WebSpinstress
A perched raven on spooky branches is an iconic Gothic and Halloween symbol, representing everything from death, a bad omen, or a complete void, to being as fulfilling as defining solar elements and used as prophetic messengers.
Ravens are a magnificently curious and mischievous creature that boasts rich, dark plumage and black eyes that plunge through the deepest layer of your soul to easily capture true intentions…
Over the past several years, I have scribbled out/shredded/deleted hundreds of handcrafted raven reflections, attempting not to incorporate these dark feathered shadowy images in the traditional “birds perched on branches” or “stuck in a cage” style, while instead trying to devise an additional tier of emotional perceptions complicating where they are located, and why they exist there. These raven silhouette forms are enhanced with gradual depth and textures in the background to offer an eerie appearance at night, yet shifts through moods depending on the time of day, lighting involved, and additional visual surroundings.
They are meant to be included as part of my Gothic Haunted Forest Bedroom Theme, however, we placed them in the living room in frames first, and now no one wants to take them down… So here’s one of my natural spooky Halloween displays this year with ravens, black floral features, pumpkins, branches, feathers, and potions, on an amber and golden leaves setting:
The raven art is completely reversible, and one forward and one reversed image must be purchased to get the same look as featured above: Raven Posters.
Of course, there was a little additional WebSpinstress Halloween humor hiding in that display, just in case you happened to miss it…
Here’s a very close look at my dancing skull specimen creature – who is handcrafted with love from the finest materials available – the skull shifter knob from my dearly missed 3000 GT, a small driftwood piece from one of our many visits to various Boston coastline hideouts this Summer, and one of the very few leaves we collected that is fully preserved from the nasty Fall fungus this year.
What a special little guy he is! 
Bats are such crunchy and crispy little critters to sink your teeth into, and these recipes are just bloody bursting with flavors that might make your guests go batty for Halloween…
Chocolate Bat Cookies
Bat Cupcakes
Chocolate Bat Cookie Pops
Bat Wings with Drip Sauce
Spiderweb Dip with Bat Tortilla Chips
Halloween costumes that have dark appeal carry along a full character theme with them – especially those who are strangely mysterious or well-known dark characters full of mischief. These costumes are some of my favorite selections that are both inspiring and perfect for adding a little life to Halloween events and parties…
Mens Dark Character Costumes:
Womens Dark Character Costumes:
Who or what are you going to be this year for Halloween?
There are many sinister species of bad botanicals and poisonous plants. They creep around hiding in the shadows, waiting to grab your legs with their vicious vines, and threatening to prick your last drop of blood with their thick thorns to feed their sinfully soiled souls.
The fierce and frightful Flora World is far from fictitious, and truly (quite curiously), just wicked…
Carnivorous plants capture their prey with trapping mechanisms such as pitfall traps or pitchers, flypaper, snap traps, lobster-pots, and bladder traps. The Venus flytrap is the most recognized and cultivated carnivorous plant, but unique species such as the Cobra Lily are famed as a pitcher plant with a very apparent serpent’s head and sneaky snake-like abilities.
Poisonous plants are toxic predators for producing magnificently bold-colored blooms and boasting delicately deceiving petals of doom. Nightshades such as Mandrake, Belladonna, and Nicotiana contain alkaloids that range in all pains from pleasure to death, though Hellebores are absolutely heart-stopping. So, if handling these varieties, please be cautious and don’t skip a beat.
Some wicked plant species do no harm at all, yet still “leaf” an impression that “stems” fear into others. The Black Bat Plant is also known as the devil’s flower, bat-headed lily, and cat’s whiskers. It’s one of my favorite tropical black flowers that includes the dark and curious appeal of both bats and cats, and they are also very visually dramatic – thus inspiring the beginning of my new series of Gothic botanical prints, pictured to the right:
So, the next time you Blog like it’s the end of the World, alarming others of the upcoming brutal Zombie attack, it might be a good time to plant a few new seeds and collapse civilization by withering them away with those pretty little Petunias you thought were safe to grow in your window box this year…let the Angel’s Trumpets sing!
For further evidence, be sure to reference real-life accounts of the wicked, wild, ways of the plant kingdom: Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart
It’s an intoxicating compilation that’s a definite must-have for garden lovers of botanical atrocities that aim to strangle, paralyze, poison, and derange the minds/bodies of their caretakers.
These vintage Halloween cards are beautiful and timeless treasures – perfect for creating invitations, as applications to favor boxes, or for use in scrapbooks. Click on the image to print in the larger, full-size version (personal use only, please.)
Collecting vintage images for holiday crafts and decorations is one of my guilty pleasures, since it’s so time consuming to hunt down quality resources. I plan on finding more vintage cards to scan and enhance in the future, but you can find more postcard designs here: Vintage Halloween Cards.
This week, I also found a vintage reproduction of “Whirl-O Halloween Fortune and Stunt Game”, which will be a very fun and unique addition to your Halloween party this year.
It’s in PDF format – be sure to print it on cardboard stock so it’s sturdy enough to use as an actual game: Whirl-O Halloween Game. It may be a good idea to laminate it as well, just so any party spills don’t ruin the fun…
The mini wrought iron tree I mentioned in an earlier post was highly regarded as a unique and functional display for the holidays. I was finally able to display some of my most treasured wine Christmas ornaments this year, as they were safely guarded upon a tabletop (both high enough above the reach of wee little grabby hands, and sturdy enough to withstand the impact of kitty claws).
My tree arrived quickly from CSN with reasonable processing time, was neatly packaged as individually wrapped sections divided by “branch” size, and I easily had it standing tall in all of about 10 minutes. The one-page printed instructions had little to be desired, however I’ll take a good product that’s self-explanatory and properly designed over a manual that requires a cipher and key, any day.
Immediately after initial set-up, I couldn’t resist hanging a few decorations on the swirled branches. Most of my ornaments are rather heavy and awkwardly shaped, but there was never a question as to whether the iron would hold them securely.
I would say this tree’s best assets are the strength of the branches, especially compared to a normal tabletop fake evergreen tree, and the numerous places to hang ornaments. Not only were there too many branches for me to fill, there were also openings along the stem that allow for the placement of floral picks as additional decorations if you prefer a more plentiful tree. As also a modern design, the less is more approach can also be easily fulfilled.
In this alternative theme, I layered bird ornaments, berry picks, and various glass balls in light olive, lilac, and vintage champagne hues to give you an idea of how elegant this tree can look, no matter how you choose to complete it. This wrought iron tree will definitely be a main feature in my home – soon to showcase my Halloween tree ornaments.
In the meantime, I just can’t seem to pull it apart and pack it away. What a great place to store mini photos and cards throughout the year, hang cookies during the next event, or maybe even a very functional help-yourself display for serving party favors.
Sadly, CSN no longer has the black 3.5 ft version available (since recommending it as an intriguing option for holiday tabletop displays in my previous post), however there’s still time to pick up this silver tree or a full black iron 7-footer if you are daring enough…
Holiday Glogg Punch
* 12 oz. SKYY vodka
* 1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
* 1.5 tbsp. mulling spices
* 1 tsp. fresh orange zest
* 2 tbsp. sugar
* 2 tbsp. blanched almonds
* 4 tbsp. raisins
Wrap mulling spices in cheesecloth. In a large saucepan, combine wine, SKYY vodka, cheesecloth with mulling spices, orange zest, and sugar. Allow to very lightly simmer over medium heat for at least 30 minutes, but do not boil. Discard the mulling spices. Drop a few raisins and almonds at the bottom of each mug and then top with hot liquid.
Mocha Eggnog Cocktail
* 2 oz Kahlua
* 1 oz vodka
* eggnog
Pour measured Kahlua and vodka over ice in a glass. Fill the remainder of your glass with eggnog and stir. For a festive and tasty garnish, sprinkle a little nutmeg on top.
Hard Rocker Cider
* 1 cup tequila (We used Cabo Wabo Reposado Tequila)
* 4 cups apple cider
* 1 cup cranberry juice cocktail
* ¼ cup Triple Sec
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* cinnamon sticks
In medium pot, heat and stir cider, cranberry juice cocktail, and nutmeg on low for two hours (you can also use a crockpot). Do not boil. When ready to serve, turn on high for 10 minutes and stir in tequila and liqueur. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Orchestrating an enchanting merry display with small children in the home can be challenging, especially when the holidays are plated with breakable glassware, massive poofs of glitter specks, and served with delicate ornaments that adorn a tree full of prickly pine or plastic inedibles.
I’ve devised a plan this year to attack with as many maniacal measures as necessary to define separate spaces – luring my little monsters into tightly-packed corners of whimsical Christmas pleasures stacked high with snowman, cookies, gumdrops, and sugar plum fairies for their devious eyes to plunder. While diverted, my own fragile reserve of locked-up wondrous treasures will safely parade around the tabletops and adorn the lonely walls who have been longing to be decked for many cold and snowy seasons past.
Incredibly, CSN joined in my quest, bestowing upon me a gift in return for a review of a product from one of their 200+ stores (where you can find everything from a new stool for your kitchen to a bar with built-in wine cabinet to hold your Christmas wine collection). Without hesitation, I returned a link to a wrought iron tree with solid lines and intricate swirls (just like so many of my secret wrought iron-filled desires). Perfect for a tabletop themed Christmas tree, my miniature wine ornaments have been corked up for too long, ready to spill over…and what used to be grape clusters have probably fermented.
This 3.5′ wrought iron tree will complement a warm wine-themed Christmas tree perfectly, without the ornaments having to overpower branches full of needles and twinkling lights. It can be placed on a covered side table for added height, or used as a main feature for a centerpiece on the dining room table with candles and garland as accents. Simple, elegant trees like this one are useful for hanging ornaments, but also family photos, Christmas cards, favor boxes, and even ribbon-strung gingerbread cookies.
I will be using this as a Halloween tree indefinitely, just as soon as it is shipped and I test it out with the Christmas ornament collection first. I’ll be updating with a review of this product in a few weeks, but don’t hold off too long on this one! The full-size 7′ versions are already sold out for the season…and of course, here’s a little inspiration for a wine-themed Christmas tree, while we’re all waiting: Elegant Wine Christmas Tree Theme
Display all of your creepy concoctions, potion bottles, and squishy jar specimens in groupings together to create a realistic spooky setting – one that’s captivating enough for the most inquisitive of minds to sort through.
Natural exhibits of morbid curiosities (such as dried sea specimens, bones, and preserved botanical varieties) can complete an arrangement of curiously creepy intricate findings, allowing your guests to speculate what your strange collection is manifesting.
Some of the spookiest specimen acquisitions are from early Victorian science and medicine practices, including various species of entomology, botany, lepidoptery, etc.
Here’s a few ideas of what specimens to capture, and how to include them in your Halloween decorating this year… Halloween Specimens and Curiosities
It took everything I had in me not to title this post “White Pumpkins Suck!” considering after finishing the design my carving masterpiece did end up looking as elegant as I had planned, which was the main objective.
However, being smaller and thinner than most pumpkin varieties, mine had an extremely stringy rind and was filled to the brim with completely sopped goo that would have constituted already being pumpkin soup without adding any extra ingredients…actually I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it thrown up before in quite a few horror movies. You could hear it slosh around inside just by shaking it a little before it became the first desired object of my annual experimental Halloween slashing practices.
White pumpkins are pretty awful to maintain after you take the knife to them. In fact, I highly recommend that you either choose a nice traditional orange pumpkin, or wait until Halloween morning to begin slaughtering. Today, my delicate soft white creation reminds me of a rotten egg, turning yellow while quickly deteriorating in strange shades of brown and orange by the hour. Should you have a gruesome pumpkin design, keep in mind this may be an added advantage. 
The bat is attached onto the stem using a toothpick, along with another scroll piece I was able to salvage. This pumpkin took me about 2 hours to complete. Should you not have lightning-fast Ninja carving abilities (defined by my Mom and husband who were witnesses), nor accurate fine-precision knife skills, you may want to omit some of the scrollwork designs included in the template. Yes, of course – I have included a free pumpkin template once again so last year’s spider web tribal pumpkin won’t get lonely. Keep in mind, if these templates do not fit your pumpkin or print out too small, you can use your printers options to enlarge the image to the appropriate size needed.
Happy carving! As for me, I’m off to mutilate a beautiful dark orange 20-pound traditional pumpkin either with the same design, or something more intricate. Maybe multiple pumpkins, you know…now that I think of it, if I had the time, I’d probably just sit around carving pumpkins all day.
Hang up a few silhouettes in your windows and on your walls this Halloween to create a vintage spooky appearance that complements the rest of your creepy decor without taking over. Silhouettes are the classic way to display an elegant outline and highlight features without being too obtrusive when clustered together as a complete scene.
Silhouettes not only can be displayed on walls and windows, but have also been caught sneaking up the stairs, flying while dangling from high ceilings, burning brightly as dark figures when placed on lamps and candle lanterns, and attached to decorated pumpkins for simple black shapes (especially for topiaries or centerpieces with a lot of intricate floral design included).
Need a few silhouette accents this Halloween? See if any of these shadow creatures catch your eye….
Spooky Silhouettes for Halloween
Get ready to gather the proper gear and a few infectious toxins to deliver your unsuspecting guests while morphing them into pale, brain-eating creations at your Zombie Halloween themed party this year.
Zombie-themed Halloween parties are a good option to provide a scarier atmosphere than just the candy corn and smiling pumpkins, especially if you are looking to fulfill either a niche interest or entertain a more mature group of guests without the kiddies involved. The zombie costume pictures from your party may also end up being something quite special to share for many years to come.
Just please be careful what you do with your new monstrous mutants. Containment is the key – unless of course, you’re trying to start the next zombie apocalypse…
Sprinkling out the body parts is a Halloween tradition for spooky decorations and gross recipes. You’ll find fingers, a few floating eyeballs, brain matter, and a bloody hand or two reaching out to grab you at every scary Halloween party. Creep out your guests with a few of these unique appendage props:
Creepy Cuts Eyes & Fries
Atomic Brain Standing Halloween Prop
Hanging Body Parts
And, then of course there’s these squishy, edible bits and pieces…
Zombie Brain Gelatin Mold
Wilton Fingers Non-Stick 8 Cavity Cookie Pan
Wilton Dimensions 3D Skull Pan
