Halloween is almost here, and with more time at home in recent months due to the pandemic, I’ve finally been able to work on some of the seasonal decorating ideas that have been floating around my head for years. To go by the number of ghoulish and ghostly displays that have suddenly materialized in my neighborhood, I’m not the only one.

In addition to exterior décor, I’ve brought the Halloween spirit(s) into my home, where a spine-tingling twist on tradition is making a cameo appearance this year. Among the carved Fun-Kins and framed Killhouettes that adorn my abode, I’ve created an arrangement of creepy cameos around a blushing bride who is head over heels (his head, her heels).

I’ve always loved classic forms of portraiture, like silhouettes and cameos, but I don’t wear much jewelry, so when I came across Cameo Jewelry Supply and swooned over their vast collection of affordable resin cameos, I had to consider alternate ways to use these wearable works of art. Naturally, their selection of Skull, Zombie, and Gothic cameos made me think of Halloween, and I knew at once that I wanted to showcase all of these spooky specimens for the season.

Using the shape of the cameos as my guide, I settled on a simple black frame with an oval opening encircling a school picture photo mat. Since a standard 40x30mm cameo would have been lost in the large oval, I chose a favorite Killhouette for dead center. It seemed appropriate for all of these disembodied heads to be looking upon Bridezilla, who has just “uncrowned” her Prince Charming. Leave it to cleaver!

As someone who lives in SoCal, I always keep plenty of QuakeHold! on hand, and I used a tiny bit to affix each cameo in its space so that I could mix, match, and remove them easily. Once I embellished Bridezilla with blood to match the red skull and crossbones, my creation was complete.

I also purchased some smaller skeleton and skull cameos, along with supplies to make eerie earrings and hair-raising hair pins for Halloween, but I don’t plan to stop there. With categories ranging from Alphabet to Zodiac, I have a feeling that these petite portraits will be making a cameo appearance in my life throughout the year.

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Cameo Jewelry Supply

 

A wide variety of beautiful cameo settings—often referred to as “blanks”—for pins, pendants, bracelets, rings, and earrings is also available on Etsy.

 

This year, Easter arrives the day before Earth Day, which is a timely reminder to make sustainable choices when celebrating this holiday of rebirth and renewal. Consider one of these green alternatives to plastic Easter grass, then fill your basket with goodies from Natural Candy Store. Along with natural and organic jelly beans, lollipops, foil-wrapped eggs, and chocolate bunnies, this online emporium sells a superb set of Natural Easter Egg Decorating Colors.

These six vegetable powders from TruColor make potent natural dyes that are specially designed to color eggs (or alternatives). Ingredients like red cabbage and purple sweet potato provide a vibrant stain that deepens as it dries. Unlike the traditional method I learned growing up, which involved submerging eggs for five minutes in a mixture of boiling water, vinegar, and synthetic food coloring, dyeing eggs with these natural colors is as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Mix powder with water in a cup.
2. Let sit until completely dissolved.
3. Submerge egg for one minute.

In just 60 seconds, the colors surpassed pastel and grew in hue, so play around with the amount of powder, water, and time for a basketful of options (such as diluting the dye mixture at intervals to create ombré eggs). You can also mix equal parts powder and water for applying color directly to the eggs with a paintbrush. Enter your “eggcellent” creation in the 2019 Easter Egg Natural Decorating Contest by April 21st (instructions and contest rules are included with your natural dye kit) and your artistry may be rewarded with a $100 gift certificate to Natural Candy Store. Sweet!

Once you’ve finished dyeing your eggs, you can use the leftover powder for cake and cookie decorating to make earth-friendly and people-pleasing holiday treats, so show your true colors on Easter while honoring Earth Day as you celebrate this spring awakening the natural way.

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Natural Easter Egg Decorating Colors

 

Natural Candy Store is currently offering 10% off your entire order, including savings of up to 50% on overstock Easter-themed candy, plus a free gift for any $20 minimum purchase. Consult this chart for Easter shipping deadlines and get hopping!

 

I have a large collection of silhouettes hanging on my bedroom wall. Some are hand-cut antiques, others are recent prints, and a few were created by me. Most are classical portraits of 19th-century men and women, but every October I like to switch a few out for something a shade more sinister.

John Fair has given the old-fashioned art of the silhouette a digital upgrade and introduced it to the dark side of the Victorian era with his clever—and cleverly named—Killhouettes. Years ago, knowing of my love for silhouettes and my morbid fascination with Jack the Ripper, my sister gave me “A Rose for Lady Ravencourt” as a birthday gift, because the image reminded her of the infamous serial killer. Instantly smitten, I jumped online and found the full Killhouettes lineup of criminal profiles.

I immediately saw the possibilities for using the pictures as pumpkin-carving patterns. Many of the images can be adapted to smooth over complicated details or account for detached spaces that would be lost in the carving process, but until someone makes even tinier saw blades than Pumpkin Masters, I won’t be attempting the spokes on “Victorian Drive-By” anytime soon. This year, however, I did manage to (somewhat) successfully carve a child-sized weapon from an older design called “No Candy. Your Wallet, Mister!”

In addition to offering 5×7” prints for sale on his website, John Fair is active on the Killhouettes Facebook page, where he regularly posts new designs and special, limited-edition items, such as mini Halloween lanterns, door hangers, postcards, and temporary tattoos.

Halloween is in less than a week, so whether you decide to carve a knife-wielding Isabel into a pumpkin or hang a Jumping Rope with Claudia on your wall, it would be a crime not to get the complete series. At just $6 each, including shipping, these sick silhouettes are a killer deal.

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Killhouettes