Last year on Craftster there was a post about a cute “zombie girl scout” Halloween costume which included merit badges for things like “limb reattachment” and “brain eating.” I’m not an enormous fan of zombies–I prefer my monsters less stinky and without bits falling off–but I loved the individualized merit badge notion. The idea has been rattling around in the back of my head ever since, and I finally decided to run up some badges for the local Vampire Scout troop (click to enlarge):

Transformation	Glamouring
Garlic Eradication	Coffin Repair
Fang Maintenance	Blood Type Identification

I tried to keep the designs simple enough that they could be easily rendered in embroidery, fabric paint, or whatever your medium of choice is; in a real pinch you could simply print them on stickers.

These were the achievements that I came up with off the top of my head, but there are plenty of others that could be used to expand the set: Burial Plot Landscaping, Care and Feeding of Children of the Night, Minion Recruitment, Anti-Sparkle Outreach….

Anéis Alice: surpreendentes – These Brazilian rings celebrating the new Alice movie are just gorgeous. I especially love the mushroom one.

The Internets – There’s a “ghost in the machine” joke in here somewhere.

Wild Boars – I think the caption should read, “And then they ate him.”

Things and Places Inspired by Coffins – A roundup from Oddee. I’ve blogged about a few of these before (and we sell the coffin purse).

Entomologia – Images from a gallery show featuring art made with preserved insects.

These Bones for Hire – I love this “noir” painting by Bonni Reid.

Tree Railing – There’s no information on what material these “trees” are made of, but they’re certainly a unique replacement for stair railings. (Hat tip to Kitten Herder)

The Loving Dead – In the runup to print publication, writer Amelia Beamer is serializing her novel about “sex and zombies” online.

I am completely in love with this ouija-themed wedding invitation by Corndog Industries. The envelope even turns into a planchette when opened.

Erin Blankley, who is apparently the Chief Corndog, creates all kinds of offbeat custom invitations and announcements. I also really like this medieval scroll and this cute little skeleton. Her ideas are wonderfully quirky and original.

The site is relatively sparse, but the “more invite info” link includes some pricing and contact information. If you’re in the market for custom invitations or just want to admire her creativity, go take a look!

(via Oddee – Other interesting wedding invitations at the link)

UK-based company Natural Legacy is taking green burials to a whole ‘nother level, with sustainable coffins made of wool. What makes it even more wonderful is that this site was sent to me by alert reader Linda, who found it in one of her knitting magazines. As she put it, the coffins were featured in a “‘now you CAN take your stash with you!’ kind of way.” I sort of love the idea of knitting your final resting place.

The site also offers woollen cremation urns, organic cotton shrouds, and coffin handles made of jute. The handles in particular amuse me more than they probably should.

But anyway.

The coffin and urn exteriors appear to be felted wool, and the site says that the frame is recycled cardboard. If you’re a fiber artist and like to do felting, a DIY urn might not be out of the question.

Make a Beautiful Button Pillow – Lovely idea for making a very Victorian-looking decorative pillow using loads of vintage buttons. You could do a darker version using novelty Halloween buttons like spiderwebs and skulls.

Miniature Memento – This isn’t really goth, but I love all the little details. If you’ve got access to a color printer, this kind of personalized item would make a wonderful gift.

Gross Anatomy – List of arts and crafts featuring body parts.

Black Milk Tights – Some very cool printed tights, including a couple of lovely skeleton designs.

Screw-in Coffin – A patent has been issued for this device. So many jokes occurred to me that my cerebellum fused. (Hat tip to Chas)

The New Vampire’s Handbook – You’ve been turned; now what? This handy guide covers everything from fang maintenance to faking your way through meals.

Bat Skull Drawer Pulls – These cast metal knobs would be the perfect hardware for a spooky armoire or chest.

Zombie Poker Chips – Series of chips with different zombies for each denomination.

Steampunk Mice – Some lovely examples of steamed-up computer mice, along with one mouse made out of a taxidermied real mouse. (Hat tip to Kitten Herder)

The fabulous Empress Pam recently sent me a link to the Wicked Wines site; it used to be just Vampire Wine, but they’ve branched out considerably since the last time I looked. Their TrueBlood Syrah would make a nice centerpiece for a spooky gift basket.

Start with a little coffin: Pushin’ Daisies sells inexpensive cardboard coffins in a variety of sizes. You could also scale up a papercraft pattern such as this one and fold your own. If you’re really dedicated, make one out of wood (check out the awesome wine coffins that WormyT did a while back).

Line the coffin with scarlet tissue paper, add the bottle of wine, then tuck nibbles around the sides: A sharp cheddar or creamy gouda cheese; some crackers; a bar of dark chocolate, and some spicy pumpkin cookies. Fill any empty spots with plastic spiders. Enjoy by a crackling fire with an appreciative loved one.

You’ve probably seen the all-coffin kitchen and other themed furniture made by Coffin It Up. It probably comes as no surprise that the proprietors’ own house is also coffin-themed.

Bryan and Dusty Schoening have a year-round cemetery at their house, complete with a coffin-shaped gazebo where they host several weddings every year.

HGTV has a short home tour of their exterior, plus some photos of the famous coffin kitchen that they did for a client. I’m very much taken with the columns on their front porch.

Cthulhu PSA – The more you know!

Crafts for Wiccans – Samhain project roundup from Craftster.

The Bone Room – Curious Expeditions visits an amazing store in Berkeley.

Historical Tweets – This one made me giggle.

The Most Creepy Stuff on the Web – Highly debatable. Still, there’s probably one or two things on this list that everyone should find pretty spooky.

Halloween Cross Stitch Kit – New kit from Subversive Cross Stitch with four patterns and glow-in-the-dark floss. (Some patterns contain naughty words, so potentially NSFW, I guess.)

8 Real-Life Themed Weddings – The Clown one is just creepy.

The Last Ride – Lie down in a coffin for a simulated ride to the graveyard, complete with burial. You never see this kind of thing at Disneyland.

Zombies for Zombies – Ghoul Friday reviews this book.

Tim Burton’s Tricks & Treats – Haute Macabre has a photo shoot from Harper’s Bazaar which includes models dressed as some of Burton’s most famous characters.

Knit Alien Facehugger – Complete with pattern!

Two from Dave Lowe:
Halloween How-tos – A roundup of his tutorials
Haunted Horseshoe – I love how simple yet effective this decoration is.

These are general instructions for making a miniature cemetery diorama.

Materials:

• Glass container (fishbowl, decorative globe, jar, etc.)
• Material for substrate (I used earth-tone Model Magic)
• Artificial moss for “grass” (I used bits of floral moss)
• Miniatures for diorama (I chose a raven, a crypt, a few tombstones, and a dead-looking willow tree)
• Acrylic paint

Click the thumbnails for larger images.
	Choose a container large enough to fit the diorama elements without crowding. The one shown here is an 8″ globe for floating candles.
	If desired, paint the miniatures to give them a little added realism. I added a few painted cracks in the stone and some splotches of “moss” and “dirt.” I also repainted a couple of the tombstones to make them look older and more muted.
	Do as much work on the miniatures as possible before putting them into the globe, because it’s hard to maneuver through the hole in the top. For this example I fluffed out the branches of the tree and bent them to look warped. I wrapped the raven’s wire attachment around one of the branches and then painted the wire the same color as the branch. Build up some “dirt” in the bottom of the globe, pressing down firmly. I really liked the way the Model Magic worked, but you could also use regular clay, the fake substrate used for model railroad layouts, or even dry potting soil mixed with glue. (If you’re going to use anything with glue, be extremely careful not to smear it inside of the glass. It’s impossible to clean thoroughly.) Make some high and low areas to give the landscape a little interest. I added a little hill to perch my weeping willow dramatically on. In retrospect, I should have buried a miniature skeleton under the dirt right up next to the glass, and sited a tombstone on top of it. I’m kicking myself for not thinking of that before the clay dried.
	Add the miniature elements to the globe, pressing them down firmly. I smeared Model Magic over the top of the willow’s base to give it a more natural look. If desired, add a few clay boulders to fill in any empty spots. Tear off little bits of artificial moss and press them firmly into the dirt to look like patches of discouraged grass.
	Let the substrate dry thoroughly, then gently wiggle the miniatures to make sure they aren’t loose. If they are, stick them back in place with a few drops of glue. Add paint to the dirt and boulders as necessary. I used patches of olive green, grey, and black to add a little variety to the scene.
	Obviously, there are a zillion variations on this theme. Here’s a smaller one I did in a 4″ globe, using another tombstone and a coffin. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but the “open grave” is really quite dramatic.
	And here’s an even smaller one, using a single lonesome tombstone and a half-pint jelly jar. I spray-painted the lid black, but you could cover it with a skull-print fabric or paint a spooky picture on top too.

Pillboxdesigns is an Etsy seller that specializes in vinyl wall decals in all kinds of creepy designs: Bats, Nosferatu, quotes from Beetlejuice, and loads more. They even offer a custom monogrammed coffin which might make an interesting wedding gift.

These are a great way to spruce up your space without doing anything permanent, so they’re a good choice for apartment-dwellers. They’re also much cheaper and easier than stenciling the walls. (Plus they give you the opportunity to quickly peel them off and hide them if the in-laws drop by unexpectedly.)

The seller also offers faux hearse-style landau bars so you can turn your Volkswagen into something a little more sinister. Heh.

(via Haute Macabre)