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.
I know I am not your garden variety girl. I just don’t like what your normal girl likes. Getting together with my girlfriends to get a manicure is not my idea of a good time. I don’t love pink, though I do love Pink. I don’t like ruffles, but I do like Ruffles. I really enjoy being funny, though. Anyway, I’m not a girly girl. I don’t squeal with delight and I never have. There is something that will make me get all excited. Anything with a skull on it, of course, but also things that should be girly like perfume and bubble bath that has a dark twist to it. I have a very bad habit of collecting unusual bath products. I don’t really even like taking baths or wearing perfume. My bathrooms are littered with various soaps, bubble bath, perfume etc that will never be used. I always open them to take a whiff, but then it gets closed back up and put on a shelf to be admired. The other day I got very excited when a reader sent me a link to the Tokyo Milk website. I fell in love with all of their products. The company’s product design is just awesome, but I especially liked their Dead Sexy line. I immediately ordered the bubble bath, perfume, soap and lotion. I can’t wait to not use them.
Listen, I know it’s February, but if you’re anything like me Halloween is a year round holiday. What most people will only put out for Halloween, we have as our regular decor. I have found over the years that February is one of the best months for picking up scary stuff for my house. No one, except a few of us smart people, is thinking about Halloween this time of year. Everything that was left over from last year has been marked down to practically nothing. Most people would assume it’s just junk left, but I don’t find that to be true. A lot of times I see something I love in the fall, but decide to wait because it’s too pricey. Once Halloween is over the stores do a quick clearance and then the stuff disappears to make room for Christmas. After that’s over they do the quick clearance again. Nothing gets put up for January, so they haul out what’s left from Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and slash the prices. By then no one is giving any thought to Halloween, so it keeps getting marked down until it’s gone. That’s when I swoop in for the kill. Most of the time that item I was coveting is now half the price or even less. The one thing about this, though, is that this mostly happens online. A few stores will put their clearance stuff in some hidden corner of the store. Most of the time, though, it’s only available on their sites because alot of the bigger stores have to send their stuff back to warehouses. Do a search on Google for Halloween Clearance and you’ll be surprised by the amount of listings. Anything from Target to BuyCostumes.com to the higher end things at Grandin Road.
I found this cute Skull & Bones candle, but I have a problem or two with it. First of all, they are apparently marketing this candle to men. This I will address in a minute. Secondly, the candle is scented with tobacco leaf and vanilla. I love the smell of vanilla, but I gave up tobacco a long time ago and have no desire to smell it now. If I want to smell that I’ll head down to the corner dive bar. I definitely do not want my house smelling like that. I miss smoking, don’t get me wrong, but smelling tobacco every time I light a candle would get me started again and that I don’t want. My other problem is that this has been marketed towards men. Really? Are there that many men out there shopping around for candles? If they are, they’re shopping for something to seduce their significant other with and unless she’s like me (doubt it) they won’t appreciate a skull on their candle. Doesn’t exactly scream romance. Just saying.
“Are you tired? Run-down? Listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all your problems is in this little bottle.” Well, maybe for Lucy, but not the modern woman or man. I love the Vitameatavegamin episode of I Love Lucy. For some reason I thought of it when I came across this Voodoo Ritual Kit. I know, strange connection. A reader actually sent me the link to this great Folk Art site and that was where I came across it. You can get them for all sorts of things like Love & Passion, Fertility and Get That Job, but the one that caught my eye was the Unhexing kit. That’s what made me think of the episode. Granted, I often find connections in my every day life to Lucy episodes, but that’s neither here nor there. I just thought that if you were feeling these things maybe you were hexed by someone and are finding you need to get yourself unhexed. So, maybe the answer to all of your problems are in this little box. For $59.00 (ouch!) you can once again be awake, alert, popular and ready to party. Well, if you have any money left afterwards, you might. The kit comes complete with instructions, coffin box, Voodoo doll, candle, potion oil, mini Gris-Gris (what’s that?), parchment paper, and incense. It may do the same as Vitameatavegamin, but I wouldn’t get too excited about the drunk part unless you add some liquor to the kit.