Review: Jokers’ Masquerade

I walked into the living room dressed in a very fetching witch’s costume the other day. Let me be clear that this isn’t something I usually do, in fact I’ve never really gone in for fancy dress at all, but I was asked to review a women’s Halloween costume so I was keen to give it a whirl. Anyway, as I was saying, I stood in the living room doorway wearing a long black dress and pointy hat. I gave a little cough to alert my daughters to my presence. M barely looked up from the computer, but eventually mumbled something about me looking ‘weird’. K turned around, laughed and then asked if she could get her own fancy dress things out.

I chose this particular witchy get up as I couldn’t envisage myself sporting one of the more sexy looks. Nothing wrong with them, they’re just not me. They have an amazing range over at Jokers’ Masquerade, there really is something for everyone, including dogs apparently. My outfit is a long stretchy black dress with a big stand up collar and long drapey sleeves. The contrasting purple and black and the silver belt buckle create a nice effect. It’s good quality fabric and well made too. I picked size small which is a 6-8 (even though I’m more of a 10-12 in dresses) but in my limited experience with fancy dress costumes I knew that they tend to be on the big side. This one fits well although I’m sure the next size up would have been fine too. The matching hat really finishes the look off.

Now, I know you’re probably thinking that it’s AGES til Halloween, but in fact it’s only about three month’s away and it’s getting bigger each year in the UK, so it’s definitely a good idea not to leave your costume search til the last minute. Whether you’re after a Halloween witch costume or something a little more alternative, Jokers Masquerade is a great place to start. Mwah ha ha ha ha haaaaaa.

Review: Lush Caca Marron Henna

I have dark brown hair. The trouble with having dark brown hair is that it really shows any, ahem, silver strands. Now, I’m not particularly vain and have no problem with grey hair per se, but I don’t like it when there’s just a smattering in an otherwise relatively youthful head of hair (I’m 37 in case you’re wondering). It makes me look a bit uncared for.

My usual strategy is to zap it with a chemical-based semi-permanent hair dye in a dark brown colour – quick, easy-ish and does the job of covering those pesky greys, but this time, I fancied a change. I’ve been having a bit of a flirtation with Lush products recently. I got a copy of the ‘Lush Times’ on a recent visit and it was there that I came across their range of hennas. To be honest, I wouldn’t normally have contemplated henna-ing my hair. I did it once when I was younger and I remember it being messy and smelly, but something about the Caca range really appealed to me. I liked the fact that there are different shades and that it contains cocoa butter and something to help with the, er, aroma.

There are four different shades: Brun, Noir, Marron and Rouge. I chose Marron as it claimed to be great for giving brown hair a chestnut tinge whilst covering grey nicely too. It comes in a kind of bar of six blocks and basically, you break off as much as you think you’ll need. (I started off using two thirds of the bar and this was enough for my very thick, shoulder length hair). You can then either grate it or bash it up a bit before placing in a heat proof bowl and covering in boiling water. Next step is to mix to a runny paste (I was told to make it the texture of double cream). If you can keep it warm whilst applying it, so much the better. As with any hair dye, you need to wear old clothes, gloves and use old towels. You should rub some vaseline around your hairline and over your ears too! Dollop the henna paste onto your hair then wrap in cling film and leave for upto four hours. The guy in the shop said that you can leave it for longer but it won’t make any difference to the colour after that amount of time.

I only left mine for two and a half hours as we were going out. Washing it out is a bit of a challenge as it’s VERY thick and grainy. I started with my head over the bath using the shower attachment to get rid of the worst, and then got into the shower and shampooed it three times. I conditioned it too. It probably took half an hour of rinsing, so be warned! Also, be aware that your bath and surrounding area will get incredibly messy, so have something to hand to clean as you go.

So, to the results. Well, I’m impressed. It does what it says on the tin. My previously dull locks now have a lovely, warm reddy-orange tone and the grey bits are a vivid chestnut colour in the light. The condition has improved too, thanks to the cocoa butter. The only downside to Caca is the smell. Even though Lush have added essential oils, there’s still a pretty strong earthy pong, which isn’t unpleasant as such, just a bit overpowering. G and I were going out for the evening and I was a tad conscious of the whiff coming from my head. It was gone by the next day though.

If you’re looking for a natural alternative to your usual hair colour then I can definitely recommend Lush Caca – after all, it’s not every day you dye your hair with poo.

My Farm Part II: Putting in the Spadework

I joined the My Farm project a month ago and told you a bit about it back then so I thought you might like to hear a little more about how I’ve been finding my virtual agricultural life.

As I mentioned before, the website has lots to offer and I was feeling slightly daunted by how much I had to learn so I decided it was best to get stuck and pick it up as I went along. One of the first things I did was to cast my vote in last month’s, er, vote. In order to do this I kind of had to read up a bit about the subject of Entry Level Stewardship and having done that, I voted to for the farm to keep their current level of participation. The next vote asks members to decide which herd of cows should get a new bull! I think the votes are a clever thing as they make you focus on a particular issue and then force you to research it so you can have your say. As well as voting, I’ve also posted a couple of times on the online discussions, although I did feel woefully out of my depth on some of the more complex issues.

M has sat with with me a few times whilst I’ve been ‘farming’. She’s enjoyed watching the videos and loved hearing about the arrival of the first lambs of the year. The Shaun the Sheep section kept her busy for a while too. Oh, and we received our car sticker and free pass to the actual farm, so they’ve been filed away for the warmer weather and we may well make a trip at some point.

I really like the whole concept of the virtual farm. It’s certainly given me an insight into rural life and it feels good to be part of something progressive. I’d say that membership would make a great, quirky gift too!

My Farm

I bet you didn’t know I’m a farmer, did you? Well, I am. Sort of.

I was lucky enough to be picked by the Mumsnet Bloggers Review team to trial and blog about a very interesting website called My Farm. It’s run in conjunction with the National Trust (who we’ve been members of for years) and is a unique and novel way for people to get involved in the running and management of a real, working farm.

The farm in question is on the National Trust’s Wimpole Estate near Royston in Cambridgeshire and the project is described as “a big online experiment in farming and food production”.  To take part, you need to sign up and become a farmer. This costs £30 and includes a voucher for a ‘real life’ visit to the farm. Once you’re signed up you are then given access to all areas of the website including discussions and votes. This is the stage I’m at right now, just finding my way around and picking up bits and bobs of information about the various issues at hand.

My first impressions of the website are very good. It is visually engaging and easy to navigate. There are plenty of photos and videos so you can really see what’s going on and the staff at the farm regularly post on the blog or the discussion area. I was keen to review My Farm as I wanted to help my children (especially M who’s six) to understand more about where food comes from and how complex the process can be. One of the main features of the website is the monthly vote whereby members get to have their say about how the farm is or should be run. The next vote takes place soon and asks us to make a decision about something called ELS which I now know means Entry Level Stewardship. If you’re wondering what that’s all about then let me tell you. As far as I understand, it’s a scheme which ‘encourages farmers in the UK to incorporate environmentally friendly measures into their farm — and pays them for doing so’. Of course that’s a very simplistic overview of the issue, but as a My Farmer  it’s up to me to find out more about it via information on the website and getting involved in their discussion forums. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

My initial experience of My Farm is a positive one even if it does make me realise how little I know about farming. There’s lots of scope for developing my (and my daughter’s) knowledge and feels like we’re doing something different.

Review: fancydressoutfitters.co.uk

Christmas came a bit early in our house last week when we took delivery of some new fancy dress costumes. The nice people at Fancy Dress Outfitters contacted me recently to ask if my girls would like to review some of their outfits. Hell, yeah. How did they know that I happen to have two daughters who love prancing about in disguise? When I told M about this coup, she demanded that we go straight to their website to choose something.  K’s still a bit too young to get what all the fuss was about, so big sis was entrusted with picking an outfit for her too.

Anyway, freebies aside, a review’s a review so what can I tell you about Fancy Dress Outfitters? Well, when I’ve bought fancy dress, er, dresses in the past, it’s tended to be from the limited ranges in the supermarkets or from Argos or wherever. As a result, M has a lot of fairy/princess type outfits which she’s kind of outgrown both physically and developmentally. What I loved about FDO’s website was the brilliant range for both kids and adults and the fact that it was all nicely organised into themes and categories. If you’re looking for something in particular you can focus your search according to price, gender, size, theme or character. When we were choosing something for M, we narrowed it down to the 6-7 and 7-8 age ranges (she’s a tall, but skinny six year old and I never know what size to go for) and were given over a hundred costumes to choose from. In addition to the usual frilly fairies and Disney princesses, there are some great ones such as World War II Evacuee, Victorian Maid, Vintage Nurse and Fifties Kitty. M plumped for the Tudor Girl’s dress (there’s a boy version too) as she’d tried a similar one on in a museum and liked the look!

It was slightly harder to find something for K as she’s a chunky 20 month old and there was less choice in the smaller sizes. In the end we opted for a cute lamb ‘get up’ in size 1-2 years which fits fine and looks, well, adorable actually (obviously I’m biased though).

The items arrived swiftly and well packaged. (We also received a Scary Clown outfit suitable for an older toddler which has found a good home with my friend’s little girl). The costumes are all made by Smiffy and nicely presented. Price wise, there seems to be something for most budgets from the value Santa outfit at £4.99 right up to products around the £20 mark such as the Mermaid Princess.

Both girls were thrilled when they opened their packages. M popped hers on immediately and started getting into character (not sure how historically accurate her references were, but hey) and K absolutely LOVED being a little sheep. Hilarious. Suffice it to say that the outfits were a hit from their point of view and as a parent it was great to find interesting alternatives to the usual tat. If you have a child who likes dressing up, get thee over to Fancy Dress Outfitters and see for yourself. They make great Christmas or birthday presents too.

The Tuesday Review: Sew! by Cath Kidston

I got some Cath K gift vouchers recently. A nice amount, but not enough for any of the more substantial items. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I have vouchers, I’ve  just GOT to spend them. I kept popping in to my local CK and toyed with a few options before plumping for Sew! The pocket version.

Basically, it’s the A5 or mini version of the full size book of the same name. The mini one costs £9 (as opposed to £16 for the larger size). It’s published by Quadrille who I like as they do these kind of books well.

So, what do you get for your nine quid? Well, in case you’re wondering, this smaller book contains exactly the same projects as the larger size. The only difference (as far as I can tell) is that you get the materials to make one of the bags with the full size one. You don’t get that with Mini Sew!. What you do get, however, is a pretty needlecase and set of needles along with paper patterns and templates for the projects.

The book itself is paperback and 160 pages long. It contains, and I quote, “over 40 simple sewing projects”. It also features a useful introduction section which outlines some of the various tools and techniques needed for the projects. At the back it has an Addresses page to help you track down your materials.

Moving on to the projects, they really are lovely. Some are more tricky than others of course, but there are real basics such as lavender bags (below) which I’m planning to make and feature on here next week. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to things crafty, but the projects in Sew! are so pretty and inspiring that I’m determined to get on with some of them. I reckon you could make a fair few Christmas pressies if you were that way inclined. How about a girl’s apron or a peg bag, a bird mobile or a flower cushion? I suppose most of the projects are quite ‘ordinary’ and more advanced or skilled crafters might be put off by that, but the projects are beautifully shot and the book is great to just flick though when you need uplifting.

Sew! is part of a range of Cath Kidston craft project books. The others are Stitch!, Make! and Patch!. I already own Make! but find that some of the projects in it need so many materials (some of them quite random). It’s nice as a coffee table book though.

Anyway, I hope that’s given you a bit of an insight into Sew!. It’s a great little book and would make a perfect and affordable gift. Ten out of ten from me. Look out for my attempt at lavender bags next week!