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Soap Fingers

Filexd under: Art,Bed & Bath,Crafts,Decor,kitchen — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 6:12 pm

Okay, I know I did a post yesterday on soap, but I had to write about this soap that one of my loyal readers alerted me to. These are Soap Fingers made by LoveLeeSoaps on Etsy and are watermelon scented. I have no idea what the connection to watermelon that fingers have except that you use your hands to eat watermelon. You get four realistic looking fingers for $5.00. It’s a great price, but I wonder if I could get a five-finger discount?

* Thanks Eugenie5 for the heads up!

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Gingerdead Men Cookie Cutter

Filexd under: Arts/Crafts,Crafts,Decor,Fairy Tales,Food & Candy,Holidays,kitchen — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 5:30 pm

This is the time of the year when everyone is rushing around everywhere trying to get the best deals, buying a tree, decorating, baking etc. It’s a struggle every year to get Christmas decorations that aren’t so damn cheerful. I like Christmas as much as the next person, but you may have noticed that I like things a little more dark. At least I hope you have. Scary daughter loves to make a Gingerbread House every year. I supply her with the kit, but usually substitute the candy and frosting for something more scary. I usually will make small Gingerbread men for her to place around the little house. I’ve tried many different things to make them a little scary, but none have turned out well. Yesterday I found a Gingerdead Men Cookie Cutter on Fred that will be perfect. Unfortunately he is the more traditional sized Gingerbread Men Cookie Cutter. I figure that they will not only be dead Gingerbread Men, but they’ll be giants in the Gingerbread House world. What could be more scary? I think I’ll still make the little ones and they can be running away from the big scary Gingerbread Men. Need I even mention how awesome these guys will be for the stupid neighborhood Cookie Swap?

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Scary Witches’ Brew

Filexd under: Bar,beverage,Crafts,Decor,Food & Candy,Halloween Decor,Recipes — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 10:02 pm

For many years we have had a Halloween party. Each year it gets bigger and more elaborate as I find new things or ways of doing things. Our guests love it and we have a blast doing it. It just takes a lot of prep time. Every year I make the same punch which I originally talked about Here. Everyone loves it and it’s always a huge hit. I usually make one with alcohol and one without. As usual I will be making it this year, but with a new added ingredient that I’m really excited to try. Here is the original recipe:

1             96 oz. Orange Juice
4             48 oz. cans Pineapple Juice
4             2 liter bottles of Sprite or 7Up
1             1.75 liter bottle of vodka

Obviously this makes a lot, but you can cut it down for the amount you need keeping the ratios the same. For the non-alcholic just leave out the vodka and it still tastes great! Someone told me last year that it you add a couple of scoops of lime sherbert it really gets an eerie gross scum to it that looks disgusting, but still tastes great. I sorta think substituting the Sprite/7Up with Ginger ale might make it more gross since it’s not clear, but kinda brownish. So, I might try that. Last year I bought a mesh tea ball and put the small pieces of dry ice inside instead of in the main cauldron. Once I closed it up I just sank it right into the actual punch. Safe to drink, but the bubbling comes right from the punch! It worked really well, but I searched all year for something bigger to use. Once it disolves you have to fill it up again, so I wanted something that I could put more in to last longer. Turns out you can get mesh tea balls in a larger size. They are also known as spice balls apparently (So not in the mood for stupid jokes, so just shut up!). Don’t forget the ice hands/fingers because they are still fun!

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Climbing Skeletons

Filexd under: Crafts,Decor,Halloween Decor,Outdoors — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 5:22 pm

Found another great Do-It-Yourself Halloween project today called Climbing Skeletons. I’m finding so many cool ideas! I wish I had thought of this before. Maybe next year I’ll plan the whole month to be Do-It-Yourself projects. Especially if new and different decorations are hard to come by again. I wish there was a way for me to do all of the ideas I’ve found, but our yard is only so big. Also, I like to keep things in a general theme which this would not fit into. Anyway, this seems pretty straight forward to make. All you need is 2 or more cheap 5′ plastic skeletons that you can find almost anywhere this time of year. You’ll also need some picture hanging wire which you can find in any hardware store and a ladder. I think this looks pretty simple and could easily be done in one day as long as you already have your supplies. For the directions please click HERE. I know this may seem confusing to some of you simpletons, but those of you who have eaten enough brains will understand. I actually found two different sets of directions for making this, but this one seemed more logical than the one I found on Halloween Prop Master. That’s the one this one was modeled after. Plus I just love the creepy way they are climbing up the front of the house. You could even go more crazy with this and dress them up like zombies or monsters. Can you imagine Zombies crawling up your house to get in the windows? Yikes!

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Circling Ghosts

Filexd under: Crafts,Decor,Halloween Decor,Outdoors — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 4:20 pm

Today I found an awesome new decoration for your front yard. They are Circling Ghosts that hang from a tree attached to a fan. I really want to do this one, but the trees in our front yard are not even close to big enough. I’m going to have to put Scary Hubby on it. He’s a technical genius. I know he’ll find a way to make it happen. I can just imagine how great they would be floating around our tombstones. If you want to make it just click HERE. It sounds pretty easy if you already have a big tree in your yard. The only thing would be if you don’t have an old ceiling fan lying around. I did see some really cheap ones (around $20) at Home Depot a while back. I bet if you look around or ask your friends you can probably find one. This guy bought the ghosts at KMart, but I would probably make these myself. I’ve made many ghosts over the years, so I think I can handle these. Do me a favor? If you are going to make this, make sure the ghosts are a realistic size. I hate mini ghosts and other crappy props like that. There is nothing scary about a teeny tiny 12″ ghost. Anyway, I’m so excited to do this one! I just hope we can figure it out in time for this year. Always looking for new ways to freak out the neighbors. Do you think they’d mind if I left them up all year?

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Grounded the Kids?!

Filexd under: Apparel,Crafts,Decor,Halloween Decor,Outdoors — Tags: , , , , , , , , — jane @ 4:46 pm

I so love this time of year and sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all. I think all of the Halloween manufacturers are scared this year (pun intended). A few years ago it was so fun to go shopping for Halloween. Every year they seemed to come out with the coolest new props. I’m so glad I spent the money then because there is nothing but the same old crap out there this year. Seriously?!? Did they run out of ideas? Are they not producing as much because of the state of the economy? I was in Party City, Halloween City and Spirit Halloween yesterday and let me tell you, they are pretty much cleaned out. I was looking for something specific I had seen online but with no luck. I think this is the first time I have ever walked out of those stores with nothing in my hand. It got me to thinking about going more old school. You know, making all of the decorations yourself. Maybe in a year like this when there isn’t much to write about I can get inspiration from other people. I decided to go online and see what other people have created from basic stuff. I found this Grounded the Kids decor that is absolutely hilarious and a little creepy too. I just love the idea and what makes it a really great idea is that you can go simple like this or make them really scary. I found this on The Fun Times Guide. If you want to do it yourself click HERE for the directions.

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Skull Friendship Bracelet

Filexd under: Accessories,Apparel,Arts/Crafts,Crafts,Fashion,Jewelry — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 10:13 pm

I just love it when you guys send me links to cool stuff you’ve found on the internet. Luckily there is so much neat stuff available out there, but it does make it impossible for me to find everything. This time around I was sent a link to this fantastic Skull Friendship Bracelet made by Links of London. I remember making Friendship Bracelets in high school with embroidery thread. This one is made with copper colored silk thread and sterling silver skull beads and sells for a cool $195. I really love it, though I think it would be much prettier in black silk. Somehow I don’t think the ones we made back then would have sold for that much. That has to be a really, really good friend for me to spend that much on a friendship bracelet. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that good of a friend, but if you buy it for me I’ll be your new bestie.

* Thanks SMEden for the link!

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Eerie Origami

Filexd under: Animals,Art,Arts/Crafts,Books,Crafts,Halloween Decor,Misc.,Toys/Games — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 12:10 am

Stopped into Barnes and Noble today to see if they had put their scary stuff out yet. They had put some out, but it looked like they were still in the process. I stopped into the bargain isles and found this little Eerie Origami kit. I’m not a particular fan of origami. It’s not that I don’t think it’s cute, I just find it irritating and kind of a waste. Let me explain. First of all I have absolutely no patience for it. I have tried and tried to do it, but it rarely comes out right. I learned how to make a ball when I was just tiny Scary Jane and I can still do that. I pull that one out anytime I feel the need to impress someone with my folding skills. My aunt always and I do mean always would make an origami thing out of her napkin. I’m not sure what it was. It looked like a boat, but also looked like a flower. A long time ago I was very determined to make an origami flower. It took me forever. I don’t think the instructions are ever very clear. I finally finished it and was quite proud until seconds later my new kitten at the time (that’s Lucy, who just passed away… for the people who actually read my posts) grabbed it off the table and ran. I was finally able to save it from her only to find that in less than a minute she had destroyed it. That’s what I mean by a waste. In other words a f***ing waste of time. This origami kit looks really cute, but I have way better things to do with my time then sitting around folding paper. I still have the origami ball that I can pull out anytime and that’s enough for me.

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Crystal Skull Candle

Filexd under: Accessories,Crafts,Decor,Halloween Decor,Lighting — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 9:14 pm

We are getting dangerously close to Halloween and nothing could make me happier. As usual we will have our annual Halloween party and I am already in planning mode. I usually have all of the food set up on 2 huge tables and I like to decorate them a lot. I am always looking for something that I’ve never seen before to make it different each year. Well, along comes an email today pointing me towards this fantastic Crystal Skull Candle. I fell in love immediately and decided right away that 2 of them would be perfect to add to my candle collection on the tables. That is until I saw the price. No way am I spending $150 per candle for something that is burned down in one night! Why does this always happen to me? I find the perfect thing and then end up having to find something that will do. Maybe I’ll buy a couple of black candles and some crystals and see if I can’t recreate them. Won’t look anywhere near as good, but it’ll be a hell of a lot cheaper.

*Thanks to Katie for directing me to this. Now if only she would point me to a cheaper version.

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Baby Head Plant

Filexd under: Arts/Crafts,Books,Crafts,Decor,Lighting,News/Articles — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — jane @ 5:49 pm

There are times when I see things online that make me want to order one right away and then there are times like this. This Baby Head Plant thing just makes me want to run in the opposite direction screaming. Did you ever see the episode of Friends where Phoebe shows Rachel how she jogs? Well, picture me running away screaming like that. Something about a disembodied baby head with a plant growing out of it’s eye socket just creeps me out. Call me crazy. I love funky and scary stuff, but for some reason when it includes a baby body part that’s just over the line for me. It’s from EarthSeaWarrior on Etsy and sells for $50. I noticed they only had one available, so I thought after this one was sold, at least that would be it. Almost zero chance of me seeing it at someone’s house and having to stupidly run away. I was very wrong. I looked around at their other stuff and found many more. They even have skulls with plants coming out of them. Now that I can get behind. I wish I had seen those first. Then I might have been able to avoid the night of creepy doll heads chasing me and trying to shove a plant in my eye kind of dreams.

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