Movie prop: The cryptex from The Da Vinci Code

I am an avid collector of movie memorabilia.  The strangest the gadget, the more I covet it, and if the movie happens to be one of my favorites, it is even better.  

I have talked here of Beetlejuice's Handbook for the Recently Deceased, the Jurassic Park cryocan, Lucian's necklace from the Underworld movies, the H2O Just add water locket, The Illusionist locket, Lana Lang's kryptonite necklace... Most of the time there is no official product, and I have to find an artist to make it, or buy it knowing it is a knock-off made by someone else.  I really don't care, as long as I have it in my hands.

This time the coveting came after we came back from Paris.  After visiting the Louvre, the church of the Saint-Sulpice and seeing the Arago medallion markers, I rewatched The Da Vinci Code.  And I found myself wanting to own my own cryptex.

Naturally, I knew the official replica made by the Noble Collection was out of question.  I cannot justify spending that much in a movie prop. It is true that it is absolutely gorgeous.  But no.  There is a smaller version that is more affordable, and may be something you may like to consider.  I myself was interested in this one, until I saw some reviews that said it was not very sturdy, and the rings and the opening mechanism did not work very well.

Instead, I went looking for a non-official version.  And I found it!  And for the price that I paid, I think it is a very worthy investment.  I chose the white ring version, as it is the one most similar to the movie prop.

 

This is a knock-off, but it is very well made, EXCEPT for the fact that it has 6 rings of letters, instead of 5 like the original cryptex.  Can you believe I had not realized this until I tried to change the password combination?  But, you can bypass this problem if you use A-P-P-L-E-S, with an extra S that the movie riddle does not have.  

My cryptex is absolutely made of metal except for the letter rings, that are some kind of plastic, although you would not guess it by looking at them.  It is heavy, and big!  It measures about 14 cm long, and it opens!

It comes in a gift box, with a card (in case it is for a gift), with a screwdriver, 2 screws, 2 black cord necklaces and a pair of The One ring from The Lord of the Rings, one smaller in silver and one larger in yellow gold.  Naturally, they are not real pieces of jewelry.  And instructions for how to change the opening combination.

 

See how bit it is!

You can open it, of course

 

 

I will not use the rings (neither will my husband).  The important thing was that I wanted to have inside the cryptex the final clue, but obviously it did not come with it.  A pity, truly, that even the official one lacks that detail. But!  I can make my own.

 

I searched the web for pictures of the clue prop, and I found several that were good.  Here is a still of the movie in which you can see it:

 

I took the biggest one, cleaned it and enhanced the lettering in Photoshop.  Then I removed the background color and printed it on parchment paper.   Then I added a red edge made with printable cotton paper, and glued it with double-sided tape to the clue.  Here is the result:

 

LOL, you can see my mermaid leggings!

I curved it with the help of a brush

I love how well it looks!  I am so happy with my cryptex, it will go to the shelf with the rest of the movie props I have.

 

 

If you would like to have your own cryptex clue, HERE is a free printable for you to make it.  As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥  

Memories from the past

Today I went to visit my tenant to tell her that hopefully very soon I will be able to bring more plants for her, and found her very excited, having just received a big box that she obviously had been expecting.

She asked me to help her open it, since the contents were delicate.  I did, and this is what surfaced once it was open:

She was very happy when she saw them, and she told me they were very special plates.  I asked if they were replicas of the famous Titanic china, but she smiled and said they were actually the real thing.  My face must have shown my surprise,  and she explained the husband of her daughter had been so generous as to let her keep them in her home, as he knew they would be safe with her.  I asked if he was a collector of Titanic memorabilia himself, and she smiled coyly and said "not exactly".

As I was wondering what kind of contacts she may had that they let her have very valuable historic pieces, she said she herself was a survivor of the Titanic - she had said that before, but I really did not paid any mind to it.  She also let me know that she had a box with mementos of the time, and said if I was interested in seeing it, she would look for it and show me tomorrow.

I was very excited for the offer, and I accepted.  I cannot wait to see what she has kept all these years from the so famous steamer.

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Fantasy apart, the plates come from Twelve Times More Teeny.  Sofía has a wonderful collection of dollhouse plates with dozens of designs.  She even has replicas of my real life plates.  I am sure you will find something there that you just need to have! 

I made the shipping box and labels with these templates that you are welcome to download.

New prop replica necklace

My husband and I watched on All Hallows Eve the movie "The hunger", which none of us had heard about until I saw a mention of it on Jillian Venters' tumblr.  It is a movie about vampires, but it certainly is different than anything I have seen before...

Well, anyway, this post is not about that.  During the movie, Miriam and John wear some necklaces with an ankh, which they use to attack their victims:

Shot from the movie showing the necklaces

I fell in love with them the moment I saw them.  I have been using ankhs since I was 16 (that's more than 20 years, folks!), and have never seen a so clever contraption as these.  

Right after finishing the movie I ran to the Internetz to search for a replica.  I did not find one just like those in the movie, unfortunately.  But I found a very similar one from Alchemy Gothic:

Picture from the Sun Spot Designs website

I ordered it and it arrived today!  I love it!  I have changed the chain, since it was only 20 inches and it was way too short for a pendant of this size (the ankh measures 3 inches).  Now it hangs just between my breasts.  The fact that I ordered it on October 31 makes it even more special.

There are plenty of places where you can buy your own ankh.  It is officially called Ankh of the Dead; I got mine from Dreams of Caedryn on Etsy.

And if you still have not watched the movie, go and watch it!  Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie are both gorgeous on it!