A Domesticated Goth

Isn't she beautiful?! Yes, I am talking about our brand new stove. Hahaha! And she has a partner.....

*Cue angels singing* Okay, this may not be that exciting to most, but to Derek and I it is very exciting. When we bought the house, (almost 3 years go) we negotiated to have the appliances as part of the sale. We figured we would use the old appliances until we either remodeled the kitchen or they malfunctioned. Well, flash back to Halloween when I went to use the oven for hot appetizers and the oven stop working. Yeahhhhhhh. Well, the oven came back to life a few times, yet that's what inspired us to shop the holiday deals and Voila! I like to cook (that's how we save boat loads of money....by eating at home), so having this new stove is 'Just Like Heaven'. It doesn't hurt they are both black and for the first time in my life, I got to pick out the features of appliances that suit our needs. All the years of living in apartments and 'making due' with that came with the rental, really makes me appreciate having our own that much more!

I have been concentrating on our bar area inside the house. We do have our amazing 'Hut' aka the garage (blog out our Hut), but in the winter it is very cold out there, even with the pellet stove burning. So, I've been wanting to maximize our little bar area and give it a little makeover, starting with new curtains. There was just a valance on this window, but was inspired by this out-of-print Robert Kaufmann fabric (etsy) to make curtain panels. I wanted to add some pattern and color to the window, but not darken the room. 

I really wish I could find more fabric to make a little cafe curtain for our front door.

The display corner got a make over too. Before...

After! Much needed storage/display and another 'pop' of color to brighten up the corner. We will be adding lighting to the shelves, so we can see our Tiki mugs and other collectibles.

We splurged and got these amazing handmade Tiki shelves from Forward Back Vintage on etsy. They are worth every penny and not only create more display space for our Tiki mug collecting insanity, BUT they look like amazing pieces of art on the wall. Now we can sit on our couch and really enjoy the view into the bar area.

Here's my typical view. Feet up on the coffee table, wrapped in my electric blanket. Hehe!

Another latest addition to our home is this amazing display case that is now in our dining room. I had been actively looking for gold display case for about a year now (finally gave up) and found one at an estate sale for a great price. It's a little smaller than I had hoped, but there is enough room for some of our bone collection and other fun tidbits. 

And just some moody shots of the living room. I was enjoying the view and snapped these.

Mortimer (our skeleton) is festive in a black pentagram Santa hat.

And the weirdo's who live here.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Buffalo Ink, Inc. 4 Year Anniversary Party

So very proud of Derek and his crew of amazing artists at Buffalo Ink, Inc. Tattoo Parlor. (left to right) Bryan Gunsell, Casey Armstrong, Jason Masarik and 'Dr. D' aka Derek Hendrickson.

An art show is a good excuse to put some fancy clothes (and hats!), have a few drinks and look at some fantastic art.

Oh yes, my hat! I took a vintage hat and added some embellishments. Bows, ornaments and yes, I 'put a bird on it'. Hahahaa!!!!

I've been inspired by hats again and already have inspiration for another holiday creation. I like taking vintage pieces and giving them a new (and kitschy) life! Keeps me outta trouble ;)

Wearing; dress (Lucky 13 via Cats Like Us), crinoline (gifted, but can be purchases at Cats Like Us), rhinestone choker (vintage) earrings, (Target?) 

Thank you for reading, until next time!

The 90s Are Alive in Buffalo

Day look: chunky sweater paired with velvet pants and red creepers

Everyone at the shop got little Halloween tattoo's after Halloween and I choose to get a little devil on my right leg. The only issue with getting my legs tattooed in colder months is what am I going to wear while it is healing? I have a few looser fitting bottoms, but they aren't anything that look nice  outside the house. Thus, I turned to Target to see if I could find anything that I liked on their website. I found these velvet wide leg pants and once I put them on, I was transported back to the 90s. I used to always wear wide leg pants and I have always loved velvety pants, as they are so comfy and cozy! 

Tattoo by @vomicidal Buffalo Ink Inc. Tattoo Parlor

Night look for date night: black ponte knit blazer paired with velvet pants and chunky heel boots.

I have to do some hemming to the pants are they are a bit too long for the types of shoes that I normally wear. Even with a 2 inch creepers I'm still stepping on the bottoms of the pants....flash back to memories of tattered bottoms. Hahahaa! But, regardless of the length, I'm loving wearing wide leg pants again and styling them into my wardrobe.

Do you wear wide leg pants? If so, how do you like to style them?

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Dramatic Sleeves and Dramatic Poses

I shop at Target a lot, but I don't venture into the clothing section too often as I don't like to add to my bill (hello, self control?). When I do check from time to time, I fell in love with a piece. This black knit dress from the Who What Wear collection really caught my attention (plus size available too!) and I'm so glad I made the purchase.

Besides the fun, dramatic bell flared sleeves, the stretch knit is so comfortable and keeps a nice shape while it's on. I've already worn and washed the dress twice and it is still perfect! It's a great travel knit too, just fold and roll. Easy dress to style a variety of ways, I just have to figure out some ways to layer so I'm not covering up the sleeves, but the dress also looks amazing with my velvet coat.......

Wearing: black velvet beret (vintage, via estate sale), velvet coat (vintage, via eBay), dress (Target), cross scarf (gift), winklepickers (thrifted, from Julie Ann)

Do you find pieces from Target (or other department stores) that you love?

Thank you for reading, until next time!

My Halloween Costumes 2017

First "costume" was for a surprise Halloween birthday party for our dear friend Casey. It was the first weekend of October and I didn't have any costumes in mind, but Bryan (Casey's boyfriend) mentioned either a costume for capes/cloaks for the party, so it gave me a chance to wear this tulle cape I got on Halloween clearance last year. I also wanted a new wig and I asked my friend Jodee to go wig shopping with me (which inspired our 'wig of the month' club idea) and I came home with this gorgeous red wig.

I've been missing my fiery red hair, so this wig is appeasing my appetite for hair change....which no change is going to happen. Hahaha!

A nun has been a default costume for me over the past few years, but it evolves and changes. I received this dress along with a vast collection of vintage goth clothing from a lovely reader. Mary has been so incredibly generous and with each box she's sends me, it brings back many memories of clothing brands that I would lust over as a teen into a young 20 something year old. I squealed out loud when I took out this Omen brand dress. If I remember correctly, Omen was a German clothing brand and they made a lot of screen printed cotton bondage dresses and tops. Nowadays you see edgy screen printed garments everywhere you turn, but Omen was unique at the time and having a anti-religious/satanic theme to the clothing was really quite shocking.

Nun habit was $5.99 ebay find, collar and boots from my own closet. Side note about the collar: Several years ago my Mother gave me some money for my birthday and told me to pick something out. Like she always does, my Mother asked me what I bought myself with the birthday money. I told her I bought a chain collar and I laughed when she was not surprised at all. Hahaha!!!

The nun costume was for Bryan's goth dance night (Friday) and I thought it was also the same night as another Halloween event, but I got the dates mixed up. Turns out the other Halloween event was the next day, so I needed another costume! I dug around in the costume boxes and got Derek's Adam Ant Highway Dandy Man costume parts together and came up with the idea of dressing like 80s Boy George. Two 80s music icons? Together? HELL YES!!!! I ran out and grabbed some white pants from the thrift store, gave them a quick wash and put together the remaining costume parts from my closet. I guess it's a good thing I love large pattern oversize shirts and oversize sweaters. Hahahaa!!! I didn't get great photos, but I did have fun making this little video. 

The event was a blast, it was a bunch of local bands/musicians covering bands like; The Cure, Motorhead, etc. I was a little overwhelmed as to how many people LOVED my costume and gave me hugs, high fives, shook my hand and took photos. Apparently Boy George makes a lot of people happy and I got a kick out of knowing how many people love the 80s!

Do you use items from your own closet to create costumes?

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Misc. October Outfits

Derek likes to call the month of November, "Novemberween", so with that in mind I'm still catching up with things that happened in October including some outfits. October was a weird weather month, it was unseasonably warm and then got cooler and than warm again. I'm happy to report that the weather is currently 39 degrees as I type this post and I'm happy that it is sweater weather!

Outfit one was on a day that I over dressed slightly and was warm in a little black dress (thrift find) and leggings (Skinny Puppy website) and black flats. I was sick of wearing my summer dresses and just suffered. Hahahaha!

Outfit two was another 'I'm sweating, but dealing with it', outfit that I threw together and was quite pleased when I looked in the mirror. I'm wearing a tank dress (H&M), lightweight knit sweater (thrift find), Western belt, slouch socks with my cowbot boots. Once again I'm sooooo happy I bought this tank dress as it's a wonderful layering piece.

Outfit three was worn on a cooler day in October. I went to a local supermarket and was told, "I like your Halloween costume", and to which I replied, "This is my normal clothing". The look on the women's face was priceless. Any who, I'm wearing a t-shirt my friend James made, paired with stretch skirt/leggings combo and a fuzzy cardigan sweater (thrift find). The socks are a Halloween buy from this year (Target) and the scarf was a gift from a friend. 

Did anyone think your normal clothing was a Halloween costume? Hahaha!

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Aloha From Hell-waii

Hello friends! Once again I'm sorry about the confusion with my blog post about a new blog, the Kitschy Coffin has been deleted and I'm now coffinkitsch.blogspot.com. Going to a blogspot will completely fuck all my links up on my Google images as well as other links on other sites, but oh well. I'm still at Coffin Kitsch!!! Any who, onto playing Halloween catch up!

Derek and I decided on a hellish theme Halloween with our costumes as well as some of our decorations for the bar area of our home. I am on a personal mission to bring back the devil as I believe there are not enough devil's in modern Halloween decor! What's up with that?! Devils are so cute! Hehehe!

So, we came up with an 'Aloha from Hell-waii' theme. Just fun and punny and I got to order myself a wonderful black beehive wig (of my dreams) from Paramount Wigs on etsy and added some red horn hair clips (via ebay) and red hibiscus flowers that I already owned. The dress is from my own closet and Derek painted the red flames with acrylic paint. I added some red satin gloves, red flower lei and some bamboo hoop earrings and Voila! a 60s devil gal! 

I love this wig sooo much!

Derek reused an Elvis costume he bought years ago, painted his face red, added some horns and I sculpted his long hair into a pompadour. Add some plastic floral lei's and white creeper shoes and you've got Hellvis! If you look at the first picture I posted, next to the sign is a Hellvis statue that is one of Derek's creations. He used to make his living sculpting and producing satirical Elvis busts under the name, Suffering from Elvis Disease. He still makes the busts from time to time, yet the one that started it all was the original Hellvis.

And I just can't forget to include a photo of Jodee in her deviled egg costume holding the deviled eggs she brought to the party. She looks so darn cute and I love that she drew on a little mustache! 

PS-Sorry the photos are dark and red, we had a lot of red lights on, because...well, it's Hell. Hahaha!

How was your Halloween? Did you dress up?

Thank you for reading, until next time!!!

False Alarm, I'm NOT Moving!

Hey readers, disregard my previous (now deleted) post about the new blog. I figured out that I can turn my blog back into a blogpost, so I'm not www.coffinkitsch.blogspot.com. The only bummer is that all my google searching and images will come up with a 404 error and not redirect my posts to the new web address. Oh well, but I figured out I can stay here at Coffin Kitsch! Sorry about the confusion, I'm not good at interneting sometimes. LOL!!!!

Happy Octoberween: Vintage Halloween Collectibles

Happy October 3rd dear friends! Okay, I know it's weird to be wishing you a happy October 3rd, but Derek have been busy with Halloween decorating insanity. I started on the evening of September 30th, as I packed away our "creepy" everyday decor to make way for all the pumpkins, banners, decorative figures, garland and other pieces that we deemed Halloween decor. 

Halloween Kitsch-en collectibles

October is the perfect time to talk about Halloween collectibles, especially my favorite type; vintage. I am not dismissing modern Halloween, I love it all, but I have a special place in my heart for blow molds, ceramic planters, chalkware, etc. So, come along with me and let's explore and maybe this may  help you spot some vintage treasures along your way!

Blow Molds

The cat with the pumpkin is probably one of the more common vintage Halloween blow molds that you will find floating around (you can see ours on one of our Kitsch-en shelves) at antique shops, garage sales, estate sales, etc. Mine isn't marked, but the companies that made the many sought after designs are; Union Products, Empire and General Foam Plastic Corp, etc. Don't be fooled by sellers who want crazy prices for this particular mold (that I have pictured up above), I wouldn't pay any more than $15 unless the little light and cord is included and the piece is in like-new condition. A lot of times the molds are faded or cracked, but still would make a nice display piece without lighting them up. 

Part of this year's decor, there is a mix of vintage and modern molds.

Vintage Planters

I would LOVE to own this Relpo planter. Too cute!

Planters were really popular home decor items in the 1950s & 1960s and were made for every holiday under the sun, but (in my opinion) the Halloween ones are the best! I have a few displayed on a high shelf above our windows and cherish their rarity and their whimsical designs. The most collectible and sought after pieces are made by Relpo and Lefton, yet if you see one that you love, just nab it! The only reason why I know about all this stuff is by turning over the pieces and looking at the markings and then researching the companies. I'm sorta a dork like that. Hehehe!!!!

Our planters were found at flea markets and thrift stores. You never know where you may find them!

Gurley Candles

Our witch has the original label on the bottom with a .59 cent price. Crazy!

This one mildly cracks me up because the Gurley Candle Company is based in my town of Buffalo, NY and I grew up with my Mother owning a bunch of their candles. If I would have known that I would be collecting all this Halloween shenannigans, I would have not let me Mother sell all the candles at a garage sale. Ha! I love all these candles, but refuse to pay the high prices that some sellers want, I just wait until I come across them organically. While writing this and doing a little research about Gurley candle's, it turns out the Vermont Country Store bought the molds and does some reproductions!

Noise Makers, Paper Decorations & Other Party Supplies

Photo from Pinterest. Look at their majesty!

In my mind, the party supplies are what hardcore crazy vintage Halloween people collect. You have to be a little bit nuts to spent time and money looking for relics such as; noise makers, paper decorations, cake toppers, candy containers, etc. These items were used for parties and often were discarded as one time use party items or were stored in a basement or attic to rot. I want it all, but I don't kid myself as the prices for of these items are high and it's due to their rarity. Sigh...... BUT, have no fear as the Beistle Company is reproducing their vintage designs (they have been around since 1900) and you and I can own some of these beautiful pieces! Yippppie!!!!!!

Our noise makers and a one of the candy containers we own 

I'm not an expert by any means, yet it's fun to get excited and share knowledge. I'm always learning and will always enjoy seeing other people's collections, decor items and decorating ideas. Happy Spook-tober everyone!!!!!

Thank you for reading, until next time!