On the 3rd Day of Creepmas...

Today's theme is about Krampus. So I thought I'd share with you, this really cool annual festival in Austria.  It's called the Krampusnacht Festival.  Its slated to happen on December 5th this year.  This is indeed on my bucket list to see someday.

Click the picture for youtube videos of the parades

Until tomorrow my peculiar friends.

On the 2nd Day of Creepmas...

Today marked the 2nd day of Creepmas.  The theme for today was elves.  Technically I still have a half an hour left to post this...heh heh.  I will be late to my own funeral.  I started to work on my own creation for this topic, but because it was ma's birthday today, I just didn't have time to finish it.  So instead I will post some creepy elf on the shelf memes to share.  This elf really is a creeper.

And I did find these cute elf dolls for sale on Etsy:

 Hellf Dolls by OneailFXStudios on Etsy

Well, that's all I have for elves today folks, I hope they made you smile just a little.  I'll see you tomorrow with things about Krampus.

Until tomorrow my peculiar friends.

On the 1st Day of Creepmas...

Hello, my fellow oddities.  I'm ba-ack!  Did you miss me? 

Today marks the first day of Creepmas.  To find out more about Creepmas and view other participants pages visit, http://www.creepmas.com/.  Here are this year's categories:

So in keeping with today's theme, Christmas Spirit, I thought I would share my favorite ghost story of all time, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  I feel this story fully embodies the Christmas Spirit, which is probably why it has been recreated a bajillion times.  My favorite versions from childhood are Disney's Mickey's Christmas Carol, the 1984 George C. Scott version, and Scrooged starring Bill Murray.   As a child, though easily frightened, I loved scary stories and tales about ghosts and spirits, which made this the perfect tale for me.

Christmas and Halloween were my favorite holidays growing up.  They were the two most magical times of the year.  They still are to me as an adult now, but for very different reasons.  Now that I'm an adult I love to mesh the two together though I prefer Halloween in my Christmas/Yule than vice versa.  

Unfortunately for us, no black creepmas tree this year.  We adopted 3 new kittens (Mojo, Merlin, & Poe) earlier this year, bring us to a total of 5 furbabies.  The kittens are 7 months old now and love to jump and climb and tear the house to shreds.  They're just so darn cute and sqwishable, so I don't mind.  That means no decorations this year although I did buy a new silver mercury glass skull ornament already this year.

Wondershop from Target

 Maybe next year, I will get around to finally making a Jacob Marley door knocker to adorn my door for the holidays.  I am really inspired by William Bezek's version below:  

My favorite version by artist William Bezek

by PulpNovelties on Etsy

Mickey's Christmas Carol version on Etsy by PeltzProductions

Well thats all folks.  See you all tomorrow with "elves" on.  Mwahahaha.

Hello, October!

That beautiful time of year has finally arrived.  We are in full swing of Hallowedding crunch time.  Wish us luck!  Have a wonderful & magical October!

R.I.P Gene Wilder

 

Giveaway at ShellHawk's Nest

One of my favorite blogs, ShellHawk's Nest, is giving away six 25% off coupon codes to six lucky winners for AtmosFX.  I've been drooling over this company's products for a couple of years now.  I was really hoping to get the projection kit to have at our Hallowedding this year.  Alas, it was not in our budget.  AtmosFX is coming out with a Trick or Treat digital decoration this year!  I will definitely be getting this in preparation for buying the kit.  You don't have to buy the kit, though.  You can use an HD projector and see-through mesh material (see the Tips & Tricks section on the website for more information).  They have many wonderful digital decorations even...eck...Christmas...eck...ones too.  If you're interested in ShellHawk's fantabulous giveaway, please follow the link below and read her post to find out how to enter:

ShellHawk's Nest: AtmosFX coupon giveaway

Oh and while you're there, browse around.  She has some wonderful posts and awesome creations to buy.  Some of you may know her from Hauntcast: Radio for Haunters and Halloween Fanatics or have seen her at the Halloween & Vine art show.

Good luck, all my peculiar friends!

It's coming!

Hello all my odd fellows.  I just wanted to write a quick post to say hello and that I have not abandoned the blog.  We are in full swing of party/wedding planning and making final decisions.  We haven't got long until the magical day arrives.  Halloween scents and decorations are finally hitting the stores and we couldn't be happier.  It's really helping to lift our "spirits" and keep us motivated.  I hope everyone's preseason is going well.

Until next time, my peculiar friends.

Look What's Out at Michaels Craft Store!

Now that the 4th of July is over, we decided to check out some of our favorite stores to see if the Halloween decor is out yet.  Woot!  Woot!  Michaels has started putting their stuff out!

It looks like the main color schemes are black, bone, metallic gold and silver, velveteen, and splashes of burgundy.  I really liked the velveteen items, but with cats and an old rickety house that manufactures its own dust by the hour, there was no way I could bring them home.  Unfortunately, we did not bring anything home with us today, but rest assured that we are picking our pieces wisely.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!  Hope you all have a blast!

50 Shades of Orange

 

Our HalloWedding colors are, of course, orange and black. As this is a Halloween themed wedding, not just any orange will do.  Our biggest problem in coordinating decor for the event has been finding and matching the right shade of orange.  It has been especially difficult being that we are "out-of-season."

Several months ago I ordered a set of 30 orange table runners from a company I thought to have the closest shade for the best price.  Not even close.  They were actually more of a springtime melon orange color.  Oh well, we're crafty.  Let's just dye them.  So off I went to do the research on the material and to find the right dye formula.  Much to my chagrin, these runners are 100% polyester.  It turns out polyester is a synthetic material and the most difficult to dye.  So after much deliberation and procrastination I discovered this: 

 Rit DyeMore Apricot Orange for synthetics.  This is a stove top method dye.  So, be sure your material will fit in a pot and won't be ruined by heat.  The dye will need to be heated between 180 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit (just before boiling point).  I used my largest stainless steel pot that I don't cook food with and a large wooden dowel rod to stir and keep the material moving.  I must admit here that I alternated stirring and letting it simmer in 5 minutes increments for a total of 30 minutes each batch.

Me, in my purdy purple craft gloves and an orange shirt in my orange kitchen with an orange tablecloth in the background, dyeing table runners orange.  Hmmmmm...I'm seeing a running theme here.

I want to note here that the bottle reads per "2 lbs. of fabric" and for polyester to double the amount of dye.  They mean 2 lbs. precisely.  For me, that was 8 runners in 3 gallons of water with 2 bottles of dye.   I used a kitchen scale to weigh my fabric.  I tested this theory by adding a few extra runners to the pot after my first 2 lb batch was finished.  The dye did not come out as dark at all.  Keep in mind, my runners were already orange  to start so this result could vary with lighter or darker colored materials. The results could also vary with the type of material you are using.  Here is a photo of the original color on the right and the dyed product end result is on the right.  BIG Difference!  I am very pleased with the result.

The original table runner color is on the right and the end result color is on the left.

After the first batch was done, I added another full bottle to the leftover dye in the pot and completed dying 7 more table runners. It took me 6 bottles of dye and about 6 hours total over two nights to complete dying 30 melon orange table runners to a darker Halloween shade.  Overall, I found polyester simple to dye with Rit DyeMore.  I would do this again without question.  I can't wait to see the tables decorated.

Until next time, my peculiar friends.

Let the Games Begin...

...on this sweet, sweet gaming table.  Enter to win @ http://swee.ps/DAsoJhzr
I have been admiring these beauties for quite some time now on BoardGameTables.com
Good Luck, my peculiar friends!

Gremlins Inc.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been obsessed with a game called Gremlins Inc. on Steam.  I'm not especially good at it, but I love it.  It's an awesome video game of a card game full of strategy and malice.  ...So much malice.  Oh, and it has a steampunk theme!  The artwork is incredible.  The gameplay is challenging and fun.  You can play online or solo games.  After I purchased the video game, I immediately went to the Gremlins Inc. website and discovered they have, for purchase, a hard copy prototype of the game.  SOLD!

Well, it arrived yesterday all the way from Lithuania and I'm all fired up to played it!  The game mechanics are said to be slightly variant from the video game version.  I'm curious to see what the differences will be.  However, because I like things neat and tidy, I had to order card sleeves (70 x 110 mm if you're interested) to protect the integrity of the game's mint condition before I can play it.  Yes, I am a total geek.

So if you're on Steam and you have this game, look up my id (OddFallweather) and let's play.

Shark!

Wih Shark Week coming up on Sunday, June 26th on the Discovery Channel, I thought I would share an ebook I just finished reading.  Hotel Megalodon: A Deep Sea Thriller by Rick Chesler is a quick and easy read.  It has all the flair and fun of a Syfy B-Movie.  This is not my usual genre of book, but I really enjoyed it.  Without giving any spoilers, the synopsis is about a young marine biologist that gets her dream job working for the world's first underwater luxury hotel.  Things turn bad very quickly and just continue to get worse at every turn.

Off to a Slow Start

So it would appear that I'm off to a slow start with this blog.  My apologies.  With only 164 days until our Hallowedding we have been all consumed with wedding things.  I have many things I want to share on this blog involving the wedding, but unfortunately, I don't want to give away too many sneak-peeks to attendees.  I will definitely have much more to show after the wedding, however, what to do in the meantime...

Hello, World!

Welcome to my Blog of Peculiar Notions.

Let me start off by introducing myself.  I am a thirty-something kid at heart and a dreamer.  I enjoy flights of fancy and all things "odd" and peculiar, as you will see here on this blog.  I like twists and turns and things that make me pause and ponder.  Halloween (Samhain) is my favorite holiday, although it has become a way of life for my soon-to-be wife and me over the many years.  Our house, parties, creative projects, familiars, leisure activities, etc. all predominately Halloween themed and this year we will have our Hallowedding.  It has been a long time in the making. 

I decided to finally start a blog in hopes to meet new people and to share some of the things, places, and people that I find interesting.  I've spent a lot of time, over the years, perusing the internet and have finally reached the stage where I think I have some things to contribute.  I hope you will enjoy reading as much as I will enjoy posting.

Until next time, my peculiar friends.