Martha!

I was at the grocery store the other day, and while in the check out line, I was in for quite a great shock! The 2010 special issue of "The Best of Martha Stewart Halloween Handbook" was out on the stands.

This year's cover

2009

2008 Side One

2008 Side Two

 Every year, Martha Stewart puts out a special Halloween collector's edition that explains how to make, cook, design, and decorate hundreds of things for the Halloween season. There is a combination of older Halloween projects that can be found on her website, and newer ideas that debuted in this year's edition. It's price is $9.95 in the USA, and $10.95 in Canada, and can be found most places where magazines are sold. Be sure to check back on my blog for more posts on this exciting new Halloween Handbook!   

Martha!

I was at the grocery store the other day, and while in the check out line, I was in for quite a great shock! The 2010 special issue of "The Best of Martha Stewart Halloween Handbook" was out on the stands.

This year's cover

2009

2008 Side One

2008 Side Two

 Every year, Martha Stewart puts out a special Halloween collector's edition that explains how to make, cook, design, and decorate hundreds of things for the Halloween season. There is a combination of older Halloween projects that can be found on her website, and newer ideas that debuted in this year's edition. It's price is $9.95 in the USA, and $10.95 in Canada, and can be found most places where magazines are sold. Be sure to check back on my blog for more posts on this exciting new Halloween Handbook!   

The Promise Of A New Season

Today, I went back to school. This was a beacon of hope for fall, despite 106 degree weather and rows of lawns with dead grass. There was a promise of a new season, carried in with a slight breeze and English projects. Soon there will be talks of carving pumpkins, falling leaves, and magic in the air. Each day gets shorter, the nights get longer, and everything feels like fall. What a beautiful thought.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sinister Sunday Songs #1

Every Sunday, I will share with you a song that is subtly creepy, darkly quirky, and totally worth listening to! Enjoy!

Paris Is Burning - St. Vincent

Album: Marry Me (2007)

Paris Is Burning starts off with distant-sounding horns and organic guitar-picking, quickly followed by the steady beating of drums, setting the mood for the beautiful and dark lyrics to ramble through. St. Vincent, born Annie Erin Clark, is from my native Texas, and her song-writing skills are superb, transporting you to an anarchy in early twentieth century Paris, France. It makes perfect sense that the lyrics are poetically macabre, considering that she got her stage name from the hospital where Dylan Thomas, a Welsh poet, died. To this, she said, "It’s the place where poetry comes to die, that's me."

Announcements!

Hello!

Firstly, even though this happened a few weeks ago, it just dawned on me to write something on the blog about it. As you might of seen, there is a lovely button on the left sidebar of this blog that links to Cryptkeeper 2010 at countdowntohalloween.com.

In case you don't know, Countdown to Halloween is a month-long project for bloggers where for every day in October, the participating bloggers, or "Cryptkeepers" as we are called, post something that has to do with Halloween. Be sure to check out their blog!

Secondly, I have a new Twitter account! See more on the left sidebar, and be sure to follow me!

The Magic Of Martha #2 - Celestial Pumpkins

Pumpkin carving always conjures up warm memories of my childhood when my father would aid me in carving out simple faces into our bright orange decorations. Here is a simple and quick tutorial that gives a fresh and lovely take on traditional carved pumpkins!

 

You Will Need:

• Pumpkin
• Drill with 1/4 Bit
• String Holiday Lights
• Spoon
• Carving Knife

1. Using the carving knife, cut the bottom of the pumpkin off. The hole should be circular and big enough for you to put your hand through so you can clean out the innards of the pumpkin.
2. Use the spoon to clean out the pumpkin.
3. Set the pumpkin right side up and start to drill holes into the pumpkin with the drill. The pattern can be whatever you choose, whether it is a random or organised pattern or a constellation.
4. Set the pumpkin upside down again so you can put the lights in the hole. Push each individual bulb through the drilled holes.
5. Set the pumpkin right side up again and run the cord to a power source through the main bottom hole.

Steps 4 + 5

See the original tutorial here.

On Hypocrites and Craft Stores

Okay, so a few days ago, I posted a very, very short post about how I was sorry about abandoning the blog for awhile, and that I would start posting more regularly. Now, I feel hypocritical for not posting anything after that, and going against my word. Anyhoo...

Today I was out and about, and I decided to pop into Michaels, a.k.a. the most AMAZING craft store in the world! (Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it's still pretty awesome.) I thought I would go check it out in the off-chance that they would already have out their Halloween 2010 decorations, which usually go out a couple months early (like late-August). I was in for a shock! Out and sitting on the shelves of the main aisles were dozens of creepy Halloween decorations! I drooled over all of them and made many mental notes about what I could possibly use in my decorating plans for this year, and will probably buy the things that would look good in September. I'm so thrilled!

Sorry!

Sorry I have not posted anything in awhile, I have been so incredibly busy! Things like that may happen every once in a while, when I don't post anything for a week or so, but everything is back to normal and I will be posting on a more regular schedule.

Wedding Day Ghosts

Weddings are times of great joy and a gathering of a mix of family and friends. In these next photos, it seems that  deceased family and friends enjoy being there on the couple's special day too.

Information about picture here

Information about picture here

More information about picture here

Do you think these pictures are fake or real? Leave a note in the comments with your opinion!

Spider's Egg Sac Decoration

arach·no·pho·bia

Pronunciation: \ə-ˌrak-nə-ˈfō-bē-ə\

Function: noun

: pathological fear or loathing of spiders

Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears among us, so it is obvious why so many decorations are based around the scary little eight-legged pests. Today I will show you how to make a spider's egg sac decoration that will make Aragog proud!

Aragog, the giant spider from the Harry
Potter series

You Will Need:

• A ball of any size (I usually use multiple golf balls for smaller sacs and one larger ball, like a softball.)
• A few pairs of white stockings (must be footed)
• "Spiderwebs"
• Fake spiders (optional)

First, cut the stockings at the length you want the egg sacs to hang. I usually cut at the knee and go shorter if I want to later. Next, you put one of the balls in the foot and hang the stocking from where you want the sac to be displayed, adjusting the length of the stocking as you go. After the stocking is secured, web it up with the "spiderweb" stuff, covering every bit of visible stocking but letting the shape of the ball still be round. Finally, you can add fake spiders to the sac, and be prepared to send all the arachnophobes running for the hills! (We really do love you!)

Martha Is Just So Darn Crafty! (The Magic of Martha #1)

I have a confession to make - not all of the decorations I use during Halloween are designed and crafted by me (like the Halloween Tree) or are store-bought (be sure to check out the new products from Spirit online if you haven't already done so!) Some of the best ideas are from... wait for it... Martha Stewart! No joke! I actually anticipate her Halloween issue, which is chock full of really nifty decorating ideas, so I am starting a new segment on La Vie Macabre, and it is called "The Magic of Martha"! Each post, I will share a tutorial, recipe, idea, or inspiration photos from Martha Stewart's Halloween section on her website.

One of my personal favorites from a past issue (Halloween Issue 2004, to be exact) can be found at her website's Halloween Central, which has hundreds of pictures of her own creepy creations. It is called the Head Waiter Tray, and this serving tray is a sure fire way to make your next gathering a bit creepier.

You Will Need:

• 10 paper towels (crumpled)
• Enough swaths of gauze to cover the display surface of the tray
• Brewed coffee or strong black tea
• Two tablespoons flour
• One tablespoon corn syrup or Mod Podge glue
• Craft stick
• Styrofoam head (A cheap one can be purchased at Sally's Beauty online for $3.99)

You will start by dipping the paper towels and gauze in the coffee or tea, wringing them out of they don't have any extra liquid, crumpling them up, and leaving them to dry for a couple of days while they are still crumpled. You will have to wait two days or so before they dry, but when they do, you mix the solution of two tablespoons flour, one tablespoon tea or coffee, and one tablespoon of corn syrup or Mod Podge. Mix the ingredients together with a craft stick, and you apply the mixture in a thin layer on one section of the head. This is when you take the dried paper towels, uncrumple them, tear them into smaller pieces or strips, and spread over the section of the head. Repeat until the head is covered, and then arrange the gauze at the base of the head on the tray. You are now ready to serve your guests in a scary style!

If you want more detailed instructions or would rather watch an instructional video, here is the original post on Martha's website.

First Encounters With Horror

I was recently talking to a friend about the first time we saw a horror/thriller movie and how old we were. She recalls being frightened by the first horror movie she saw and not being able to sleep for many nights afterwards, but I had a very different experience.

Even though I don't know which one I saw first, the first horror/thriller films that I watched were Psycho (1960) and The Sixth Sense (1999). I saw them about the same time when I was about seven years old, and I remember watching them in the comfort of my own living room with my parents. They warned me before both movies that they weren't real and that they could turn it off if I got scared, but to their surprise, I loved them.

What were the first horror movies that you saw as a child, and how old were you?

New 2010 Halloween Decorations From Spirit Halloween

At Spirit Halloween, they recently revealed the new decorations for Halloween 2010! There are 101 new decorations, prices ranging from $0.99 (here and here) to $299.99. Here are some of my favorites from the bunch.

$4.99

$34.99

$34.99

$9.99

$7.99

The Halloween Tree

Ever since my earliest memories, Halloween was my favorite holiday. No doubt about it. Not even the family and presents of Christmas or the general Irish-ness of St. Patrick's Day with my family could hold a candle to October 31st.

Now, I started planning the decorations for my front yard on November 1st, nearly a whole year before Halloween. With all the anticipation and planning, I usually became anxious to start physically decorating in September, but my mother usually persuaded me to wait until the first weekend of October so our neighbors wouldn't think we were freaks. Whatever...

My yard has a teen-aged Bradford Pear Tree in it, and by October, the leaves are beginning to turn into a fiery red color sprinkled with a few harvest yellow leaves. Keep in mind that something has been interfering with the growth of my tree, causing the branches to be sparser and more spread out than normal, but that makes it an excellent tree to hang decorations from.

Halloween Tree Tutorial

Start by finding a tree that has low branches that aren't too large or too weak. Once the tree is selected, you can find assorted Halloween decoration that you can hang from the lower branches of the trees.

I usually start by disassembling these skeletons from the main garland so that they are all separate, and then I hot glue the tops of individual skeletons to all-natural hemp twine, and after allowing the glue to dry, I hang the skeletons from the branches.

Skeletons on garland.

Next, I like to find skulls to put on the tree. I had a garland much like the one shown below, and I disassembled the individual skulls from the rest of the garland and glued twine to the bottom of each skull, and after setting the skulls on the branch, I tie the twine underneath, securing it in place on the branch.

Skull garland

I also have some very nice flying witch decorations that hang, and they look very nice on the tree as well. Just find a sturdy branch and hang her.

I love this decoration!

Another great decoration to add is a braid of garlic. This website has a phenomenal tutorial on how to make a garlic braid, even though I don't usually make mine that large. You can attach the garlic braid to the tree by using twine.

Mine are usually about half this size

You can also hang bunches of dried flowers and plants for an earthy feel.

Another decoration that you can add that gives the tree a new level of creepiness is that fibrous spiderweb stuff. You know what I'm talking about. 

You can add in small spiders to the spiderwebs.

You can also find these realistic crows that you can easily attach to thicker branches. They come with wire attached to their feet, so all you have to do is wrap the wire around the tree.

From just a few feet away, these birds look creepily real

Those are my staples for my Halloween Tree, but you can find even more creepy decorations to put in yours, such as shrunken heads, bags of bones, ghosts, and carved turnips. Happy decorating!

Gothic Italian Vogue Fashion Shoot

Feast your eyes upon the Gothic fashions featured in an Italian Vogue from June 2008. Clothes featured are from lines from Yves Saint Laurent, Yohji, and Nina Ricci; and the editorial was shot by Craig McDean. Enjoy the dark Victorian beauty of macabre fashion!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, La Vie Macabre! It is a blog dedicated to the stranger and darker things in life, from ghosts to skulls to dark magic to Halloween. The blog's name came from a stroke of inspiration that I had while listening to the song Danse macabre by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (see video below, you might want to pause music player at bottom of page also if you haven't already done so.)

Danse macabre roughly translates to "Dance of Death" in English, and as poetic as that is, I didn't want to name my blog a name that is commonly used, from paintings to books to music to poetry. That is when I thought of La Vie Macabre, which translates to "Life of Death", a phrase that seems to contradict itself, but illustrates my fascination with the weird, mystical, and dead. Hopefully through this blog I will share with you my own life of death, and I hope that you will enjoy!