Craft Along with GIY: Black & White (Black Lace Skull shirt)

I love Bane's Craft Alongs!  It's even more fun to participate. :)  This month, her theme was Black & White so I took the opportunity to do an easy refashion.

I did not take a before picture but I had this black and white striped tee with a black lace collar that I got during the "Before Time" when I was trying to go unnoticed.  I rarely wore it, though, because it was too flashy for me back then.  LOL

Shirt: Woman Within many years ago
Black lace skull: Etsy

Even after I started to dress more like me, it rarely got worn because I'm not a fan of boxy t-shirts in general.  I bought some lace skull appliques off Etsy a while back and decided that the black one would work well on this shirt since it had the crocheted lace collar on it already.

It was a super simple but time intensive process to hand sew it on so I just parked myself in front of some scary movies for a Sunday and was able to get it done.  Now it's a shirt that I will at least wear more often.  :)

This wasn't part of the Craft Along but it's something else that I made:

I ordered the pendant from Firemountain Gems and used a couple of broken necklaces to get the parts to string it.

Craft Along with GIY: Things with Wings (Wing Bats)

Every month, Bane at Goth It Yourself hosts a fun craft-along. This month, the theme is Things with Wings. The very night before, I got to watch a handful of bats playing at dusk which is a rare treat where I live so I knew right away that I wanted to draw a bat picture with my own silly twist. :)

I made the wings on the bucket purple in honor of Bane.

I actually drew this the weekend before last and decided that I needed to use it to send Halloween cards to family this year with the words "This Halloween, Eat, Drink, and Be a little batty!"

Also, in honor of the fact that I have 10 followers now - yayayayay! - I also had some 5x7s printed.  So if you'd like a print, just let me know and I'll send you one! I'll even mail it internationally.  Just send me an email at happyartistgirl @ gmail.com with your address. I promise to not send spam or share your info. :)

7 of 10 prints left

Craft Along with GIY: Food and Beverage (Meat Head)

Yay!  My first Craft Along with Goth It Yourself!  And this one is right my alley. :)  Since my favorite time of year is right around the corner, I wanted to share with you my recipe for making your own dinner guest!  This is something I have made for numerous parties, including my sister's engagement party!

My sister's horror movie themed engagement party buffet

The head is pretty massive so it's best for parties or large family gatherings.  But you could also make everyone their own individual shrunken heads!

From my old cooking blog, Get Off The Couch And Cook

My full recipe is below but you can also use your favorite meatloaf recipe as well.

Start by sculpting 3-5 lbs of ground beef mixed with the seasonings, etc.  Be sure to embed large pieces of onion for the eyeballs and little pieces for the teeth.  It doesn't need to be perfect but should at least resemble a face.

Place it in a roasting pan on top of some rolled up foil to help get it out of the pan when it is done cooking.  I'd also recommend using a baking rack underneath it.  Then cover the face with tomato sauce, avoiding the eyes and teeth.

Cover the tomato sauce with broken up slices of mozzarella or provolone cheese (I like how provolone chars up better.).

Bake, bake, bake until the meat is cooked through and the skin is charred. :D

Hack and enjoy!

To make the shrunken heads, the process is the same except in smaller scale and the cooking time is a lot shorter.

Meat Head Recipe

For the head
3-5 lb ground beef
1/2 c thick and chunky tomato sauce
1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp jarred minced garlic
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg

For the face
1/2 large sweet onion, peeled, ends cut off and layers separated
1 – 1 1/2 c thick and chunky tomato sauce
8 thin slices Provolone or mozzarella cheese


Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the meatloaves.
Shrunken head: Divide into 4 parts if making shrunken heads.  

3. Pinch off a small piece of the meat and set aside. Form the larger piece into an oval head shape.
Shrunken head: do this for all 4 parts

3. Cut 2 pieces of the onion to look like teeth and press into the meat where the mouth will be. Press 2 more pieces of onion where the eyes will be.

4. Divide the reserved meat into 8-9 parts.  Roll 6 little pieces into tubes and place where the onion and meat meet on the head.

5. Smooth the tubes to cover the onion partially.

6. Form the last 2-3 pieces of meat roughly into a nose shape and place on the head. Smooth the edges.
Shrunken head: Repeat the head making process for the other 3 portions of meat mixture. 

7. Place the head(s) on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.  For the large head, I recommend putting it on a baking rack inside the pan and using rolled up foil like in the pictures above to help lift it.

8. Spoon tomato sauce over the meat, being careful to avoid the onion pieces.

9. Break up the provolone slices and cover the tomato sauce, again avoiding the onion pieces.

10. Bake at 350°F for 90-120 minutes, until the “skin” is dark brown and the meat is done in the center.  The cooking time seems to be the same for 3-5 lbs of ground beef.
Shrunken heads: 45-50 minutes