My Good Babushka

I instantly fell in love with this hand-embroidered pillow by My Good Babushka.

Haunted Honeymoon

My Good Babushka sells original paintings, prints, needlework and chainmaille by Julia Kwiatkowski Schuler and Dave Schuler on Etsy. The pillows drew me in, but the art is wonderful too. Take a look.

Skeleton

Lady Snake Charmer

Skull and Flowers

The Scold's Bride

Magpie

The Woodcutters

The Holly Boy

There are nearly 200 original paintings for sale in their shop. They are all fascinating. I don't know how you'd choose just one. 

The chainmaille is stunning. Here is a sample.

Purse 

Have fun looking around this shop on Cyber Monday. 

The Count von Count

November 27, 1972. That's when Count von Count made his debut on Sesame Street. My fixation with the supernatural becomes so much more clear to me. I remember the early days of the Count when his segments included a haunted house with lots of bats flying around to count, naturally. Jerry Nelson created the character and modeled him after Bela Legosi's Count Dracula.  A much less scary Count Dracula, admittedly.

Count von Count

I don't think we give enough credit to Jim Henson for making monsters so much fun.

Let's all honor the Count today doing what we do best- buying things over the internet. Maybe that's just me. Redbubble has some very funny t shirts.

Redbubble: Vampire Body Count

Redbubble: Snuffy the Vampire Slayer

Redbubble: Counting

And, we should all have a plush count watching over us.

Gund: Plush Count

Happy Birthday Count von Count!

Song of the Count

Cheers to the Turkey

It must be a "thing." I didn't realize there were so many pictures of turkeys walking around cemeteries on the internet. It's kind of nice to know that while we sit around a table looking at a dead turkey, they frequent cemeteries and peck at the graves of dead people. It's nature in balance I guess.

I wonder if I went to a cemetery on Thanksgiving I would see something similar to the Great Pumpkin except it would be the Great Turkey?

Here's looking at you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, RI by Peter Green  (source: Pinterest)

Kitchener, Ontario by Derek H (source: Flickr)

Auburn Cemetery Turkey (source: Boston.com)

Turkey in Cemetery by JRL 791 (source: Pinterest)

Turkey in Cemetery: SC Birds by Tracy Mackall (source: Pinterest)

Wild Turkeys in Pine Grove Cemetery, Manchester (source: WMUR 9 ABC)

Wild Turkeys (source: Imgend.com)

Furrybones Collectibles

I was browsing around looking for something to blog about for tomorrow's Thanksgiving post when this happened:

Furrybones Pumpkin (Turkey)

(sound of screeching breaks) I started laughing and realized that I have no Thanksgiving decorations in my house. I NEED this skeleton turkey.  A little research ensued and I found out about Furrybones. How have I missed this?!  Furrybones is a collection of skeletons in different costumes. The artist is Misaki Savada. She was born in Japan and moved to California in her teens and from that Furrybones was born. It could happen to anyone really- not.

Browsing the Furrybones Store will take up a good part of your day at work. You don't really want to be there anyway. Besides the delightful skeleton figures, you'll find jewelry, plush toys, book bags and even cookie jars. You'll be giggling all day.

Spruce (Moose)

Awesome (Possum)

Black Mao-Mao (Cat)

Octopee Pendant

Pandie Cookie Jar

There are also some limited edition pieces that you'll need to round out your new collection that are only available for a short time. Don't delay.

Pearl Skull Jewelry by Arlo Edge Walker

Arlo Edge Walker makes adorably charming pearl skull jewelry. Each piece is hand-carved from a real pearl and Walker often uses vintage strands of pearls which, to me, make them all the more special. The pearl skulls are delicate and would make a lovely gift for someone (me). The shop lives on Etsy, but check out Walker's Facebook page for things like shipping discounts.

Skull Pearl with a Crown

Pink Skull Pearl

Skull Pearl Earrings

Skull Pearl Ring

Pearl Skull in a Cage

You know, it's ok to buy gifts for yourself during the holiday season as long as you wrap it up and put a "from Santa" or "from Krampus" tag on it.

Roald Dahl

Today is the 25th anniversary of Roald Dahl's death. Dahl is loved world-wide for his quirky children's stories like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Mathilda and The Witches. I love those too, but I think once I discovered his adult short stories things were never the same.

There is a copy of The Roald Dahl Omnibus: Perfect Bedtime Stories for Sleepless Nights on the nightstand in our guest bedroom. I absolutely love the stories collected here. They are the perfect mix of macabre, disgust and humor. If you weren't sleepy before you read them, I don't think this book will help you fall asleep any quicker.

There are so many good stories here, but some of my favorites include:

Lamb to the Slaughter: a housewife kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then serves it to the detectives investigating his death.

The Wish: a young boy must walk across a large carpet where he believes the red spots are burning coals and the black spots are poisonous snakes. If he makes it across he'll get a puppy for his birthday. Believe me, it's intense.

The Great Switcheroo: two married men decide to sneak into the other man's bed to see if their wives can tell the difference.

The Landlady: a gentle old woman who murders her tenants kind of thing.

Poison: a poisonous snake crawls into bed with a man.

Some of the stories are horrifying and others are merely disturbing. They're definitely not for children, but you're going to love them all.

If you're a fan of Dahl, you should check out the t shirts on RedBubble. There are some great quotes taken from Willy Wonka.

"If she's a lady, I'm a Vermicious Knid"

"The suspense is terrible... I hope it will last"

Slugworth's Unique Confections

Please read a Dahl short story in his memory today.

The WitchDoctor by Screen Novelties

It's time for a Kickstarter campaign! You know how it works, so get out your credit cards.  I stumbled upon a campaign for a stop-motion animated, short film called The WitchDoctor. It's being made by Screen Novelties who have oodles of experience and have worked on things like the Spongebob Christmas Special and Lego's Adventuretime. Who doesn't love stop-motion animation? I predict this will not fail.

The story revolves around a witchdoctor who's magic isn't very good, but is desperately trying to save his beloved island. If you like the kitchy-Tiki 50's style, then you're going to love the look of this film.

There are also cool rewards. Besides a copy of the film, you can get a retro t-shirt, 3D Viewmaster of the film (!), and an awesome Tiki mug.

I'm in. How about you?  As of this posting, roughly $19,000 have been raised of the $60,000 goal. They have a long way to go, but there are still 25 days left in the campaign. Share this with your friends and you can all have a Mai-Tai together to celebrate.

If you need more encouragement, check out this Krampus video Christmas card Screen Novelties made in 2013. It's very merry.

Horrornaments

Until fairly recently, I was one of those people who said "No Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving!" But then, I thought back on how when my husband and I had been in France one mid-November and all the small towns had been decorated for Christmas and the Christmas markets were thriving. In the US, it's our own self-imposed rule to wait till after Thanksgiving. Why? I asked myself. Will Christmas decorations really harm Thanksgiving? That's just silly. If you want to put up your Christmas or Halloween decorations months before the holiday- go for it; enjoy every minute of it. Heck, you can keep them up all year if it makes you happy.

In honor of my new found tolerance, I'm posting some tree ornaments for whatever holiday you want to celebrate. They're from a shop called Horroraments. The ornaments are cheeky and I like that. With a few modifications, they'll be perfect for your Christmas tree. They probably won't give you feelings of "good tidings to all", but they will make you think "God Bless us, everyone."

A festive wreath on the coffin would look lovely.

Just add a red bell around his neck.

Imagine the reaper with some mistletoe over his head.

Werewolves are very similar to the Krampus.

He just screams for a Santa Hat.

Fa la laddie da.

La Philie

There is something splendid and sinister about the art of Evelyn Bracklow. Bracklow says "the ants symbolize all the stories that any formerly discarded piece of porcelain carries with it." It reminds me of the decay behind the beauty.  Bracklow uses vintage pieces of porcelain for her work. She calls her shop and website La Philie and you can purchase her pieces on Etsy.

Euphemia No. 4 Wall Plate

Euphemia No. 6 Wall Plate

In Strichnin No. 5

Sugar Bowl

Gloss Bowl

Vase

Lovely, don't you think?