Haunting Music

While thrifting recently, I found another copy of the "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" record, which is a collection of spooky sounds that was released by Disneyland Records. The fun thing (for me) is that these albums actually pre-date the Haunted Mansion attraction (that I love so much!). The ride was an idea in progress, and the Sound Effects Department over at Disney had started collecting sounds that could be used in the ride itself.

The first album was released in 1964 (5 years prior to the official opening of the Haunted Mansion attraction). It became so popular that Disney re-released it in 1973 and again in 1976. I don't have a copy of the 1964 version, [It's easy enough to find on eBay, but I try to limit some of my collector's tendencies by allowing things to 'find me' and stumbling across them in thrift stores is a great thrill!] but I do now have copies of the 1973 and 1979 printings!

The 1973 version has an orange cover and my particular version does not have the yellow sunburst on the left corner pointing out the 'spooky party hints'. This was a slight change from the original pressing which has a white cover. The album in it's entirety is posted as a free download here, in MP3 files.



The 1979 cover was entirely new. It features a scene from the graveyard with a skeleton who is working his way out of the coffin and a crow standing sentry from the tree limb. This, of course, is very similar to scenes from the Haunted Mansion attraction. You can download a free MP3 version of this album here, courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan.



For everything you'd ever want to know about the Haunted Mansion, check out Doombuggies.com, where I found their history of these various "Chilling, Thrilling" recordings. *It's worth noting that Doombuggies.com cites the release of the final album as 1979, however wikipedia says it was 1976.

hands of oh mah gah

Seven or eight years ago, I was in Central Coast California visiting family and we went on a thrift store binge. There are some great little shops tucked around the area and my favorite part is that they are true thrift stores, in that you can buy a shirt for 25 cents (not like around here, where it's mostly Salvation Army stores and shirts are $4.99) so I tend to go a little crazy. I think on that trip I bought 4 calf-length jackets that I still have not ever had an occasion to wear.
Also on that trip, I found a giant ceramic hand that had two ceramic children that were kneeling and leaning into the palm, praying. I don't know why it struck me as so funny/silly but I wanted that big hand! The folks at the shop wanted to charge per piece (as opposed to selling the set of children and the hand) and since I didn't have any interest in the ceramic kids, I left them there and took home my big hand! It's been a long-time shelf ornament, serving as a decorative holder for my old Nintendo controllers and even a climbing spot for Pee Wee and Miss Yvonne! It's always a topic of discussion (because my shelves of Weird Stuff attract everyone's attention and when they get to the Big Hand, they say "whaaaaaaat?").

So imagine my surprise (and glee!) when I spied ANOTHER giant hand at a thrift shop this weekend. It came as a complete set, with a little girl laying on the palm (although, she's kind of creepy with giant pupils). I haven't decided where to place it yet, I just stuck it on the dvd player for safe keeping for now.

The thing that tickles me the most about the Second Big Hand is that it appears to be the same mold as the first one, but this one is painted in dark colors. The spot where I found it has a heavy hispanic population, so maybe whoever is selling these is targeting their demographic by skin color? In any case, I love to see the representations of the Hand of Gawd in different colors. I hope to someday find a lady's hand to complete the set!

I stumbled across this leather hand chair/barstool last summer while toodling through vintage shops with Kate and although we both were mentally re-arranging our furniture to find a place for it to live in our houses, we just couldn't justify dropping $600 on it. The ceramic ones are much easier to store and to afford. I believe my total outlay for both of them was under $6, so... much more practical, even if they aren't as much fun as a hand barstool!

Ursula Octopus Costume Tutorial - Part 1

Recently, I blogged about my Halloween costume that I was planning to make, which is Ursula the sea witch from the Little Mermaid movie. I came up with this idea one day and I just sort of made it up as I went along, so it's not exactly perfect, but I think it's a decent design and could be used for just about any tentacled creature you'd ever want to make!

I purchased all of the pieces for this costume at a thrift store (purchased all in a single trip, actually) and spent about $5. This doesn't account for glue or thread or fiber fill, since I had those things already. But if you threw those in the mix, you'd be investing another $5 or so.

The costume is INCOMPLETE as of right now (I'll explain later) but this is what I have so far, which is the majority of it. Also, please note that I am not working toward an exact reproduction of the character. I have taken certain liberties (which I will point out along the way) with the design that I don't think affect the outcome.

Inspiration:

Materials:

* purple shirt with long sleeves (mine is actually 3/4 sleeves, but close enough)

* black velour dress - this is a plus-sized, full length dress

* purple velour dress - this is a child's sized dress

The black dress that I found was stretchy and has a textured pattern to the fabric that I like. It looks more 'aquatic' to me. The neck hole actually fit comfortably around my bust, so I didn't need to do any alterations for the top to fit.

First, I cut the 'tentacles' about halfway up the dress.

I had decided from the start not to replicate the purple undersides of Ursula's tentacles. I decided to simplify (shown below), so the tentacles are just black all the way around.

Then I sewed the tentacles closed (basically like a tube) and when they were all sewn, the material had become tighter at the bottom (shown below) because the dress was, essentially, halved. Since I need to fit my body through here, I made small cuts in the fabric on the 'body' section in between the tentacles. This material is great for that, because it doesn't fray so I didn't need to do any hemming at all, I just cut and tore it until it was an adequate space for me to fit through. I then turned the body inside out and removed the sleeves and sewed up the place where the sleeves once were. This fabric is also great for hiding uneven edges, I've found! And since the sleeve holes would be in my armpits, I didn't do a great job in sewing them, I'll admit.

After the body was sewn, I attached the suckers to the tentacles. I cut circles from the purple velour child's dress and attached them with hot glue.

Before starting, I put a strip of cardboard covered in box tape inside the tentacle fabric, so that the two sides didn't get glued together. The box tape made a slick surface, so that the glue never had a chance to adhere (if I'd used just cardboard, the glue might have stuck a little to it).

I then put down a blob of glue and pressed the circle into it, using my thumb. YES, THIS IS VERY HOT. I would sometimes set it in place with my thumb and then use a marker (I had a Sharpie nearby) to push it down the rest of the way.

When the suckers were attached, I stuffed the tentacles with fiber fill. I then attached the 'body' to the purple shirt, for ease of wear. I also used hot glue for this attachment, instead of taking the time (and energy!) to sew them together.

The final product is being held up by my husband, who is also holding up one of the tentacles so you can see the suckers.

And another shot with the 'body' stretched out, so you can see how the tentacles will hang when worn.

I'm debating whether or not I will fill in the space between the shirt and the 'body' with fiberfill. Ursula is a full-figured octopus, but it may be too hot for wearing all night (the past couple of Halloweens have been scorchers), so I may just let my natural figure fill it up. :)

This is only the top 1/2 of the costume, because I don't want my legs to show at all, plus I want the tentacles to be easily seen, so I am constructing a skirt to go underneath that will represent the water in the ocean and possibly have some fish in it... stay tuned!