Craftster user callakat made this adorable wreath out of fake fur and ping-pong balls. She originally made it for Halloween, but obviously it’d be wonderful as a Christmas decoration too (particularly with green fur and red eyeballs).

She’s kindly posted a tutorial, which actually looks fairly easy. The wreath is really just a big ring-shaped pillow, and it doesn’t even require any sewing; she hot-glued the whole thing together.

Since the eyeballs are just drawn on with marker, you could give it slitted cat eyes instead. It could also be embellished with teeth, eyebrows, spider legs, or whatever else amuses you. Be sure to check the comments too; other Crafster members made suggestions and/or posted photos of their own creations. There’s all kinds of inspiration to be had.

I love this wreath. I want to hug it.

(via ThreadBanger)

Here’s the perfect item for the young maniacal inventor on your gift list: Alphabet blocks lovingly engraved with a different mad scientific motif. Original pen-and-ink drawings are laser-engraved (natch) onto maple blocks, and they’re just gorgeous. The set of five includes all of the themes that any well-rounded mad scientist should explore:

A – Appendages | B – Bioengineering | C – Caffeine | D – Dirigible | E – Experiment | F – Freeze ray | G – Goggles | H – Henchmen | I – Invention | J – Jargon | K – Potassium | L – Laser | M – Maniacal | N – Nanotechnology | O – Organs | P – Peasants (with Pitchforks) | Q – Quantum physics | R – Robot | S – Self-experimentation | T – Tentacles | U – Underground Lair | V – Virus | W – Wrench | X – X-Ray | Y – You, the Mad Scientist of Tomorrow | Z – Zombies

It’s never too early to teach your children mad science proficiency, and once they’ve grown up and begun an illustrious career reanimating dead tissue and launching laser satellites these blocks would make a lovely desk accessory or source of evidence when the FBI shows up with questions.

Link (via BoingBoing)

(Also check out the “Mr. Bitey” personal organizer on the same site. I want one of these for my desk.)

Here’s a fast and easy project: Candles that look like a witch’s brew.

This little cauldron is just a cast iron serving bowl. You can also get cast iron soup bowls which feature cauldrony wire handles.

Use a gel candle base to create a transparent “brew,” colored and scented however you like (this site goes into some detail about making gel candles, and there are lots of other tutorials a Google away). Then embed brew ingredients in the gel. You can use just about anything nonflammable or made of candle wax. There are commercial embeds like spiders and bats, or you could cast your own objects like rats or frogs.

Paint mystical symbols on the cauldron if desired, and you’re done. These would be cute “place cards,” too: Paint each guest’s name on the side, or write it on a card and tie it to the handle with ribbon or raffia (include a warning to remove the card before lighting the candle).

The Big Winter Holiday is headed in our direction, and whilst the adults are busy with holiday prep, kids are mostly left to work themselves into a lather of anticipation. Here are a couple of fun projects to do with little ones, because there are only so many sugar cookies you can decorate before declaring your kitchen a Superfund site.

Magical Reindeer Food

1/2 C instant oatmeal or birdseed
2 Tbsp sanding sugar or edible glitter (make sure the glitter is edible, for the sake of non-magical creatures that might eat it)

Mix together, place in an empty plastic spice bottle (the kind with the flip-up lid), and label. Sprinkle liberally outside on Christmas Eve.

During the off-season, the same mixture can be used to attract unicorns.

Summoning Snow Fairies

Present the child with a pretty bag containing the items needed for attracting Santa’s Elves, Hannukah Hobs, Solstice Fairies, or whatever magical creature you happen to feel needs a little encouragement.

You will need snow fairy food (blue and white jelly beans), plus whatever “ritual” items you want to include: A little silver plate to hold the food, special gloves to wear whilst preparing the meal, a bell to ring to alert the fairy that it’s dinnertime, pretty note cards to write a greeting to the fairy, and so forth.

Be sure to include instructions for properly performing the “ritual,” along with any background information about the creature in question, for instance, “Solstice Fairies tend to have snow-white hair and blue eyes.” “Elves don’t like to hear whining, complaining, or teasing, but get very excited when they hear ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you.'” (A side benefit of having one or two of Santa’s Elves hanging around is the tendency for children to be on their best behavior, lest the elves rat them out to Santa.)

It’s fun to get creative with the labels and packaging, and kids really get caught up in the magic.

Either one of these items would make unique party favors, too. The fairy-summoning bag could even be used as a wedding favor, particularly if you included additional elements like flower seeds (for attracting summer fairies) or votive candles.

There’s nothing even resembling a theme here, unless you count “I swept out my Drafts folder and dumped it all here,” as a unifying element.

Weird Tales – The classic magazine reinvents modern spooky with a lovely Website relaunch.

15 Weirdest Shoes – I want the platforms with the live tarantula in the sole.

“Bones” Salt and Pepper Shakers – Cute little shakers shaped like femurs.

Turkey Head Salt and Pepper Shakers – Shakers cast from real dead turkey heads. The seasonings come out their nostrils. Wish I’d known about these before Thanksgiving.

Smugopedia – Their tagline is, “Pretend you know better,” and they describe the site thusly: “Smugopedia is a collection of slightly controversial opinions about a variety of subjects. We offer you the chance to buy a fleeting sense of self-satisfaction at the small cost of alienating your friends and loved ones.”

Rose Ice Cubes – Neat idea for spiffing up a champagne bucket.

Food Chain Friends – A whole series of plush animals eat each other, but are oddly serene about it. You’d think that this would be offered by some “alternative” retailer, but it’s on sale at FAO Schwarz.

Trilobite Cookies – Instructions on making little chocolatey fossilized arthropods using one of those gun-shaped cookie press things.

Gothic Charm School – The Lady of the Manners gives tips on how to be a better black-clad freak.

American Monsters – A clearinghouse for U.S. cryptozoology.

The Steampunk Home – Blog devoted to steampunk decor and accessories.

Idol Cake – A child’s birthday cake inspired by the golden idol at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Lots of neat detail work.

Here’s a fairly new blog with a lot of promise. The Obscure Hollow is devoted to “the love of haunted film decor.”

A work in progress now for over 6 years and now a blog of darker aesthetics. This is a mature gathering of refinement, Old film Design, music, vintage, beauty, art, culinary, theatre, films, books, obscure history, interior design, architecture etc.. all at a darker level.

It features screencaps and commentary about all sorts of atmospheric movies. If you’re looking to create a spooky decorating scheme or interested in creepy fashions, this might be an excellent resource for little details.

Link

The holidays are coming! Everybody duck!

If you’ve got someone with morbid tendencies on your gift list and would like to branch out beyond “it’s got a bat on it, wrap it up” approach to gift-giving, here are a few ideas for dark yet tasteful items.

Absinthe and its related paraphernalia is always welcome, if only for the ambiance. I previously blogged about purchasing the real deal here, although since restrictions in the U.S. have recently been relaxed it might now be possible to buy it from domestic vendors. Spoons, glasses, and accessory “starter kits” are all pretty easy to find, and there’s even a brewing kit for making your own. You could also give a framed vintage poster, one of the many history books, or Absinthe-scented shaving cream or perfume.

Jewelry is another good option. Over at Coffin Gems, artist Mordaunte offers semiprecious stones cut like toe-pincher coffins. She has a wide variety of items for both men and women, and I like the subtlety of the designs; you don’t really notice that they’re coffins until you look closely. Pushin’ Daisies also has some nice-quality items, including skull cufflinks and crossbone buttons. A particularly nice item, especially for those interested in Victoriana, is jewelry made of Whitby jet. The Whitby Jet Heritage Center and Whitby Jet Jewellery (sic) both have some lovely pieces.

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I’m trying to figure out how to write this post without making it sound like the plot of a Fellini film, but that may not be possible.

Okay, Doomies are little garden “gnomes” (their word, not mine) that look like the grim reaper and also can be used as incense smokers. Makes…perfect sense.

From the very scant information on their site, I suspect that they’re based in the Netherlands. They sell handmade ceramic Doomies in three sizes ranging from 11-28 € (about $13-35) but there’s no information about whether they ship internationally.

Still, I’m rather taken with the idea of a miniature reaper stalking around my garden and scowling at chipmunks.

Their other product is Rebirdy, a birdhouse shaped like a skull. The birds enter and leave through the eye holes. That’s sort of awesome too.

Okay, it’s December 1, which means it’s officially time to freak out about whatever winter holiday you celebrate. (Unless you’re proactive like me; I’ve been freaking out for weeks now.)

So here’s one less thing to worry about: Non-cutesy greeting cards. Cards such as this Holiday Well Wisher and Very Important Gift are available at Amalthea’s Attic, and they’re just adorable. For, um, very specific values of “adorable.” They’re nicely refined and Gorey-esque, so they should let your personality shine through without upsetting any relative too badly.

I’m rather taken with their Gothic Gift Wrap, too.

Y’know, it’s a good thing Isaac Newton never had children, because if he’d had a toddler he would have had too many experiences with antigravity to ever come up with his theory.

Allow me to set the stage: I have a slight cold which manifests itself primarily as a rasping cough whenever I lie down. I have thus been taking Nyquil for several nights running in an effort to prevent Shadow Jack from moving to a different continent. Whenever I take anything that includes a soporific, it messes with my REM sleep and I don’t dream. My subconscious mind–which is quite the prankster–hoards these dreams, and after a few nights I wind up with nightmares when asleep and a bad case of the fantods when awake.* Under normal circumstances, for example, I’ll attribute a sudden thump in the basement to the water filter kicking in. If I’ve been taking soporifics for a few nights, it’s an axe murderer, guaranteed.

So, around 2:30 this morning I’m awakened from unsettling and murky dreams by a dog who has to potty.** It’s not only pitchy black outside, it’s foggy and raining. Beyond the halo of porch light, the bare trees raise distorted limbs menacingly skyward. The dog hears something in the woods.*** her eyes narrow and her hackles rise. Expecting a nightmare made flesh to rush from the darkness, I tell her that if she doesn’t finish Right Now, I will pick her up and wring her like a dishrag. She looks affronted and squats. I breathe a sigh of relief as I hurry inside and close the front door, certain that we’ve narrowly missed some hideous doom. I go back upstairs and turn off the light. As I make my way across the dark, silent bedroom, snippets of ghost stories and more horrible things flash through my mind. I reach the bed, expecting a cold, necrotic hand to clasp my ankle. And just as I pull back the covers…Shadowboy shrieks like a banshee from the next room.

He does this in his sleep sometimes: One blood-curdling screech, then silence.

I will leave my reaction as an exercise for the reader.

*Even though I know, intellectually, that there’s nothing to fear, the Stephen King Lobe of my brain gives me a constant feed of, “What if [fill in the blank]?” What if ghosts existed, and they weren’t just harmless apparitions, they were the bloody, fanged ghosts you see in Japanese horror movies? What if the institute for the criminally insane that I’m sure exists around here somewhere has misplaced three or four of its psychos? What if there’s somethingcreepingupbehindmerightnowaiyeee? So you see.

**On the one hand, I could just beat her when she does this. On the other hand, I, personally, have a bladder the size of a lentil, so I can sympathize with her plight. What I need is a dog with opposable thumbs that can let herself out.

*** The dog always hears something in the woods. She’s not exactly a pillar of courage herself.