A Dash of Spooky Sweetness This Christmas

You see this lady who is generously giving out the full sized candy bars to the kids? Well, I feel like I've just been to her house! That's because recently I had the luck of winning what I view as an adult trick-or-treat bag! It had what many adults pick out of trick-or-treat candy: the chocolates.

Chris, otherwise known as The Frog Queen, was the generous blogger who sent me this package. You might be familiar with her and the outstanding cemetery she has built. She's the one who created the magnificent mausoleum and grieving angel you bloggers saw in October.

Here are some of the goodies she sent me:



The chocolates came packaged in this adorable skull bag:



So far I've only gotten into the little jack-o-lanterns and they're really good! This package has helped stretch my Halloween festivities into the Christmas season. I've been alternating eating these Halloween chocolates with Christmas chocolates.



Alternating between Christmas and Halloween candies has me thinking about stocking stuffers for people who like spooky things. I've run into several spooky chocolate ideas online lately. If you have a Halloween lover in your life, they'd probably enjoy these treats - even in December!

The first is this chocolate orange jack-o-lantern. You know those awesome chocolate oranges you whack and unwrap? Well, with the addition of a paper face, you have a jack-o-lantern. I always see (and eat) these chocolate oranges around Christmas, so they should be on the shelves.

This chocolate orange look and some how-to info can be found here: Red Ted Art's Blog

How cool are these chocolate skulls complete with walnut brains?

These wicked little creations are sold by Sparganum on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sparganum

These black and orange candy canes aren't edible but they'd be a fun decoration on a gift or stocking. They are another item I found on Etsy and they can be found here: Chenille Candy Canes

I tried to find some actual candy canes that were black and orange, but none turned up!

One more Etsy shop that could provide some surprises in Christmas stockings is Vintage Confections. I love everything here, but here are a few of my favorites:

Eyeball Lollipops

Planet Lollipops ~ I know these aren't spooky, but they were too cool not to share!

A search for "black licorice cats" will produce many results! I found some for sale on the Candyality site and bags of Gustaf's Dutch Licorice Cats are available on Amazon.

Of course these spooky treats would look the most appropriate in a stocking like this:

Here's some good news! The creator of this stocking was nice enough to post a brief how-to if you'd like to create your own: Make your own skull stocking

There are a bazillion stocking templates online, if you'd like to print one out as a pattern. It sounds like she used one of those, sewed the two stocking halves together, and then glued her skulls on. I suppose you could glue the halves together too, if you didn't plan on putting much in the stocking.

Also ~ I want to mention that a lot of my blog friends are taking part in something called "Creepmas" this year. For those who haven't heard about this, it's a 13 day blogging event celebrating this festive time of year in a dark, spooky way. So you might see something along the lines of Creepmas cookies or how The Addams Family celebrates Christmas or even some ugly Creepmas sweaters!

To view the participating blogs, you can visit: http://creepmas.blogspot.com/ and look at the "participating creeps" on the right side of the page.

The winner of my giveaway and other contests to enter

Last week I advertised a contest to celebrate having 100 followers. Today I chose the winner from the antique cauldron I found at the estate sale:

 I reached in, and pulled out...

Congratulations Vain Glory Sinner! Just email me your address, and your candy art print will be on its way. By the way, if you guys aren't following Vain Glory Sinner's blog, you should go take a look. Her blog is a mixture of makeup, antiques, and Gothic goodness in general.

If I didn't pull your name out of the cauldron, there are still plenty of Halloween contests for you to enter. For instance, I just ran across the Trick or Tweet Halloween giveaway from http://aeiouwhy.blogspot.com/ This blogger is giving away lots of generous prizes! You also have the possibility of winning a rock. Hopefully it won't be a very large rock, because I can't imagine the shipping charges for that!

You won't win this specific rock, I just thought it was a fun picture. I found it on a web site called: http://www.allgoogly.com/ where, you guessed it, people post pictures of various things wearing googly eyes. But I digress...

My blog buddy LuLu is also holding a giveaway for a lovely Halloween crown she made! You have until Oct. 7th to try for that: LuLu's Spooky Crown Giveaway

Also, not to be missed is Raven Fae's giveaway for a set of Grandin Road Halloween Goblets! Raven was the blogger who sent me the lovely bottle labels. You only have until 9:00 CST tonight to try for these, so
get on over to her blog: Raven Fae's Goblet Giveaway

Of course, there's still the duct tape pumpkin contest that I mentioned last time. You have until November 1st to try for that. I'm starting to get some design ideas for that one...

Well, tomorrow is going to be a fun day in blog-land! Many bloggers will be participating in the zombie blog walk. I'll share some zombie thoughts tomorrow and post links to the other participating blogs!

Decorating and dressing with duct tape

In searching for Halloween contests to enter, I ran across a contest being held by Duck brand duct tape! You can win $1,000 for decorating a pumpkin (real or fake) with duct tape and sending in a photo!

I remembered seeing some fake, carvable pumpkins during one of my recent trips to Dollar Tree, so I went over there yesterday and bought one. Since it only cost $1.00, I'll feel free to experiment on the pumpkin (and possibly mess it up).

I'm a little skeptical about actually being able to carve a Dollar Tree pumpkin, but who knows. I'm also a little skeptical about eating the candy I bought there, but who could resist this packaging?

Or a candy called "Pirate Choppers" for that matter. It seemed like it should have said chompers instead of choppers, but what do you want for a dollar?

I found some black duct tape at Target today for $3.39, which is by far the cheapest I've seen it. Actually the color wasn't listed as black, but as "Midnight Madness". That Duck company sure knows how to market their duct tape! I was tempted to buy the zebra print tape, but I stayed focused.

Would any of you handy people out there like to be my competition in this contest? I'd be curious to see what you think up!

Here's a link to the contest page:

Duck Brand Stick-or-Treat Contest

I managed to find a little inspiration! This is a how-to video for decorating pumpkins with duct tape. I swear there are how-to videos for everything now.


In other duct tape/pumpkin news...

That's just how strong duct tape is: Strong enough to lift 600 lbs of pumpkin!

I kept thinking of the Red Green show while writing this! I'm hoping that at least my Canadian followers will know what I'm talking about. Red Green calls duct tape "the handyman's secret weapon". I'm sure he could think up a great invention involving a pumpkin and duct tape. Here's one of his many projects:


In searching the terms "Halloween" and "duct tape" I ran across a book titled, The Original Duct Tape Halloween Book. Has anyone out there read this? I looked through a few pages on the book's Amazon page, and the costumes looked bizarre. I did, however, like their duct tape spiderweb idea!

Not that you couldn't fashion a cool outfit out of duct tape. The very Halloweeny couple above did just that for their prom! In fact, the Duck company held a duct tape prom outfit contest on their web site. The contest was titled "stuck at prom". Want to see the winners and runners up? I know you do...

Winners and Runners up for the Stuck at Prom contest

There are actually duct tape prom photos all over the internet. I guess these kids really want to show off their handy work. Just google "duct tape prom" and you'll see what I mean. I have to admire teenagers with the confidence to wear these flamboyant outfits, although I wonder if some of them were able to dance that night... 

It looks like the boy got a hold of some of that zebra print duct tape I mentioned before! This is one of the flashier couples I ran across. Some of the outfits I found were really quite tasteful, considering they were made of duct tape! I'd consider wearing this one for instance:

I was going to say that the kids probably saved money by making their own prom outfits, but I'm not sure. Considering that I saw duct tape selling from $3.39 to $5.00 for a colorful roll, and a lot of tape is needed to make a dress or tux. The ballerina dress could be done on a budget, since I saw the regular silver duct tape being sold at Dollar Tree...

So do you feel inspired to fashion a duct tape Halloween outfit? Or decorate a pumpkin with duct tape? Or maybe even use duct tape to turn your vehicle into an insane monster truck like Red Green did? This stuff really does have a million uses!

In unrelated news, I'm turning 30 tomorrow! I probably won't be answering too many comments tomorrow, but I'll get to them as soon as I can. :)

My 100 follower giveaway, and a prize I won!

This past week I was very happy to notice that my blog had 100 followers! Actually, I'm at 101 since that time and I'm very grateful to all of you. It means a lot to me to that you take the time to read my thoughts. The insightful and often funny comments are always appreciated! So thank you all very much for being here.

If you were one of my first 50 followers, you might remember my giveaway for a 4 x 6 inch Halloween art print. I'm doing a similar giveaway this time, only for an 8 x 12 or 8 x 8 inch Halloween art print. All you have to do is visit the Halloween section of my Deviant Art shop:

http://justine-ehlers.deviantart.com/gallery/29600709

...and let me know which Halloween print is your favorite in the comments! I'll draw a winner next Thursday.

Good luck!

Last week, I was lucky enough to win a prize, myself! I won a set of Martha Stewart Halloween bottle labels! I was sent this prize by my blog buddy, Raven Fae, who happens to be giving away prizes every week up until Halloween! You should really check out her blog, not only for a chance to win, but because she's a cool lady who makes some great little Halloween creatures. Here's a link to her blog:

http://ravenfaescreations.blogspot.com/

This is a photo of my prize...

Now I just need to find some bottles to put these on. I tried the American Science and Surplus tent sale last weekend, but there were only little bottles there. That's a great place to go if you need parts for a mad scientist costume, or are looking for a gas mask (adult or child size). There weren't many interesting things to buy, otherwise.

I'm hoping to find some bottles at either a Joann Fabrics store or at Pier 1. If any of you know of a great place to find bottles, let me know!

Oh, and I have one more thing to share. Dollar Tree is selling garlands of leaves for Autumn. Some of these are glittered. I was lucky enough to find one of the remaining orange, glittery garlands. It made a very quick addition to my witch hat!

Attaching the garland was really as simple as just wrapping it around the hat and then knotting it around itself at the top.

I think it gives the hat a little extra magic. It's as if it belongs to a witch that lives in a cabin in the forest. At least that's what I imagine. I had to share this right away, because Dollar Tree seems to be selling out of these garlands quickly!

To give you an idea of how glittery these are:

There were some non-glittery garlands as well. I feel like the spokesperson for Dollar Tree lately. Well, for the Halloween products anyway!

Little monsters in the mail

Guess what I received in the mail today? A bunch of little monsters! They were printed on trading cards, and some of them were pretty creepy. These cards were my prize for winning "The Dead Hate the Giving" giveaway held by The Midnight Brood. Be sure to check out his spooky movie themed blog here:  http://themidnightbrood.blogspot.com

Here are some photos of the cards I received. You can click on these pictures to see them a lot larger.

Aren't these cards great? They're so vibrant and colorful. They'll probably be going on one of my bulletin boards, along with my other spooky things.

I was excited to win this prize, even though I wasn't familiar with the "Monster in my Pocket" cartoon these were based on. At first I was a little embarrassed to not know about this. I mean, this came out when I was a child. What kind of self-respecting, Halloween obsessed little girl wouldn't know about this? Well, it turns out that only one episode of the cartoon ever aired. So that lifts a little of my guilt. :) You can watch that one and only episode on The Midnight Brood's blog by Clicking Here.

Actually, there's a lot to learn about the "Monster in my Pocket" cartoon, trading cards, and collectable toys. There was a surprising amount of merchandise made, considering that only one episode of the show exists! You can read more about the show and products on the Monster in my Pocket Wikipedia page. 

You may have noticed in my pictures that not all of the cards feature traditional "monsters". Sure there are Vampire, Zombie, and Bigfoot cards, but the collection also features some creatures you may not have heard of. I decided to share a few monsters I didn't know about before today. Let's see if you're familiar with these:

This giant bird is named "Roc" and lives in Madagascar off the coast of Eastern Africa. I noticed that all of the monsters that were new to me originated from countries outside of the U.S. Maybe if I lived in Africa, I would have heard of this bird. Anyway, he is described as being the size of an airplane! Evidently, this creature eats Elephants...

The Chimera looks like the kind of creature Napoleon Dynamite would think up! Remember the Liger? He is from Greece and stands seven feet tall. The Chimera is part lion, goat, and snake. As if that isn't creepy enough, this creature has breath that is hot enough to melt lead!

This is Kali. She lives in the jungles of India. Kali has four arms, sheds her skin like a snake, and wears a necklace made from human teeth. Eww... She will eat anyone who gets in her way - even her own children!

The last unfamiliar creature is Redcap. This little guy is Scottish and the most evil of the fairies. He hangs out in castles, but sometimes comes out to attack travelers. The back of this card actually says "He's especially fond of redheads and rednecks." Ha!

So did you already know about any of these creatures? I'm sure that the world is full of monster stories I've never heard.

Oh, and there are two more things I want to mention!

1) You'll notice a picture of Halloween candy on the left side of my blog. Clicking on the candy will bring you to my profile on HalloweenForum.com. If you are a member of that site, please send me a friend request. If you don't know about Halloween Forum, it's worth checking out. There are lots of like minded people on there sharing photos from their Halloween parties and home haunts. You'll find ideas and inspiration there. Some of the site members are very advanced with prop construction!

2) I'm working on a blog entry about Ouija Boards. If you happen to own an antique spirit board of any kind, or a homemade one, or a board designed outside of the United States and Canada, please email me a photo of it. I'd like to post a few pictures of unique boards in that post. I think that's going to be an interesting blog entry!

Monsters are good

Why are monsters good? Probably because life would be pretty boring without them. At least, a lot of old sci-fi movies are in great need of monsters. I mean, what else would the characters have going on in their lives if there wasn't something to run away from? 

Monsters, or whatever lurks in the shadows, are one of the more fascinating parts of life. Why is the darkness so fascinating? I have no idea. There's probably some basic part of human nature explaining why I am addicted to true crime TV shows and books. It's probably the same reason that we're fascinated by the villains in fairy tales as much as we're horrified by them. I do have to wonder why I (and most of you) have so much fun blogging about sinister characters and the darker side of the supernatural. If you have any insight as to why you enjoy focusing on darker subject matter, I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment sharing your thoughts.

 

Speaking of things that are enjoyably dark, yesterday I received a fun package in the mail! It was a set of pins that I won in a giveaway from Goblin Haus. The pins were produced by a company named Monsters are Good. (Hence the title for this post) Both companies' web sites are fun to page through. There are a wide array of horror related items on the Goblin Haus site and plenty more pins and clothing on the Monsters are Good site. Here's the generous prize I received:

See Vlad peeking out? :)

This was the pin I wanted most out of the whole bunch! This one will be going directly onto my black hoodie, and the rest will reside on the bulletin board in my studio. (Next to my other spooky pins)

 

 

Goblin Haus also tossed in some nice, large stickers printed with their logo. I love the logo's old school German design! It sets the perfect tone for their business, because let's be honest, we Germans really know how to do it up with the scary stuff...

...and because monsters are so good, here's a treat for everyone: A wonderful monster montage set to "The Imperial March." Enjoy!

And the winner is...

Well, I'm not telling you yet! First, I wanted to share a picture of the cute plastic pumpkin I put the contestants' names in:

This was my Trick-or-Treat bucket as a little girl. Doesn't he look great on that pedestal? I had fun posing the pumpkin around the yard for photos today. The neighbors were probably wondering what I was doing, or maybe they've quit wondering by now!

Anyway I reached into my pumpkin and pulled out:

Nice font, eh? I mean, how often do I get to use that one?

Congratulations to The Midnight Brood! Be sure to check out his fun and scary movie themed blog: http://themidnightbrood.blogspot.com/

Midnight Brood ~ If you would please email your address to contactartgirl@gmail.com I will send out your Card Playing Skeleton art print!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my giveaway and also for leaving me such lovely comments! I plan to do a bigger giveaway if I hit 100 followers someday. :) In the meantime, I'd like to leave something fun for everyone!

I know we've all seen this a million times, but too much is never enough...

Celebrating 50 Followers with a Giveaway

I just noticed today that I have 50 blog followers! I've been planning to do something to celebrate if and when I got to 50, so here we go!

I'm doing a giveaway for a 4x6 inch art print of one of my Halloween paintings. It's not too complicated to win, just visit the link below and leave a comment saying which of my Halloween pieces is your favorite. If I pick your name out of my plastic pumpkin, I'll send you a 4x6 print of that piece.

Here's a link to your choices of Halloween Art: http://justine-ehlers.deviantart.com/gallery/29600709

I appreciate having you guys as my followers and always look forward to reading your thoughts on what I come up with. :)

I'm going to collect blog comments for this giveaway for a week. Next Monday at 8:00 PM Central Time, I'll let you guys know who won. Oh, and if by chance I collect more followers throughout the week, you new followers should give this a shot too! Same to those who have my blog delivered in email form.

Good luck and thanks for following me. :)