SheWalksSoftly

Day of the Dead Paper Cutouts

December 22nd, 2008

Yes, Dia de los Muertos passed nearly two months ago and we’re in the thick of December holiday madness, but I can’t resist posting these wonderful Day of the Dead paper cutout projects.

In Mexico, papel picado (perforated paper), refers to the traditional art of decorative cut paper banners. Papel picado are usually cut with sharp fierritos (small chisels) from as many as fifty layers of colored tissue paper at a time. Designs may incorporate lattice-work, images of human and animal figures, flowers, and lettering. Many papel picado are made especially for the Mexican festival of the Days of the Dead and include skeletal figures engaged in the everyday activities of the living.

I’m a big fan of autumn weddings. I can’t help thinking these would make nice “til death do us part” themed invitations!

See the rest of the collection here.

Thanks to Neatorama for featuring these and reminding me to post them!
Geek Trees

December 22nd, 2008

Although most of these have been circulated online quite a bit by now, I’d like to give credit to the best geeky Christmas trees I’ve seen this year.

Recycled Gadget Tree

Apparently this one was created by a librarian using old computer parts the library was going to discard.

Recycled Gadget Tree #2

I love to speculate about the technological wonderland that would have so many spare/disposable parts for Christmas tree use.

Dalek Tree

I *love* the use of the laundry basket and other household objects! The color scheme is also pretty spectacular.

Knit Christmas Tree

Massive knitting endeavors like this never cease to amaze me.

Book Shelf Tree

A bit minimalist for my taste, but it gets points for design and use of one of my very favorite things.

Charlie Brown Tree

Not exactly geeky, but oh-so endearing. This tree needs me.

(Apologies for lack of sources)
Holiday Horrors Week: The Evil and the Unborn

December 21st, 2008

I can’t believe I almost didn’t include the legendary EVIL SANTA that’s been a part of my Christmases since I was a toddler (yes, I grew up with this thing…probably explains a lot).

Under a bit of stuffing there is prominent wiring, so Santa can be posed in a variety of terrifying ways. The most evil thing about him, which never fails to horrify my guests, is that his eyes seem to follow you around anywhere you move.

My parents used to put gifts in his sack each year. Having to extract this bounty from the arms of Evil Santa for probably accounts for my utter fearlessness as an adult.

The following “Unborn Soldier” ornament is a big ball of wrong.

Is it an anti-abortion statement? Does it mean to imply that your unborn fetus could be the savior of the free world one day? I’m rendered nearly speechless by this tacky display of conservative values (which is most likely the intention of the product).

Find one at Miss Poppy

This post brought to you by another evil Santa…
A Very Haeckel Christmas

December 21st, 2008

Oh heck yes. The biological illustrations of Ernst Haeckel combined with vintage holiday cheer!

Now we know the greetings that marine invertebrates send to each other to celebrate the season.

And a few with a more modern style…

From the awesome flickr set of jholbo.
Holiday Horrors Week: Abomination Party

December 21st, 2008

I’ll finish off the week with some features from our own Holiday Abomination Party, held in Norristown, PA.

The tree was indeed unique, topped with the household deity of choice: The Flying Spaghetti Monster (handmade by Matt).

When you squeeze the chicken, a watery sack filled with an egg emerges from it’s nethers.

We called this “Pain Killer Penguin” since it glows a pulsating red like the human diagrams in nearly every medication commercial:

Tudurcken ornament ACTION SHOT!

I was blessed by a visit from the Ornament Fairy (a.k.a Steph) as I slept, and awoke to find myself (the none-too-happy face anyway) photoshopped into a Patrick Swayze embrace!

Of course, this is a reference to the famous MST3K Patrick Swayze Christmas Song (definitely worth seeing, if you haven’t).

We “opened up our hearts and let the Patrick Swayze Christmas in”…we wish him good health this season.

Now come along with me on our Turducken cooking journey…beginning here, with this sexy thing:

Looking like this somewhere in the middle…

See the process, start to finish, in these nicely chronicled PHOTOS.

The undisputed “star” of the party was internet sensation Chris Dane Owens. This video most certainly counts as a holiday abomination (actually, it’s an abomination for all seasons).

Printer was running out of ink, which adds to the lowbrow quality…
Medical Textbook Cake

December 20th, 2008

As long as we’re talking about cakes today, I have to show my appreciation for the medical textbook cake I found here.

I have to try my hand at another medical themed cake soon.
Holiday Horrors Week: Cakes

December 20th, 2008

I’ll start with the *Rooftop Cake* from my local grocery circular, made by their “Master Bakers:”

Now we move along to a less ostentatious creation for the holiday minimalist:

Sticking a plastic head on something does not render it a “body.”

If holiday candles dripped blood…

It’s Christmas, and we know what that means…FROGS! Fresh from the dissecting table.

Gaze into the mesmerizing eyes of Svengali Santa!

Thanks to the wonderful Cake Wrecks for most of these!
Luna Parc

December 20th, 2008

Think you’ve seen the most uncomfortably themed jewelry ever created? Nope…not until now, you haven’t. In case some of you are at work, or prefer not to look, I will simply direct you to:

ENEMA EARRINGS AND PINS (the design is actually a marvelous replica of the antique apparatus)

Then there is the Colon of Joy, which I happen to love:

But WAIT…

DO NOT let one pair of enema earrings and a colon deter you from exploring the rest of the Lunaparc website, where you’ll find some of the most amazing hand crafted metal miniatures out there. Ricky Boscarino is a veritable genius.

Some of my favorite things (art, sewing, anatomy) are included in his collection…

The kitchen sets are phenomenal too.

And check out the pottery section for amazing creations like this:

Luna Parc is a five acre wonderland in northwestern New Jersey, home to Ricky’s impressive array of art, sculpture, jewelry, pottery, stained glass and other eccentric projects.

I really want to take a tour!
Laurie Hogin

December 19th, 2008

The incredible Laurie Hogin has a new show at Littlejohn Contemporary in NY.

It’s a particularly colorful menagerie for Hogin, and she stays true to her signature intense and snarling hybrids.

Hogin contends that the history of European painting, since the rise of the merchant class in the 16th century, represents the history of Western attitudes towards the subjects depicted, including beauty, wealth, domestic life and romantic transcendence, as well as human dominion over nature. These attitudes persist, even as our means of representing them has expanded, and are part of our daily cultural currency. –Source

Her bunnies are always among my favorite; silent, seething creatures boiling beneath the surface with decidedly non-lagomorphic rage.

Hogin’s paintings are deliciously vibrant and fierce, with life bursting at the seams of traditional realism.

Check out some of her past work on her website and the current exhibit here.

PS I hope these art posts are not getting lost in the shuffle. I like to inject a little regular SheWalksSoftly fare into the Holiday Horrors.
Holiday Horrors Week: Kasio Kristmas

December 19th, 2008

My fellow children of the 80’s will most likely remember the Casio keyboards that were all the rage in the days of our youth.

Well, here is a preview of Kasio Kristmas, two guys (who look like an unnerving cross between Coneheads and Sloth from Goonies) performing classic Christmas songs on rare Casios. You’ll find holiday cheer…and some fairly disturbing dance moves.

Here’s another sample:

(I’m really entertained that Salt N Pepa’s “Shoop” shows up as a related video for this one)