New Year's Eve with Andy Warhol

For the last several years, my husband and I have been celebrating New Year's Eve with a time zone more conducive to my early bedtime habits. With a live camera pointed at the city of our choice, we have rung in the New Year with Poland and Switzerland. This year it will be Dublin, Ireland.

If you want to ring in the New Year with the eastern United States time zone, may I suggest Andy Warhol's grave? There is a live camera pointed at Warhol's grave 24/7. It's called the Figment Project and it's sponsored by The Andy Warhol Museum and EarthCam.

Warhol died in 1987 and the Figment Project was installed in 2013. The grave is at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburg, PA. Fans of Warhol visit the grave and leave items of devotion.

If you have nothing better to do tonight, raise a glass to Warhol and maybe watch a few others do the same thing. Who knows, maybe you'll even see Warhol.  You can view the live cam at the link above. You can also use the EarthCam app (it's free!) to see it and view many, many live cameras around the world. (if you're viewing on a tablet, use the app) It's kind of awesome.

I never understood why when you died, you didn't just vanish, and everything

could just keep going on the way it was only you just wouldn't be there.

I always thought I'd like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph and no name.

Well, actually, I'd like it to say "figment."

Andy Warhol

Malangeo: More Adorable Monsters

Michael Kennedy is the master behind Malangeo: a shop filled with prints of weirdly cute monsters. When life gets too ugly, it's nice to have a huggable monster around.

Kennedy is a painter, so you can find original artwork as well as prints and jewelry made from his images. Follow Kennedy's blog at his website Malangeo.com and learn about special sales and gallery openings.

I love the painting titles.

The Abominable Turnip

Year of the Derpy

Bumble Bob

The Charming Imp of Flowers

Rupert Jr. Mini Pendant

Erika Taguchi-Newton

Illustrator and designer, Erika Taguchi-Newton, has some fantastic art under the name Raven Girl. Working mainly in acrylics and pencils, Taguchi-Newton creates images that are soothing and uncanny all at the same time. She has a blog called Raven Girl where you can find links to galleries that sell her original work. Fortunately, she also has an Etsy shop where you can purchase prints.

Footsteps to Greene Isles

The Omens

Night at Karloff's

Teatime with Wampa

Nosferatu

Yeti, My Love!

Since the northeast coast of the U.S. still hasn't received much (if any) snow, I think we need to be prepared for our first real snowstorm of the year with all-things-yeti. Whether you call him Yeti or the Abominable Snowman he is adorable. Who knows, maybe that's what we need to bring the snow. Just don't go crazy.

Everything here is available on Etsy. I know you're thinking I shop there a lot, and it's true. I look at other crafting retail sites and frankly they're just not as good. Sorry.

Abominable Snowman Nutcracker (monhoss135)

Bigfoot VS Yeti (GnomEnterprises)

Abominable Snowman Cakepops (Nibblerz)

Abominable Snowman Sugar Cookies (SweetsbyKate)

Yeti Felt Sculpture (LadyAstarte)

White Yeti (kailynthenightowl)

Abominable Snowman Art Doll (therewasalittle)

Yeti Soft Toy (ConcordLaneCritters)

There will be more of this Yeti-fest during the week. My addiction is building.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

See you on Monday.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We're headed out for a few days to be with our family for Christmas and I haven't even packed yet! So, while I get ready, I'll leave you with a few of our Christmas decorations.

Hazel, the taxidermied mouse-angel, was given a tree to decorate.

We've recently become fixated with Bumble the Abominable Snowman and I have a feeling our collection will be growing in the years to come.

And, finally, Christmas Eve isn't complete without reading the Grinch (in French) to our cats.

Thanks so much for reading my blog. 

Merry Christmas to all!

Night of the Radishes

So, today's post resides in the oddities column rather than the spooky column. On December 23, Oaxaca, Mexico celebrates a one-day festival called The Night of the Radishes. It all started as a marketing ploy to get people into the Christmas market. Vendors would carve radishes into nativity scenes to attract people to their booths. It got to be such a success that in 1897 the mayor created a contest which is still held to this day. The city even has a plot of land where the official radishes are grown for the competition. People wait in line for hours to view the radishes hoping to see them before they wilt. That is dedication- especially two days before Christmas.

I've read that the carved radishes now reflect everyday life as well as the Day of the Dead along with nativity scenes. I've rounded up a few images for you. If you're missing the spooky element to today's post, I've also included a 41-second video of carving a radish into a skull. It's the least I could do for you.

source: SoiledandSeeded.com

source: WickedWeirdWorld.com

source: poolagirl.wordpress.com

And now onto the video....

Tonight, put a radish skull in your martini. I double dog dare you.

Dem Bones: Real Sugar Skulls

Whenever I see these sugary delights I want to have a tea party- except instead of tea we'd drink Absinthe in tea cups. Don't worry, I'll invite you.

Dem Bones has been selling skull sugar cubes for over five years. They are adorable! You can purchase them in a variety of quantities and packaging styles if you're giving them as gifts. They're perfect for a number of occasions. You could even give a spoonful of sugar to someone who is sick to make the medicine go down. Just make sure they have a good sense of humor.

Bulk - 36 - Sugar Cubes

The Original Box of Nine

Bag of Four

Dem Bones also has some non-edible Day of the Dead sugar skulls.

Coffin of Sugar Skull Ornaments

You'll find soaps, jewelry and even garden markers in the shop, as well. Browse around. You don't want to be in the office today, anyway.

Quirky Ornaments from Obake Style

I know it's a little late to be purchasing tree ornaments for this year, but I have to show you these anyway. Obake Style is by the wedded and artistic team of Magen Mitchell and Nick Burke. Their shop carries some spooky cute ornaments made of baltic birch wood and some pretty neat jewelry as well.

Beholder

Eldritch

Ornament from Hell

Sugar Skull

Here are a few other things offered in the shop.

Ghost Stud Earrings

Zombie Bobby Pins

Invocation Screen Print

We'll have to decorate the tree again next year, so it's never too late to purchase.

Amina ex Manus: Peculiar Dolls

I have mentioned before that I have a fascination with dolls that are odd and fantastic. Anima ex Manus (animaXmanus) is a shop on Etsy that I stop by from time-to-time. The artist, Ionna, lives in Athens, Greece and her hand-crafted dolls are strange, sad, and beautiful. Ionna describes herself as "living in a parallel universe of grotesque, peculiar, whimsical creatures and anthropomorphic oddities." I'm sure we'd all feel right at home.

The shop only has a few dolls available at the moment, but there are prints of former pieces and some charming necklaces. Check these out. I'm particularly attracted to Brona.

Clementine

Nightwing

Mauve

Brona

Brona Necklace

Isolde Necklace

Haunted Christmas by Mary Beth Crain

While I was looking for some spooky Christmas superstitions, I came across a book published in 2009 by Mary Beth Crain called Haunted Christmas: Yuletide Ghosts and Other Spooky Holiday Happenings. I found the introduction and first 18 pages on Google books (free!) and I liked it. True, I was reading it on a dark, rainy evening which added atmosphere, but I think I'll purchase it and keep reading.

Each chapter has a true-ish story about a Christmas haunting or ghost. Who could resist a story like the one in chapter 24: The Death Coach of Christmas?

If you like reading about the paranormal, I have a feeling this is the book you'll want to have with you as you wait in the airport for your holiday flight home or find you have time to sit in a room lit only by twinkling lights. I'm hoping it will give me back some of that childlike wonder of Christmas. Santa was a bit scary, after all. There are even stories of Santa sightings so, what are we waiting for?

If you're looking for other Christmas ghost stories, check out last year's post Christmas Eve Ghost Stories.

Menacing Mittens

When you have to walk the dark streets of winter, it's good to know you can ward off evil with some menacing mittens and fingerless gloves.  Really, you'll be faster and more more ferocious with these hand-warmers found on Etsy.

Ning Ning Gong

ToujourReglable

LordSewNSew

PurpleDaisyKnits

MiniPunkKnits

ZuzusKnits

MilestonesJewelry

SpillyJane