SheWalksSoftly – Page 207

Halloween Countdown: The Royal Carved Pumpkin

October 29th, 2010

I’m yanking this from Neatorama because it’s awesome.

This gourd, dated 1793, was originally used to store gunpowder but may also have contained something much spookier. Carved into its surface are the words,“Maximilien Bourdaloue on January 21st, dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his beheading.” It was not unusual in those days for people to dip their hankies in blood on the scaffold to keep as a ghoulish souvenir. This particular bloody handkerchief is no longer inside the gourd but dried blood residue remained and was subjected to DNA testing which established a connection to French King Louis XVI.
Halloween Countdown: Knit Skeleton

October 29th, 2010

Look at this incredible knit skeleton by Ben Cuevas!

Yes, I said knit…

This installation is part of the Transcending the Material project.

More pictures here.
Halloween Countdown: Horror Cake Challenge

October 28th, 2010

I caught the end of the Food Network’s Horror Cake Challenge last night, and two of the cakes were so impressive that I’ve been combing the web in an attempt to find pictures or videos to share.

I could only find one lousy screen capture, which doesn’t do a bit of justice to the cake and demonic team of sweets on the side:

The other phenomenal cake was covered in fondant that looked like human skin (filled with stitches), and it was bisected to reveal a human chopped in half on the inside.

If the Food Network is airing this show in your neighborhood, don’t miss the last ten minutes or so!
Halloween Countdown: Pumpken

October 28th, 2010

Nope, that’s not a typo in the title. It’s the name on a flickr account that has some of the best pumpkin carvings I’ve seen this year.

I could not find any other information. Neither a website, nor contact option to ask permission to post these photos (which were all rights reserved). But I thought these carvings were too great to pass by, if I was sure to give proper credit.

You’ll find plenty of ghoulish designs, and some not-so-scary pop culture fare for the little ones.

Some of the pumpkins looks like digital designs, rather than something carved and lit.

See more from Pumpken.
Halloween Countdown: Michael’s Owns Me

October 27th, 2010

Michael’s! You seductive siren, filled with Halloween craft supplies on clearance BEFORE the holiday itself! I walked in there to get ONE item needed for a handmade Xmas gift…and walked out with two bags of supplies.

I just realized that the treat bags were also in my Target stash…they sell them in both places. Sorry for the repeat.

Those antique style boxes in the background are perfect for vampire hunting kits! The skull treat bags, cupcake decorating kit, boxes, ribbon, tags and decorative textured border tape were all on clearance already! Believe me, I used utmost restraint because there was so much more I could have splurged on for great prices.
Halloween Countdown: Etsy Roundup #1

October 27th, 2010

I’m calling this roundup “#1” since there may be others before Halloween rolls around. Here are a few choice Etsy items to celebrate the season.

Skeleton Cameo (definitely on my wish list)

Sterling Silver Skull (love the style on this one)

Now THIS is a Halloween sweater!

Vampire Heels

And some amazing hand painted heels by taylorsays:

Here’s an actual Victorian collector’s item:

Got any favorite DIY Halloween items? There’s a lot to wade through on Etsy when doing a simple search, so I’d love to see any hand picked favorites.
Monstrous Thanks!

October 26th, 2010

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has been following my Halloween Countdown, commenting, sharing links, etc. I truly hope that anyone who came across this blog in search of Halloween goodies will stick around after next week. If you’ve enjoyed recent posts, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy the oddities that show up on here during the rest of the year.

Monstrous thanks!

Image by Alex Pardee
Halloween Countdown: Deviant Art Roundup

October 26th, 2010

I spent a good hour scouring deviantart.com (so you don’t have to!) for Halloween art and crafts. Here are a few of my favorites…

Magpies7:

ScOpe:

Liransz:

Melkatsa:

HighBorn Talon:

Quickman012:

Weirdal:

Manzin:
The Brothers Quay and the Mutter Museum

October 25th, 2010

This is directly from the files of Dream Collaborations I’ve Envisioned, but Never Thought I’d Actually Get to See.

The Brothers Quay are shooting a film at the Mutter Museum.

I cannot think of a more perfect team to utilize the museum’s contents in film. I’m eager to see the results.

“Our films are dark fairy tales with elements of grotesquerie and the pathological,” Stephen Quay said on a recent afternoon.

Timothy added, “We set them in a twilight world, midway between sleep and wakefulness.”

See the Brothers’ last incredible exhibition I visited in NY here.

Source
Halloween Countdown: Street Art

October 25th, 2010

Web Urbanist rounded up some examples of Halloween inspired street art and assembled them into neat little collages.

These images won’t fade out once November 1st rolls around…

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