Are you like me and have money to throw away? No? Well, I don’t actually either. I’d like to though. If I did I would probably buy this Christmas decoration. It’s called Ghost Bust Fright Before Christmas and is sold by Hauntedprops.com for… drumroll please… $1,499.00! Basically it is a life-size bust that comes with a small projector and a DVD. The DVD is played on a DVD player (not provided) and projected onto the bust to make it look like it’s actually moving. You can also purchase something called a Control Freak Media Monster. This will allow it to be set off by a mat or motion sensor. It also includes the DVD player and costs another $259.77. Not sure why the 77 cents is necessary. If you still don’t feel that you’ve spent enough money you can buy a Blaster that blows a burst of air at you as you walk by for $140.00. It does look pretty cool, but I don’t see myself spending that much money on a Christmas prop. Check out the video, maybe you’ll find that it’s worth it.
We all know what it’s like this time of year. Less than two weeks until Christmas and we are all running around like chickens with our heads cut off. I love that saying. It’s so stupid, but pretty much exactly what we all look like. You know those Mother’s that are standing in line outside of Target first thing Saturday morning. That wild look in their eyes and the foam oozing from their mouths. I’m terrified of them. They will push you down and stomp on your face just to get the latest gadget, doll or video game on sale before it’s out of stock. I hate shopping this time of year and avoid it at all costs. I do almost all of my shopping online. I say almost just because my Father insists on wishing for things that can’t possibly be found online. I’ve been on a wild search this year for a certain type of moccasins that don’t seem to exist. In the meantime I thought I’d pick up some of the smaller gifts for him online. For some reason I am a big fan of cliche gifts. I was searching around online and found the perfect cliche tie. He doesn’t usually appreciate my humor, but I always get him at least one funny gift and I think this Scary Neck Tie is the perfect thing. You can find it here. Too bad the guy doesn’t have a santa hat on. Then it would be perfect.
I remember when I was a little kid, every year I got a fancy new dress and a Christmas t-shirt that I could wear to school. I was not a frilly kind of girl, so I was not particularly thrilled to wear a ruffly dress. Of course, now that I have my own daughter what do I do? I make her wear a ruffly dress every Christmas. She hates them, just like I did, and I swore I would never do that. Amazing what happens when you grow up. I know now that I was forced into those dresses for my grandparent’s pleasure and that’s why I do it too. Anyway, back to what I was talking about. Just slap me when I go off topic. I wish that they made t-shirts like this Skull Candy Cane one when I was a kid. I was rather odd in general and would have loved this shirt back then. Well, now I can buy whatever I want to wear and I believe I will be choosing this one as my Christmas shirt this year. Now I just have to find my Christmas dress. Scary Daughter will be wearing the obligatory red poofy dress and I will be wearing something a la Morticia.
I am a very crafty person. I always have multiple projects going on. My latest obsession is counted cross-stitch. My mother taught me when I was very young, but I just recently rediscovered it. My problem is finding patterns that don’t include cuddly kittens falling out of baskets, beach scenes with children and/or geese etc using pinks and baby blues. 98% of what is available out there is ridiculously cute and a throwback to the 80s. It’s like they designed everything back then and have not done any since. I do know how to make my own patterns, but it can be difficult and time consuming. I don’t really enjoy it. The other day I was looking around for some new patterns even though I already have 3 projects going. I was thinking about doing something Christmasy and came across a little company called Prairie Moon that makes the most unusual patterns I have ever seen. They have some non scary stuff as well, but they are still very original. Check out their site here. They have lots of different patterns.
Years ago when I was in college, in the San Francisco area, there was a very cool nightclub that I practically lived in. To me, it was perfect. It was as if it was designed just for me. Of course all of the other people that went there probably thought the same thing. If I remember correctly it was basically just a big square warehouse, but inside was this amazing space. There were heavy red and black velvet curtains everywhere that created these wonderful intimate spaces. There was no large open dance floor. You would just walk from room to room and socialize with people sitting on the purple velvet couches listening to music. Every room was a little different and it made it feel like you were in your own really cool apartment. The music was great and the punk/goth vibe was just amazing. Goth culture wasn’t really a big thing yet, but it had that feeling. Odd things hung on the velvet walls and from the ceiling. There were so many things to look at. Nothing was normal there. I loved it! In one of the many alcoves hung an upside down Christmas tree painted black and decorated with weird doll parts and broken ornaments. I loved that tree and liked to sit below and look at it. I vowed that one day I would hang my tree upside down. So far, I have not done this. I think mainly because I am quite traditional when it comes to the holidays. I may use a lot of black and blue in my decorating, but the way I celebrate has always been more traditional. This was a horrible year and it will be our family’s first Christmas without my Mom, so I’m not really into it like I usually am. I’ve been doing things very different so far and I think it’s time to finally try the upside down tree. I know you can buy stupid fake trees that are made to be upside down, but I don’t want that. I want to take our actual tree and hang it upside down from the ceiling. Scary Hubby seems to be concerned about how to do this, but he always figures these things out. He’s used to finding ways to execute my weird ideas. I know I am by no means the first to do this, so if anyone has any tips they would like to pass along…
It’s time to decorate the Christmas tree. I’m not quite in the mood to celebrate yet, but I decided I needed some new ornaments. I didn’t feel like searching the usual stores. They rarely have much anyway. I ended up going to the hobby store with the intention of making some. I took a look around the Christmas section just in case. Sometimes I’ll start with a red ball ornament and add some black stuff to it or something like that. This time I was thrilled to see that they ended up having a few different black and red ornaments that made my little black heart sing. I pretty much cleared out the entire section since all of their ornaments were 50% off. They don’t have skulls, bats, ravens or anything else on them that I adore, but at least they have some in red and black. The store is called Hobby Lobby, but unfortunately I know that they are not in every state. They do have a website and I tried to find the ones shown on there, but all they have online are the stupid sports teams ornaments. Ugh! So, if you have a Hobby Lobby in your city run over there because they are on sale this week!
Today is December 1st and that means that it’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about decorating, baking, wrapping presents and sending Christmas cards. I may be a scary chick, but I still love Christmas and all of it’s traditions. I just like it a little darker and quirky. Most years I make my Christmas cards because I just can’t find any that I like. You can only send out so many Edward Gorey Christmas cards before you get sick of it and want something different. As I was doing my searching this year I came across these Goth Christmas cards from Moonlake Designs. They are all designed by a graphic artist in Wales. They are fantastic! A little Christmas, a little dark and a little humor. Moonlake Designs are sold through Greeting Card Universe and cost $2.79 ea. Yes, I know, a little expensive if you are sending a lot of cards, but totally worth it. You have to cough it up if you want something a little unusual. They will even custom print your message on them. There are quite a few different styles including non-Christmas ones, so look around.
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