Mongolian Death Worm

Here we have Mongolian Death Worms, free range for the witch who likes to know that her worms led happy natural lives before their premature demise.  They are bottle by the Triquerta Corporation. 

The Mongolian Death Worm is a real thing, in the same way that the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot are real things.  They live in the Gobi Desert and squirt acid that will dissolve you in a heartbeat.  They tend to be much larger than the ones I have, maybe mine are some sort of designer miniature hybrid for Hollywood hags.

Triquerta is the name of the symbol that appears on the logo, and has different meanings depending on the cultural context, but here it stands for the Triple Goddess:  maiden, mother and crone. 

This is probably a good time to mention Dead Spider.  When I first started thinking about making my own potion bottles, I looked to see what other people were doing and found her site.  She has a fantastic tutorial, which has had a huge influence on me.  I took to heart her advice for embellishing label descriptions.  That is why I have “Mongolian Death Worms” instead of just plain “Worms”.

The bottle is recycled salad dressing.  The worms were an after Halloween clearance find and I decided to use floral water gel to make them “float”. 

Just like the Dragon Blood, it has to be warmed up in a pan of hot water until it liquefies, and then when it cools it becomes solid again.  If you mess up or change your mind as I’m apt to do, you can just reheat and start over. This is the most expensive component that I use, but that’s where those 40% store coupons come in handy and you don’t have to fill your bottles to the top, I think they have a little more character when they look half used.

 There was an odd effect created by adding the worms to the gel.  I poured it into the bottle and then waited until it had cooled a bit so the worms wouldn’t sink all the way to the bottom.  After a few hours the water had turned a murky brown and the worms were translucent and puffy looking.  I’m not sure if the color just leached out and the worms swelled with the gel or if they also partially dissolved .  Where part of the worms stick up over the water they are coated just enough to give them a wet, slimy look, all the worm ring definition is still visible, and they’ve been suspended like that for a couple of years now.  This is the same reaction I get with any sticky, stretchy rubber items, but I like the way it looks, so I’ll keep doing it.

For the label I just used my standard technique.