raven, haunted, Halloween 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! :-)

 

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

 

gothicpumpkin My masquerade pumpkin invitation cards have been popular on Zazzle for a little while, most appropriately used for Gothic weddings and Halloween parties. This year, I decided to make the real-life versions by hand-stitching them in Venetian style with elegant black cording and beautiful rich textured fabrics. I’m holding one in my avatar…after almost 15 hours of hand-stitching and yelling obscenities at these things in standard New England tradition. lol

GothicMasqueradePumpkins masqueradepumpkins2

My piratey renaissance neighbor and friend, Faustus, from FriedMush received his skull pumpkin version today and loved it. You can order them directly on my website here: Gothic Masquerade Pumpkins or on my WebSpinstress Etsy Store. I decided to give Etsy a try for quick listings for my blog – we’ll see how it goes. Grab them quick if you’re interested – I only have a few days to ship them in time for Halloween. I’ll have them listed all year round though for Gothic and masquerade themed wedding decorations. These are the darkest, most elegant pumpkins available and you won’t be disappointed!

 

Halloween party games I found this resource earlier this morning as part of my daily, sporadic, random clicking-around-to-see-what-I-eventually-land-on ritual, and I am still in awe at how creative and versatile these FREE Halloween project templates are. All you need are a pair of scissors and a little bit of glue to get your Halloween party games started!

This entire collection of printable games can easily be crafted yourself such as Phantom’s Vortex, The Vault of Mystery, or Undead Checkers, and could easily be the life or the death of your Halloween party. Projects such as the coffin boxes and CD cases would make excellent party favors, and toys such as various masks or creatures such as “The Splatterbot” would make fun projects to print out in multiples for your guests to enjoy. Goodbye toilet paper roll mummy-wrapping games…

Some of these would also make great centerpieces and table decorations when arranged with other props, such as skeletons and spiders.

Oh, you want the link?
RavensBlight Printable Toys

 

dreary-centerpieceA Dark and Dreary Halloween Arrangement

Midnight Dreary is the first Gothic Halloween arrangement I have created this year, to begin my soon to be over-crowding series of spooky adornments.

Ravens and silk black roses surround an elegant “Boo” word statue with silver skulls, LED pillar candles, and a tall candelabra. This arrangement is set up alter-style, to be placed on top of a bookcase or on a thin side table.

dreary2At night, the LED candles flicker in dark orange hues, dancing around the figures and casting shadows on the wall. For added ambiance, I have an additional set of orange Halloween lights set in front of the arrangement.

Black LED pillars are available HERE for only $5.99 to $9.99 and are definitely my favorite find so far…

halloween-arrangement