Search Results for: halloween

February 3

Friday Roundup: My Bloody Valentine

As you might have realized, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Perhaps you are planning on celebrating with that certain someone…or perhaps you’re ignoring the event entirely (it’s okay, it’s a sham holiday largely designed to promote the sale of greeting cards). Either way, you might want to get a gift, either for said certain someone or for yourself (because this is the fun part of being an adult—you get to buy yourself things). So why not take the standard Valentine’s trope of jewelry and skew it just a little bit? See how good your Valentine’s sense of humor really is.

Roses are red…and so is blood. So, if you and/or your beloved are fans of any of those vampire shows out there (whatever, I only count Buffy), the Twilight movies (Bah! Vampires don’t sparkle), or have an overall appreciation for general guts ‘n’ gore, consider some of these options. (Note: There are plenty of vial-of-faux-blood necklaces out there, but I’m choosing to ignore them. I just don’t find them that compelling. If that’s your thing, trust me—you can find them in spades. You don’t need my help.)

So La Fille du Consul’s Tour de Cou Sanglant necklace was my original inspiration for the post. Saw it years ago, couldn’t figure out how to actually purchase one, so I wound up making two (one for myself, one for a friend) on my own. ‘Twas a snap. I made a wire armature, surrounded it with clay, baked it, painted it, painted it again, glossed it, stitched on ribbon ties. Et voilà! The hardest part was waiting for the paint to dry between coats. Wish I could post a picture of my handmade version, but my necklace is currently packed up with the rest of my belongings and being intercontinentally shipped.

Since I first stumbled across that delightfully bloody, drippy necklace, I’ve found numerous iterations of the same idea. Here’s Trashglam’s acrylic version and Art for a Home’s basic Blood Drip Necklace and Extra-Bloody Necklace. VonErickson’s Laboratory features entire sections of the shop devoted to dripping necklaces and bracelets and gruesome gash necklaces.

If you prefer something a little less overtly gory and more elaborately Victorian, how about Fable & Fury’s Vampire Blood Drip Statement Necklace? It’s made of red powder-coated stainless steel and it’s fabulously ornate.

Oh, and if beading is more up your alley, don’t worry—you have plenty of options there, too. First up is Weirdly Cute’s Slasher Victim Necklace, followed by House of D’s Axolotl Gill/Blood Drop Necklace.

For those who want something subtle yet suggestive (Is it supposed to look like blood? Is it not? Intriguing….), here are two excellent options: QuirkyOak’s Gothic Choker Necklace and Lily Lady Blue’s True Blood Siam Red Lariat.

My favorite entry in the relatively subtle category is Weirdly Cute’s Vampire Victim Necklace, which properly conveys that freshly-bitten look.

Finally, we have a rather unusual ring to add to the list of bloody beautiful jewelry: Jane D’Arensbourg’s Drops of Blood Glass Knuckle Duster. I’m not gonna lie—in the already unconventional genre of blood-themed jewelry, that’s still a pretty unexpected piece. But, again, it’s also pretty fantastic. So buy it for yourself, give it to your Valentine…just don’t use it to propose.

January 6

Friday Roundup: Crafts With a Bite

Hello, all! It’s time for the Friday Roundup!

As part of this week’s post, I have a confession to make: I really enjoy reading what I call “stupid vampire novels.” The good ones are more in the “urban fantasy” genre, but a lot of them, to be honest, are best characterized as “paranormal romance.” (Let’s step back a minute and reflect on the fact that that’s a whole genre unto itself. Right? I know.) I’ve read all but one of the Sookie Stackhouse books (and watched a season or two of True Blood), all of the Anita Blake books, all of the Kitty Norville books (yeah, she’s a werewolf, but it counts), and, yes, that other series that I’ll leave unnamed. That other series could be its own roundup, I’m sure. This isn’t that roundup, though.

As much as I’d love to share some Kitty Norville crafts, there aren’t any (or, if there are, they are well hidden from Google)! I was shocked! We’ll all have to band together, as a Geek Crafts community, and remedy that. ;)

Happily, though, there’s a wealth of Sookie and Anita Blake craftery out there, and I’m here to bring you some of my favorites from Etsy.

First up, these very fun Sookie Stackhouse book cover earrings, by maryfaithpeace. It sounds like she puts a lot of work into these—there’s even “page ridge detail”! You can mix-and-match or buy two alike! I love it!

Next, a charm bracelet, admittedly based more on True Blood than on the books, by Creative Accessories. (Who, by the way, has a coupon code up right now—and offers a plethora of geeky jewelry. Nice!)

Here’s one for any ladies wanting to do some easy cosplay: a Merlotte’s waitress t-shirt, by Scarlett Fabric (also sporting a coupon code!). A couple of red marker dots and this shirt makes an easy Halloween/convention/costume party getup!

If you’re really into the costume, you might want to add another element: scent. Mannaia Frangrances has you covered, with “Bon Temps,” which she describes as “A dark, distinctively southern scent for the vampire, fairy, or fangbanger with taste. Includes notes of magnolia, sweet iced tea, wisteria, bougainvillea, and a good dose of peach.” I’m … kind of intrigued. It sounds nice.

The next one, I admit, I hesitated before deciding to post. I’m a little tired of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” thing—it’s a fun historical reference, but, for the time being, it’s probably been played out. I think. Then again, I laughed when I saw this pendant by Red Hot Kitten, and I would totally wear something like it. So maybe there’s a bit of play left in that meme.

Now, on to Anita Blake. Perhaps because she doesn’t have a TV show or a movie, there are fewer Blake-themed crafts out there. But she has a comic (there goes that paycheck), so crafters do have some imagery to work with. Here’s a card holder (ooh, a library card!) with an image straight from the comic, by Japip:

A different print from the comic appears on these earrings, by WenSi Shop. The guns dangling from the photos of Anita make it much easier to identify her, I think. ;)

Alternately, she could look more like the Anita Blake in this print by Tara Fortin—which I love, by the way:

And, finally, to leave you with something just a bit macabre, here is a necklace by Bottled Up Creations, featuring a “hand sculpted human heart” in a bottle, with a note saying “My heart belongs to Jean Claude ♥ [signed] Anita Blake.” This one kind of creeps me out. It probably wouldn’t be everyday wear for me. But Halloween? Oh yes. I would totally rock this necklace on Halloween!

A few of our past vampire-themed craft posts:

November 8

Tutorial Tuesday: Edward Scissorhands Costume!

Instructables are running a halloween competition, time’s almost up to submit entries, but you should completely go there and look at the awesome work that’s already been submitted.

I love Caraslifka’s children’s Edward Scissorhands costume and tutorial… but hats off to her son for really bringing the costume to life.

 

November 7

Baby in a TARDIS Suit!

If you go all wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey for babies prepare to jump to warp.

I just can’t get over this cute 6 month old girl and her dad all dressed up for halloween! I especially love this:

“The Tardis is not the most current one because we realised pretty quickly that my husband could better pull off David Tennant than Matt Smith, so we matched her to her appropriate Doctor.”

Yea, its a good job you did that sabrinalouisemiller … nobody’d be able to take a mismatched TARDIS seriously :-)

geek parenting – WINNING!

 

November 4

Friday Roundup: Muppet Crafts!

Quite aware that I am dating myself, I have fond memories of watching “The Muppet Show” when it was actually on TV (which premiered in 1976 – groan…). As my husband also shares an affection for the distinctive puppets, our kids have grown up with the movies as well – one of our Christmas traditions is to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. Good times. We’re quite looking forward to the next installment, when “The Muppets” launches on November 23rd.

So for today’s roundup, I thought I would offer up to you a bounty of Muppet-related craftastic goodness. First up, a fabulous crochet Animal hat, from Etsy shopowner, TeeterTotterTot.

Animal hat

*****

This Miss Piggy Cameo hairpin from Katey Bree Designs is really interesting – where would one get a Miss Piggy cameo??

Miss Piggy cameo hairpin

*****

Beaker is one of my favorite characters, so I love the idea of the two of these guys “peeking out” from a framed cross-stitch (PDF pattern available from LizzyStitches). How could you look at this on your wall and not smile?

Beaker and Professor Honeydew cross-stitch pattern

*****

This Kermit the Frog cup cozy looks like a quick and easy Muppet craft – and kid-friendly, too, since it’s from Disney Family Crafts.

Kermit the Frog cup cozy

*****

Made up of 16 different blocks, this Muppet quilt by Roxy Nova is one impressive project! Be sure to click through to revel in close-up shots of each block.

Muppet quilt

*****

The sweet fuzzy bits on this crochet double pom baby hat by Naturally Hooked would really make any baby look like a sort of muppet!

Double pom Muppet baby hat

*****

I almost wish I wore glasses so I could have a reason to make this Professor Honeydew glasses holder amigurumi project! Heck – maybe I don’t need a reason!

Muppet glasses holder

*****

I’m going to have to start soon, if I want this Yip Yip costume for next Halloween – which I do! Love these!

Yip Yip costume

*****

Finally, give your own Muppet shows with this fantastic Muppet puppet theater from Someday Crafts!

Muppet theater

*****

OK, OK – I won’t leave it that. Here’s a little bonus: OK Go’s version on the Muppet theme song.

Links of Interest:

November 1

Tutorial Tuesday: Typhlosion Hat

Halloween may be over but there are some costume ideas that you might be tempted to wear all year round.

A full blown pokemon costume might be hard to pull off when you’re rocking down your local high street, but a Typhlosion Hat will make you the envy of every gym master from Pallett Town to Veridian City.

Hop over to ClearKid‘s deviantart for the tutorial!