Peanut Butter Beast Treats

The poor little poop-beast; he's had an awful month. That's him in the picture; he's naturally blurry.

First, his "cousin" Maggie came to stay with us for a week. Her full grown boxer-bulldog mix self didn't seem to notice much when she stepped on 11 lb. Pinot (which was frequently); plus he had to work extra hard to protect my Husband-to-Be from that strange dog that had invaded his house.

Then, earlier this week, he had an awful night that started with vomiting and ended with a long, grumpy debate between his people over whether he had swallowed bug spray and needed to be taken to the emergency vet. He still felt terrible the next morning, but he lived. Which was good - I could barely sleep I felt so badly about not just rushing him to the doctor.

All that sickliness didn't save him from last night's bath and brushing, which for him I'm pretty sure was the icing on the crapcake, if dogs take stock of such things. :)

Anyway, I got to thinking that he needed some kind of treat. Well, him and my cousin's dog, since I'll be seeing them tomorrow at my first bridal shower. So tonight I made more cookies and peanut butter beast treats!!

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 cup milk

Mix the first two ingredients together well; blend the peanut butter and milk in a separate bowl, then mix into the flour mixture. At this stage I kneaded it with my hands until it was smooth and held together, rolled it out (1/4" thick) on some wax paper, and cut shapes into the dough.

Bake at 375^oF for 20 minutes (the original recipe mentioned that they burn easily, but I did not have this problem). Let them cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

It was my first attempt at making doggie biscuits. Quite successful, as the little beast was eager to perform tricks to obtain more treat-nibbles. It's the quickest he's ever responded when I said "sit."

You may notice "M's" on the treats in the picture - I laid those in with the side of a fork. "M" stands for "Maggie" (my brother's dog/Pinot's cousin) and "Murphy" (my cousins dog, whom I'll see in the morning.

Cheers, all!

ATC - The Fall of the House of Usher

#5 ATC of the Vintage Poe series...this time with creepy Madeline from The Fall of the House of Usher...

House of the Wolf Man

I went for a walk this morning and was strolling through my neighbourhood, listening to the most recent Hauntcast, when Johnny Thunder's movie review segment began and I heard something that made me stop dead. According to Johnny, a trailer has been released for an upcoming movie: House of the Wolfman. It's apparently been shot in the style of the classic 1940's Wolfman movies and, according to Bloody-Disgusting, ". . . is a good old fashioned monster movie." No gore. No rolling heads. No gratuitous violence. In short, my kind of horror film. I was beyond excited. The Wolfman is my favourite classic horror monster. I turned toward home and dashed to the computer to look it up.

The story goes like this:

"Dr. Bela Reinhardt has invited five people to his castle to see which of them will inherit his estate. He has arranged for a competition of sorts, the victor shall be determined through process of... elimination."

I love the homage paid by the characters' names. And as if it could get any more wonderful, the movie stars Ron Chaney. Lon Chaney Jr.'s grandson.


Unfortunately, it appears that House of the Wolfman will be going direct to DVD. But that's okay. I'll be more than happy to watch it on my . . . medium-screen TV. In the meantime, I'll watch and re-watch the trailer.

House of the Wolf Man Trailer is Here

1999

My daughter has always had an aversion to wearing make-up on her face at Halloween. Every year, despite countless attempts at persuasion and encouragement, the answer remained a clear and definite, "No". Every year, regardless of the chosen costume, it had to be a mask covering her face. Or nothing. I've often wondered why she was so strongly opposed to make-up. Had it been something in her formative years? Something in her early childhood that had traumatized her and that remained a disturbing memory? I simply can't imagine what that might be. I suppose some things are destined to remain a mystery.

ATC - E.A.P.

Another Edgar for the swap I'm hosting in the Fall on VPI Yahoo...

Fall/Halloween Ephemera

Please feel free to save and use these with my complements!~

Sneak Peek! Martha Stewart Halloween, 2009

Totally fabulous as always Martha! Can't wait to see the whole line!

Paper Roses

I had a little extra "aged paper" on my hands, toothpicks, glue, and time to kill; since I'm also on the hook for making myself some kind of flower+feather hair comb for the wedding (in lieu of a veil), paper roses seemed like a good fit:


Okay, well it started out lovely and antique-looking while the husband-to-be was close by and working on updating our filing system. Then he went to take a shower, and glitter exploded all over it while I was unsupervised. I don't know what happened! I was just putting my glue away in the new supply cabinet, when the spray adhesive and ultra-fine silver glitter jumped out all over me and the rose!

It was madness, I tell you: glitter EVERYWHERE.

• Making Crepe Paper Roses - I cut out my petals in heart shapes and followed Martha's step-by-step, using glue instead of floral tape and a toothpick rather than a wire
• A rose tutorial - I didn't do a thing from this one, but I think her version is lovely for a larger rose!
• More paper rose making - this is just neat because of all the old pictures of ladies making paper flowers. Very cool.
  

(pea)Nut-house treats...

A whole new craft room, and what do I spend my evening doing?

Baking cookies.

These cookies even break one of my only self-imposes rules: no buying pre-made anything (usually this applies to frosting, but in this case the "cookie" part of the cookies is from a tube).

But even I couldn't resist Million Dollar Peanut Butter Cookies when I saw them over at Noble Pig, so one beer and a handful of peanuts later...

The middles are equal parts powdered sugar and smooth peanut butter (1/2 cup of each), fully combined. You wrap them in the cut up tube-cookie dough, then coat them in a sugar mixture (1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon). Bake at 375^oF for 7 to 12 minutes, let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes... and perfection. The right amount crispy on the outside, perfect gooey peanut butter on the inside.

These will probably age well by tomorrow, but I'm not sure if husband-to-be will let them last that long.

If you need a peanut butter cookie to impress your ghoulfriends, I recommend this recipe.

the joy of felt

I've been giving some thought lately to Halloween costumes. Especially as I attempt to create my costume well in advance of Halloween for once. My philosophy has been that homemade is far superior to factory-made. Perhaps not in appearance. But certainly in the fun involved and the memories created. My children haven't always agreed with this.

When they were babies, I couldn't wait to make their first Halloween costumes. The first costume for each of them consisted simply of a bib and a hat constructed from felt. They looked adorable. And I was quite pleased with myself and my costume-making skill. But then, they grew older and began to develop Halloween costume opinions of their own. Which didn't require my considerable talent with felt. After all, could I construct a Spiderman costume that anyone would recognize? Probably not. So for many years, to my dismay, store-bought costumes usually won the battle over homemade.

But sometimes . . .

Sometimes, a Halloween season would come along when the stars aligned and a costume was desired that could not be purchased from a store. Not any store. Not anywhere. Commercially speaking, it didn't exist. In these situations, the only way to obtain the costume was to create it. And suddenly, I found my costume-making talents in demand. It was time to dig out that bag of leftover felt from the back of the cupboard. Time to get to work. Time for some cutting. Some gluing. Some tossing out of felt and starting over. More cutting. More gluing. And finally, it was done.

The resemblance was uncanny. Instantly recognizable of course. As an Eldar Warrior from the Warhammer 40K universe. What else could it be?

Twisted Princess

Twisted Princess: Ariel by
~jeftoon01 on deviantART

I'm really digging the "Twisted Princess" series. It marries my love of Disney with my adoration of the macabre.

...I'm sorry, did you say something? About how I should be working on wedding projects? I can't hear you.

disarray

Imagine my dismay when I saw the Halloween storage area. The boxes that I had just recently sorted and organized and stacked ever so neatly. Torn open. Contents scattered. Then abandoned. What could have done this? A cat? A renegade raccoon? A swarm of locusts? Worse. Much worse. A husband. Apparently in search of a head for some nebulous school project.


Nothing that a mask and a little cheesecloth can't fix.

Deadman's Cellar

Someone has an awesome fiancé, and that someone is ME! Husband-to-Be and I spent our weekend off together doing something wonderful: creating my craft room in the basement.

I am ecstatic; it is tentatively dubbed Deadman's Cellar. Which is silly, because it's the friendliest-looking room in the house.


The main wall is lined with my Halloween hangings. All the "Happy Halloween" greetings, and the cutesy pumpkin gifted to me, the "Morgue" and "Cemetery" signs... It's wonderful.


The main workspace is my grandfather's card table. It's older than I am; crafting is so much more fun with a little bit of my favorite people in the room with me.


There are ghosties lining the ceiling and random Halloween touches everywhere, though you can't see it. The walls are dark blue-gray ($5 gallon of paint I found in the "oops" section of my local Lowe's) and the left-over light gray from when we painted my bedroom. I already need more shelves for display and am running low on storage space. It's a good thing their is an entire paint cabinet just outside.

For the first time since we moved in, I feel like their is a room in the house that it's okay for me to really live in. It's mine and I'm sooooo happy and excited!

(If you're reading, THANK YOU SWEETHEART! I love my new space)

Glittery Gems

Decorate, adorn, grace, ornament, beautify.
Your home should tell your story. Showcase your personality
by surrounding yourself with the things you love.

Mini Glitter Crowns available in my Etsy shop.

pumpkins' progress

A few of the pumpkin plants have started to bloom! It is truly an exciting day in the pumpkin patch.

mask inspiration

I haven't worked a mask in some months; simply haven't been inspired.

I couldn't begin to make something as lovely as the masks found here, but they are proving to be invaluable in terms of inspiration to get moving on wedding crafts.

Amazing, aren't they?

http://www.furiae.com/

ATC - Ode to Poe

Beautiful Work

One of the things I wish I'd done most in my brief stint as a movie-set grunt was join the art department on a horror film.

That never happened, and now I'm a corporate drone (is there a better term? some feminine version of a drone?). Perhaps there is hope for me in the distant future, but while I'm clocking the cubicle hours I day-dream and smile when I find things like Andrew Leman's site.

If I'm right, he's also the genius who volunteers amazing prop documents for free (and also can be paid to complete custom work) via CthuluLives.org.

quadrangle of evil

A while back, I read several posts about the evil that is the ventriloquist's dummy. There seemed to be a general consensus that there is nothing sweet or charming about these creations. And I couldn't agree more. But the creepiness doesn't end there. It extends beyond the ventriloquist's dummy to include mannequins. And dolls. And clowns. A quadrangle of creepiness.

This blurry image is the only remaining evidence I could find of the evil musical clown that terrorized me for several weeks in the 80's. It was a gift from my boyfriend. A well-intentioned gift. He obviously thought it was cute and charming and was convinced that I would feel the same. It was early in the relationship. He really didn't know me yet. I was polite and appreciative of the gift. And I tried. I tried to love it. I gave it a place of prominence on a small table beside my bed. I wound the music box and watched as it's garishly-painted face swivelled around and around and around as the music softly played. During the daylight hours, I could almost convince myself that I liked it. But inevitably, it got dark. Sometimes I would awake during the night and see it sitting there. It's fixed, overly-cheerful expression illuminated by the moonlight streaming through my window. It was always there. Sitting. Watching. I moved it to another room. But it didn't help; in fact, it only intensified my discomfort. At least, when it was in the room with me, I knew where it was. What it was doing. My boyfriend was somewhat less than understanding. He joked that he would sneak in one day and place a little knife in its hand. Hilarious. Finally, I could no longer pretend. I gave it away to a friend who had admired it. Actually admired it. She happily accepted it and placed it on her mantle beside another of her evil clowns. It was she who pointed it out to me recently in the background of one of my old photographs. Did I remember that clown that I had been afraid of ? Oh yes, I remember.

Clowns. Dummies. Mannequins. Dolls. A quadrangle of evil. Nothing good can come of them.

Tron Legacy Movie Trailer Just Released!

Just released at Comic-Con: Tron Legacy Movie Trailer!

This will surely be one of the most popular (and coolest) costumes for 2010!



Very excited and can't wait to see this in theaters in Disney Digital 3-D on top of it all!

And while there is no official Ton movie costume at this time, a great substitute to get that glowing look are our Glow Man Costumes!

Just In! GI Joe Movie Costumes!

New GI Joe Costumes just in for the upcoming and exciting GI Joe action film called GI Joe, Rise of Cobra!

First in stock is the ninja costume for Shadow Storm. The Shadow Storm costume is available in both child and adult sizes.


Deluxe Child Shadow Storm G. I. Joe Costume



Deluxe Adult Shadow Storm G. I. Joe Costume

GI Joe costumes will be among the most popular and sought after costumes this Halloween. Both kids and adults will be donning GI Joe costumes this Halloween.

More GI Joe costumes are coming soon, including the popular Snake Eye Black Ninja Costume!

Happy Mail Today!

Here are the 3 cards I have published in the current issue of The Stamper's Sampler. VERY exciting!

Thank you, Frog Queen

The wonderful Frog Queen has been patiently helping me with wedding invitations this week.

Asking for help makes me nervous, letting someone help terrifies me - I despise feeling like a bother, or like I'm taking advantage of someone's friendliness... but I wanted to say 'thank you.'

Invitation planning has gone from terrifying to exciting in a matter of days. :)

Where Bloggers Create

Karen over at My Desert Cottage is having a blog party today.

Bloggers from around the world will be opening their doors
and inviting us in for a brief glimpse into their creative havens.
So I tidied up a bit, set out some treats and made sure everyone
was appropriately dressed in party attire. Enjoy looking around
my Fantastical World. The door is always opened.

Free Printable Labels

iDiY posted some free apothocary/vintage bottle labels - they are mostly cutesy, but I found the colors (blues and teals and greens) to be quite inspiring. A little bit of tea-or-coffee staining for age, or perhaps some watered down black paint to give it that grungy look - could be quite nice.

Also, I'm a sucker for re-labeling bottles.

Check it out here.

Edgar Allan Poe

Work in progress sneak peek.

Edgar is the second in the trilogy of 3D portraits
that I'll be bringing to the Tinsel and Treasures show.
Can you guess who the third will be?

Wedding Aisle Walk - I'm old and fogyish

Let me start by saying this is fun, sweet, adorable, and I completely approve of it:


Now, let me rant a bit by saying I hate the YouTube Wedding trend.

You know the one: where brides and grooms do over-the-top things or make their friends work out coordinated dance numbers in the hopes that it will end up on a blog with people gushing over it (kind of like this, but - hush!).

My wedding = not for your amusement. I am not putting it on to entertain my family, my friends, not the internetting public with a dance number show-stopper; it is about celebrating a very special and somewhat somber occasion with the people I love. As such, I will not be participating in the one-upmanship wedding competition. AND DO YOU KNOW WHY?!

Because it feeds into bridezilla culture, which I abhor, even when the event featured in the video is light and sweet like the above. Some control-freak bride just saw that on Glamour This and accepted it as a challenge.

Not, "oh how sweet! if that fit my personality and tastes, I would totally do something like that!" but "that's the kind of thing that everyone would remember; I need to hire a choreographer immediately so we can all be in-step as we go down the aisle and get more views when we post our video."

Sorry. This outburst may be related to how many times I've been told that we should do the 'Thriller' dance with our wedding party; I swear, that video makes me want to vomit.

100 days

I switched on the computer this morning, sat down with coffee in hand and began reading blogs. As I do almost every morning. But today, something was different. There was a recurring theme. A common thread. 100 days. 100 days. 100 days. Only 100 days until Halloween? Apparently so. Which means I've got work to do. No more lolling around the pumpkin patch waiting for the plants to bloom.

This year, one of my priorities will be the creation of a completed costume before October 31st. In recent years, I've become so preoccupied with preparing my house for Halloween that I've completely neglected to prepare myself. Sure, I've had ideas for costumes. Plans. Good intentions. But inevitably, Halloween creeps up on me and I find myself frantically throwing something together from old costume parts as the first trick-or-treaters are ringing the doorbell. Pathetic.

But this year, it's going to be different. Hopefully.


I first saw this costume a couple of years ago in Make magazine. Not surprisingly, it was a winning entry in the magazine's costume contest. It was created by Winnipeg-based artist Nicole Magne, who describes its creation on her blog. I was impressed. And consumed with a desire to create one for myself. But the weeks passed. And in the last hours of October, I found myself dashing to the basement once again for leftover costume parts.

But this year, it could all be different. If I start early enough. And perhaps if I commit myself to it in writing. Virtual writing. This could be the year I go headless with a reasonable facsimile of this amazing costume. It won't look exactly the same of course. I know my limits. And there will have to be a few necessary modifications. Because I think it's best for everyone if I don't attempt to weld copper pipes together.

1970's Costume Party Ideas

1970's Costumes!

Many people always ask what we do all year when its not Halloween. There are so many parties and events always going on that we stay pretty busy all year long.

1970's theme parties have been really popular this year. A theme party where everyone is to come dressed up is always so much fun. Attending a 1970's theme party would mean coming dressed as a hippie or a love child. Think Greatful Dead, tie died tees and bell bottom jeans. Jimmie Hendrix big afro wigs, or long flowing locks with no bangs and a rainbow headband. Sound familiar? Ring a 70's bell? The 1970's was the era of The Disco, so hand your disco ball and get funky! What a fun party idea!

Check out some 1970's Costumes and Hippie Costume Accessories at AnniesCostumes.com and see some great 70's style wigs at ExtremeWigs.com.