Skele-Gro

Whether you are a Harry potter fan or just think this bottle would make a good Halloween prop mixed in with lab equipment, test tubes and potions, there are a few hours left to obtain a Skele-Gro bottle just like mine.

back view

side view

A magnet helps secure the bottle top in place

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry breaks his arm while playing quidditch. One of his professors, an incompetent named Gilderoy Lockhart, tries to help Harry but ends up removing half of Harry's arm. Harry spends the night in the hospital and is given a dose of Skele-Gro potion from a bottle shaped like this one. Skele-Gro is a medicinal potion that can regrow missing/removed bones, though it tastes terrible and the process is very slow and extremely painful.


 This Skele-Gro bottle replica is available from Hotshot, a member of the Replica Prop Forum. He has hand-made a limited number of about 60 of these bottles from foam and clay, and is selling them for $80 each including shipping. This item is for display only; it is solid- not a real bottle- and therefore unable to hold liquids, but it does look great, from all sides! A separate base shaped like skeleton legs (not shown) keeps the top-heavy piece stable and the clay skull bottle-stopper attaches to the bottle magnetically.

A life-size Skele-Gro bottle is not available anywhere else that I have found, so this is indeed a rare opportunity to own one!

The bottle stands about 12.5" tall and is 4" wide.

You must be a member of Replica Prop Forum to purchase one, but registering for the forum is free. The link for this Skele-Gro bottle is here.

Roger's Gardens Halloween

These pictures of a mad scientist's laboratory were taken at a plant nursery. That's right: a plant nursery that does a haunt! Couldn't you just swoon with happiness?! The beautiful Roger's Gardens, located at 2301 San Joaquin Hills Rd, Corona del Mar, California, completely decorates one of their buildings, which then is open to the public during regular business hours in September and October. They create a different haunt theme each year, publishing the full backstory on their website and on mail-outs when the building is ready. Note that it is not a traditional haunt, but rather a store with many large, extremely detailed "haunt displays" (with sound effects!) that are right in the center of things, allowing you to touch the objects and become fully immersed in the backstory. That is, if you can ignore the nearby shelves, urns and baskets spilling with Halloween goodies that are actually for sale! They even sell Bucky skeleton parts at very reasonable prices. It's my heaven, and I sooo look forward to going each year. Here's some more pics from 2009's depraved-magician's-basement theme:

The Bell Jar

No, this has nothing to do with Sylvia Plath's novel. It has everything to do with glass bell jars, also known as belljars, also known as cloches, and the way they can make anything inside them look like a curious laboratory specimen.

Designed to protect tender young plants outside during cold weather, bell jars provide a warm, humid environment which can speed a plant to maturation. But because they act as miniature greenhouses, they also can cause a plant to overheat in a deadly way during the summer, so be sure to raise the bottom for ventilation. If you can't find anything prettier, you can use a pair of bricks to do this.

And do you know what bell jars are great for? Holding your precious little carnivorous plants captive in their perfectly humid environment. See how happy this pitcher plant (sarracenia purpurea) is in this bell jar from English Creek Gardens? If an insect-eating plant like this can thrive under the glass dome, just imagine your man-eating Audrey plant inside one of these puppies!

If your laboratory happens to be more anatomical than botanical, bell jars are also extremely effective with a skull underneath. Check out the one above from Dapper Cadaver. Other creepy display alternatives include a hand, a heart, -or heck, a whole baby doll! Naked, like this one.

For year round usage, a faux bird's nest with some blue robin's eggs (also faux) looks nice. These are available from floral suppliers or from craft stores like Michael's. Never use a real nest. You want to imitate nature, not disturb it.

I love versatile items like this, that work so well for gardening and Halloween. You just can't go wrong.