected Twilight Screenplay for a pretty good summary of the whole thing.)

My poor little Halloweddings site has been languishing, alone and unloved, so I got crafty this weekend and put together a couple of tutorials for spooky ringbearer pillows.

Spiderwebs

Skull

Both pillows are subject to all kinds of embellishment and personalization. The skull pattern could also be enlarged and used as a throw pillow if you’re feeling so inclined.

Stay tuned! Maybe someday I’ll get around to posting something else over there. (Stop laughing. It could happen.)