I love to be organized. This doesn't mean that I am organized it simply means that I love those brief moments in time where I feel organized. Hence the need to have a yard sale every couple of years.
When the mood strikes me I barrel through the house at ninety to nothing chucking item after item into boxes in anticipation of clearing out junk and making a few bucks while I'm at it.
Last Spring Tracy and I had just such a moment and we both gathered up treasures and trinkets, large and small and organized another of our house cleaning events. Two households that when put together could rival a small city in terms of junk. We ponder our poor purchase decisions, have our "what was I thinking when I bought this" discussions and mark things to sell (we are cheap!). Little did I know that here, a bit over a year later, I would regret an item I sold for pennies on the dollar.
What was this treasure you ask? A Roomba. I purchased this marvel of household cleaning when they first hit the market. I used it couple of months and then promptly went out and bought a Dyson. It sat here unused for several years and I was anxious to turn it loose on some other poor unsuspecting victim. Big mistake!
Check this out:
What the hell?! Why didn't I think of that?! Even before I noticed the name of this clever contraption, Broomba, I could see how it was done. Uggggggggg!
Grandin Road's Halloween email hit my inbox a few days ago and I finally had a moment to take a peek. I wish I hadn't. Now I have to scrounge around and find a Roomba. Hmmmm, might have to take in a few yard sales this weekend.
I love dirty vodka martinis and beer. There. Now you know what to buy me next time we run into each other in a bar.
The alcohol industry has to be one of the most creative when it comes to ads. I mean who doesn't look forward to the Budweiser commercials at Super Bowl? They never miss an opportunity to entice you to include their brand at your next St Patricks Day party, Christmas gathering or New Year's celebration. Halloween is also among their target holidays.
Sometimes I hate the brand but love the advertising gimic. Several years ago I conned a local liquor store into selling me their Coors Light inflatable pumpkins. (Bleech - Coors Light!) I also convinced them to part with this full size Miller Lite Halloween standee:
Our game room is decked out to the gills in advertising for this particular vice but I'm always on the lookout for more. During a recent scout about the web I stumbled into Smashing Apps and found some wonderful Heineken ads. I like Heineken beer but I really love these ads. (If you know where I can get copies of these in print let me know!)
UPDATE: Shadows sent us links to two more of the Heineken posters we hadn't seen so we're adding them here. Thank you Shadows!
In this life both of us are the quintessential "soccer" mom (though neither of us have children that play soccer). We're married with the standard 2.5 children (Tracy has three, I have two - do the math). We work, taxi kids, cook meals, do laundry, etc., etc. Yet we're drawn to the darker side. Perhaps an escape from a routine that revolves around things mundane?
I love cemeteries - always have. What is morbid and eerie to some seems utterly peaceful to me. Wandering around a cemetery reading headstones curious as to how these souls lived and died probably would give some (cough *husband* cough) reason to have me committed. But I figure since I'll spend more time below ground than above it I might as well get familiar. As they say, memento mori.
Time does not always allow an on site cemetery excursion but there are plenty of resources online. Several months ago I stumbled upon Dark Destiny. I must warn you before you visit - if you love old cemeteries you can waste some serious time at this site.
Quote from the site:
...To the uninitiated a Cemetery conjures up images of almost identical headstones set out in symmetrical rows, for the modern day Cemetery this wouldn't be too far from the truth.
But step back through time to the Victorian age and you'll find vast gardens of the dead. Mausoleums, tombs and catacombs aplenty, still shelter thousands of ornate coffins with their Victorian inhabitance over a century into their eternal slumber...
(Gardens of the dead?! OMG - I think I just drooled on my keyboard!)
Loaded with photos of tombstones from over 20 cemeteries in England, including the Magnificent Seven, it's a visual delight. You can even download a photo slide show from most of the locations. In addition to the photos there is a history on each cemetery, stories on any myths associated with the location, notables buried at the cemetery and what bus to take if you're so fortunate to visit in person.
Whether your passion is cemeteries in general or if you need a little tombstone inspiration for your haunt this site can not be missed. But - don't blame us if you get lost and don't remerge for several hours.
We blog in batches. Yep, the secret is out! I know, I know, you thought we popped in here in the wee hours of the morning with a coffee IV to bang out our blog. This is not possible because I am NOT a morning person and Tracy is usually at work somewhere between 4:30-6:30 am. (freak)
Another secret... we don't finish one blog and go to the next. We grab pieces here and there and fill in until the blog is complete. I can't even count the number of half written blogs we have. Some are awaiting pictures, witty commentary (ha!) or some other little thing.
In an effort to clean up some of the chaos behind the scenes I was going through these half written blogs and trying to get them finished up. That's when I came across HowCast.com that I mentioned yesterday which then led me to VideoJug.com.
Now many of you know my fascination with vid sites. (Yes, yes - I'm in a 10 step program) So, when I came across these sites I completely forgot I was finishing up old blogs and started watching vid after vid after vid. (I can't help it. It's like eatting candy corn - can't eat just one.)
I came upon a video titled Monster Painter so of course I had to check it out:
Now, these are basically presented as haunted yard art. However, I thought some of these might be fun to add to walls in a haunt maybe with a strobe light. Perhaps try them with glow-in-the-dark paint? Or do the white on black and cast a black light over them.
The creator of these "critters" (as they are called) offers 10 varieties that are available via download (Hey! No waiting!). The prices are reasonable especially since you get a PDF file and you use the same "critter" many times.
So, if you don't have enough on your Halloween to-do list you might want to check this out at MonsterPainter.com.
Sorry, gotta run! I just did a Halloween search on Google videos and it returned 352,000 results. I've got a lot of watching to do....
As I've said before I'm addicted to youtube (and hulu) but I found another vid site that is my new best friend - howcast.com Now you may think I do nothing more than sit around all day, popping candy corn and watching vids but truth be told I only get the time to induldge this addiction in batches.
A recent vid watching frenzy on howcast unearthed these fun Halloween bits.
Plagued by the undead? Well follow the tips in this vid to rid yourself of those pesky vampires once and for all!
Maybe it's because it's so freaking hot here but this vid on how to do fx frozen makeup caught my eye. This would be great on a corpse in a meat locker type setting.
Man, all this vid watching made me thristy! This last vid shows you how to impress your Halloween guests with a Flaming Zombie drink.
Being a girlie ghoul, I fondly remember playing with dolls while growing up. You may (or may not) recall that our second post here had to do with some vintage dolls I scored at a friend's auction. Well, ghoulies, this ain't your childhood Barbie doll we're talking about today!
Over the past several years there's been a movement afoot bringing to life a whole new genre of dolls - the creepy kind. Maybe it started with the Living Dead Dolls or Chucky from Child's Play but now the creepy doll selection is bursting at the seams.
About five years ago I had the good fortune to stumble upon Zosomoto on ebay, aka Jodi Cain of TatteredRags.net. I just had to have one of her hand stitched rag dolls and managed to snag this little wicked witch.
Another of my favorite creators of creepiness is Kerry Kate of October Effigies. She makes the most amazing stump dolls. She even has a Jill Tracy version (refer to previous blog entry). Her other creations include corset dolls, rag dolls and the Opium Poppy doll among others.
I recently stumbled upon Jade Perez's New Age Dolls. Below is her Nurse Betty creation. I can imagine a character like Nurse Betty overseeing the patients in an asylum - she's that creepy!
I'm only scratching the surface of the creepy doll artists out there but I want to squeeze in a couple of doll inspired creations.
Check out this baby doll bits and pieces rack created for the 2008 Design*Sponge DIY contest. Someone out there is totally twisted (and we so love it!).
And for the truly over-the-top creepy doll project check out this collection of Toddlerpede's on Inventor Spot. This one is sure to give me a few nightmares!