Farewell, Fearsome Finds!

* A Yokai A Day - paintings of Japanese mythical monsters by Matthew Meyer. Here's Kuchisake-onna - I see a future Halloween costume!

The yuki-onna is also amazing.

* Fantastic Mexican-theme posters/masks from Firecracker Press (although I can't imagine wanting to cut one of these apart).

* Well, since the theme today seems to be spooky art, have a gander at some Mini Monsters and Tiny Terrors! Aww, lookit the dainty dagonite, or cutie Cthulhu:

* I guess this'll be the last Fearsome Finds for 2009 - I hope you enjoyed it!

Halloween for normals

* How about Halloween finds at "normal" stores?

First up, Wisteria has a small collection of spooky, but I do dig the Corinthian candles - very goth. I also like the creepy votive holders.

Pottery Barn's collection is even smaller, but several pieces could be used at other times of the year as well. There's even stuff at Pottery Barn Kids - the chandelier is spooky cute!

Crate & Barrel - also tiny, but I do like the gourd candles and I've lately wanted some Japanese Lantern branches. (ooh, Japanese Lantern branches plus Chestnut branches in a matte black urn!)

* It's looking like I'll never get to Part Trois of my BC visit story - things have been crazy at Chez Kodama, what with getting the house ready to sell and certain sleeping issues. I'm working on my Necronomicon cross-stitch to settle my nerves, and I sorted through the scrap book paper for spooky goodie boxes. And I got some great cheapo toys at Tarjey to glitter-ize for the boxes - whee!

Stay home, Santa!

* My mom received Lowe's monthly Creative Ideas magazine, and it had a few Halloween projects in it.

Amazingly simple - ghosts made of tomato cages, rope lights and drop cloths!

I also like the "hanging ghouls" from shepherd's hooks.

These are much nicer than the usual stuff they actually sell. And now they are on the BAD LIST for putting Christmas trees next to their Halloween decor. C'mon now, stop intruding on my holiday with yer trees - there's plenty of time for that later.

* Meanwhile, Dollar Tree pulls through again with 10 small plastic skeleton hands for $1 (ha ha, and on Etsy it's $2.25 for just one pair?). They also had some great stickers, and glow sticks of all kinds. They were still putting some stuff out, but they are also on the BAD LIST with aisles of tinsel and wreaths next to the skellies.

* I'm thinking of making gift boxes for my coworkers' candy treats this year, so I picked up a paper mache box at Michael's to experiment. (the skeleton hands would make a nice handle or border around the edge - I may even add some glitter ;). I also got a paper mache book. Hmm, Necronomicon maybe? :bwaa haa haa:

look out below!

* This find surprised me - I've been a fan of Flor for a while now and still get their catalogs, and their colors are gorgeous. Now they enter the spooky realm with Arachnophobia, a spiderweb-patterned series of tiles with random placement of spider! I love that they give you the names of styles that will coordinate with the spider-print so you can customize your horror. It's available in Raven/Pumpkin and Raven/Ash, but I think the Raven/Ash would spookily match with Skully and some plain black tiles.

* Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox, the beginning of Fall. I expect to wake up to cool air, orange and brown leaves, and NO HUMIDITY. Ha ha ha!
Ming's cupcake today is Chocolate Coffee Cupcake with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting, mmm. Autumn is the season for baking.

* I'm putting my house on the market next week. Hardwood floors, corner lot on a hill, new roof - what's not to like? Wish me (and my realtor) luck! Even though the end result will make me very very happy, the idea of a major life change is still overwhelming.

* Have a gander at my Flickr page to see photos from my Victoria vacation - I'm working on matching blog posts.

sugar overload!

* Halloween treat o' the week: Red velvet raspberry cupcakes with French vanilla cream cheese frosting and a chocolate brain. You can see a step-by-step photo tutorial about the brains on Flickr, but no recipe is provided :(

Kinda related: The lovely headmistress of Gothic Charm School has a blog called Cupcake Goth! I like her striped stockings & boots, her waist-nipping jackets and her not-grumpy Victorian gothness.

Check out these s'mores cupcakes over at Saucy Sprinkles! I feel hyper just looking at them, mmmmm ...

The theme continues with these GIANT cupcakes made from fun noodles over at Dollar Store Crafts. I can't think of a use for any day let alone H'ween ... wait! how about a Willy Wonka theme yard, he was pretty scary (both Gene and Johnny). And don't even get me started on the Oompa Loompas.

How about a cupcake flower arrangement? So cute, and better for those on restricted diets.

cooler outside than inside

* Halloween find o' the week: Blumchen, Purveyors of Life's Little Niceties, a great resource for old-fashioned and vintage Hallowe'en decor.

• reprints of the classic Beistle Co. paperboard cutouts
• super awesome black & white boxes
• repros of vintage postcards
• spooky lantern!

Okay, they also have items for Valentine's and Christmas.

I found them while searching for Dennison crepe paper. One day, I'll post some scans from the Dennison Flower Book.

Also in spooky news, I picked up this year's edition of the BHG Halloween special publication at Publix. Once again they have the best mix of grown-up gothy decor (the linked article is actually a reprint from an earlier BHG magazine, with more photos but less "where to find it" info) and cute kids party ideas (magic show party and retro owl paper decor), and a nice article on vintage collecting.
But Beware to those who try to navigate the BHG website! The magazine lists a link to "halloween tricks" at their site, but it links instead to the general Halloween category. And it appears that none of the articles in the magazine are actually on the website yet. Tsk tsk, how am I supposed to spread the word?

* The a/c seems to be broken at work. Air is blown, but it's humid and warm. I've got the window open for some cool fresh air.
ETA: a/c fixed!

Eye Spy

* Interesting find: Nerd Boyfriend. Despite the name, it is neither about nerds or boyfriends. It is instead a very cleanly designed site with (mostly older) photos of famous men, and underneath each photo a couple of links highlighting what they are wearing. Yeah, I can't really describe it well, but who wouldn't want to dress like Gregory Peck, young Leonard Nimoy (looking amazingly like Syler - good call Abrams!), Mahatma Gandi, or even young men headed to the moon.

* I've decided to post my spooky finds each Monday instead of scattershot. Ah ha - Fearsome Finds, coming each Monday to Yay, It's Another Blog!

Pumpkins and spider webs

* It's getting spookier all the time! The latest source to add is Lillian Vernon - not all of their stuff is to my taste, but some of their lacy goth items (cobweb tablecloth, spiderweb candy bowl stand or lampshade scarf) are quite elegant.

Also Hobby Lobby has stepped up - although most of their items are harvest or Thanksgiving, they have a great selection of pumpkins of all materials and colors. And I am drawn to their crow stuff!

* Claudette came and went, leaving behind tons of rain and pine straw. I didn't even lose power!

* I am STILL having problems with Firefox not finding the server - I have:
- checked my firewalls
- verified my connection settings
- made a new profile
- reinstalled Firefox

It just gets worse. Halp!

Spooky!

* Hooray, the Boney Bunch are back at Yankee Candle! They have the cutest stuff in their Halloween collection. I especially love their patchouli scent (they change the name every year - this year it's Beware!) No minty vanilla this year, but I'm keeping an eye on Dreadfully Delicious Swirl (vanilla cupcake and pumpkin pie swirled - yum!)

Poor Glen didn't realize what he was getting into when he proposed ;)

* In other news, it poured down rain on the way to work this morning, but now it's bright and sunny. I can't decide whether I'll miss this kind of weather or not.

* My mom got herself a Wii for her upcoming birthday and I'm totally jealous. She got the Wii Fit bundle as well - go Mom!

* On Saturday I went to Gosamyr's house for a pool party. The day started off kinda cloudy but cleared up enough for sunning and swimming. And some zombie killing courtesy of Zogar and House of the Dead: Overkill. Also got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while and catch up. A good time was had by all.

On Sunday I cleaned out the linen closet in the hallway; now it's presentable for showing the house. That makes 2 closets down, 3 to go.

* Fun website of the day - iDIY. Marked as stuff for do-it-yourself weddings, but alot of the crafty freebies and tips have other uses as well. She also provides lots o' links to other fun freebies.

I confess

* Hi, my name is K0dama and I'm addicted to Halloween decor. And Target. And when they combine, I can't stop!
So of course I've been lurking at their website for a sneak peek and was rewarded today. Waaay in the back, on the last pages of a search for "Halloween decor", items marked "new" but also "not in stock." Like this guy, Zen the bobblehead! Or a spooky cute advent calendar!

* I'm also feeling crafty, wanting to do something with all the lovely scrapbook papers that I get on clearance because they are just too pretty to pass up! Maybe start making my own cards - I've done that in the past and they seem to be well received. Creative and economical!

* But I'm determined to save money for The Big Move. I'm in the process of tidying and cleaning all rooms and closets, so what better time to cull what I don't need (and don't feel like toting to the Great North)? 3 bedrooms full of stuff will take some time :)