The FLOR company has just released a brand-new carpet tile design featuring cute little skulls. Each tile is nearly 20″ square, so you’d only need a couple for a small area rug. (via Halloween Hotlist)

To match your skull rug, check out Skull-a-Day’s “Secret Skull” stenciled wallpaper. There’s a downloadable pattern of the design so you can add a wee bit of goth to your own walls. I particularly like the subtlety of the image: You have to really look to see the skulls, but once you see them you can’t stop seeing them.

Skull-a-Day also offers prints of the popular Ornament(al) Skull, which would make a nice accent in a powder room or boudoir.

I have to admit, one nice thing about the wholesale mainstreaming of skull imagery is that it’s much easier to decorate without seeming overly morbid. Puts a little less stress on the in-laws’ psyches.

The winner, Grand Champion Division, for Knitted Thing I Would Never Even Think of Making into a Knitted Thing, goes to the Anticraft for their knitted teratoma.

They even include instructions for making the random body parts–such as teeth and eyeballs–that are occasionally found inside of a real teratoma. Also listed are several songs appropriate for singing to one’s knitted teratoma. Like you do.

I’m a teratoma, short and stout;
Here is my handle, here is my snout;
When I get all steamed up and I shout,
Poke a finger in and pull stuff out!

I happen to sport a very large scar received from the removal of a teratoma.* If I’d had this pattern then, I’d have been tempted to make one as a gift for my doctor. Now all I can do is sit slack-jawed with amazement.

Link (via William the Coroner)


*The strangest look I have ever received from anybody came from my surgeon, when she explained the procedure and asked me if I had any questions. I said, “If this thing has teeth, can I have them?” Her reaction indicated that she had never been asked that question before, ever. I was serious, though. Wouldn’t that be a great icebreaker at cocktail parties? “Hi, I’m Cobwebs. You’ll never believe where these teeth came from.” But I digress.

I’ve previously mentioned that I tend to go overboard where Halloween costumes are concerned. (Where everything else is concerned too, actually; my family’s motto is, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.) This year, however, even I think I may have gone too far.

Oh, it started innocently enough; I dug this pattern out of my stash a few months ago and decided to make this princess costume for a friend’s niece. I figured I could dress Shadowboy as Robin Hood or a knight or something and let them trick-or-treat as a couple.

But then Shadaughter started watching The Tudors on cable and decided that she wanted one of those fancy dresses. In a moment of weakness I agreed to make this one, which resulted in this.

So then I thought, “I know! I’ll make Shadowboy into Henry VIII!”

I have instructed my family that, should I make such a pronouncement in the future, I am to be slapped until I change my mind.

Tudor costume patterns sized for four-year-olds are not exactly easy to find, so I eventually wound up improvising. I cut this pattern off short and made it into a tunic. Then I lengthened a square-bottomed vest pattern and added puffy sleeves and fur trim, turning it into a surcoat. The only thing I was able to use an actual pattern for was the hat, which was adult-sized and just had to be cut down a whole lot. The preceding paragraph makes the whole process sound a hell of a lot easier than it actually was.

The final result was this. (The scan’s a bit dark, so here’s another pose.)

I’m very pleased with the results, but I need to find an easier hobby.

p.s. – Here are a couple of additional shots, because I feel like showing off:
Shadowboy the Eighth and his Queen
Shadaughter and Shadowboy (this one just kills me dead)

Check out this adorable little knitted bat by Barbara Prime.* The pattern is available at Lulu for $3.75, and includes a bonus jack-o’-lantern pattern.

It’s a small project and can be knitted up in a couple of days. This would be a perfect Halloween gift for a child. Or keep it for yourself to snuggle with at night. (I know I would.)

Link (via CRAFT)

*No relation to Optimus. Probably.

Matthew Baldwin of Defective Yeti often reviews board- and card games on his site. He’s done a roundup of Halloween game reviews, so if you’d like to invite a few friends over for an All Hallow’s Eve gaming party, check out his recommendations.

Give me the Brain and Lord of the Fries: Light, simple, inexpensive, and funny, Give me the Brain and Lord of the Fries differ from the games above in pretty much every respect save one: Zombies remain the stars of the show. In this case, you and your undead companions are workers in a fast-food restaurant that specializes in the grisliest of fare. Both titles are fairly straightforward card games despite the theme, and each has a significant luck component (so steer clear if that’s not your thing). Still, the ease of learning and playing make these the most “family friendly” of the games on the list, and the grotesque elements of the artwork are tempered with enough humor to make them palatable to almost anyone.

Part I: Zombies
Part II: Vampires and Witches
Part III: Miscellaneous Malevolence

Oh, I do love this time of year. All the mainstream establishments trot out their Halloween-themed wares, and the smart goth stocks up for the lean times.

In this case, it’s the Doctors Foster and Smith pet supply site. They’ve added a Halloween section to their site, offering items like the tarantula dog toys shown here and these cute spooky catnip balls. There’s no reason that your pets can’t get in on your lifestyle too. (Or at least the warm-blooded ones; there’s no Halloween store for reptiles, so my lizard will just have to feel left out.)

I’m going to get one of the tarantulas for my mother-in-law’s cockapoo. I like the idea of a little cutesy dog wrestling with a big fuzzy spider.

Here’s a batch of artists for your inspiration.

Kris Kuksi creates mixed-media installations that would give Hieronymus Bosch a nervous breakdown. The image here is a tiny bit of his “The Deadly Sins,” which kind of puts me in mind of an H.R. Giger work, only insanely more detailed. (Hat tip to Beth Church)

Andre Lassen specializes in cast and sculpted pieces, including furniture, jewelry, and swords. In particular look for the awesome flatware with skeleton handles.

Julie Miller creates “Vintage Fictions” by photoshopping antique photos with all sorts of peculiar details. I particularly like Moonrise on the Ika Estate and Millicent Fenwick and Friends. (via Phantasmaphile)

Art and Ghosts – Louise creates haunting digital images, nearly all of which feature dolls. The images are surreal yet soothing.

Toadbriar – Whimsical sculptures and paintings, including cute little mounted fairy “specimens.” (via Lady Lavona)

Ricardo Salamanca – Creepy, hyper-realistic Photoshop wizardry.

Designer Sarah Cihat “rehabilitates” used ceramics by resurfacing them with unusual images and then re-firing them. She has a number of stock images available (including skulls and spiders) and also does custom work.

Her items aren’t cheap–the range is around $35-$60 per piece–so buying an entire set of dinnerware might be a bit spendy. However, a big serving tray or other single piece might be a unique and elegant accent for a plainer set of dishware.

You could also just buy one and hang it on the wall. They’re lovely.

Link (via Halloween Hotlist)

Craftster member Smarmyclothes has posted tutorials for making some spooky-looking clothing including a blood-spattered gauze corset top, a Corpse Bride-inspired circle skirt, and this unbelievably awesome bleached skeleton dress.

I’m enormously taken with all three tutorials; the fabric mix on her ruffled skirt is extremely appealing, and I just can’t get over how gorgeous the bleached skeleton is. Her tutorials (linked at the bottom of the post) are fairly straightforward, and she’s even good enough to list some suppliers. Lovely!

Link

Here’s a definite “Why didn’t I think of that?” idea. A submitter by the name of Balint sent some images to the Skull-a-Day blog that he made by putting animal skulls on a flatbed scanner.

This would be an easy way to create some eerie, unique images to decorate your walls. Small animal skulls (or plastic replicas, if you’re squeamish) are reasonably inexpensive. You can find them at local taxidermists or online at places like Skulls Unlimited or American Headhunters.

I really like the sensual, mysterious quality of these images. A collage of different skulls (or the same skull scanned at different angles) would be an arresting focal point for a room. After you scan them and frame the results, you can also display the skulls as objets d’art.

Inexpensive! Easy! What’s not to like?