Friday 31 October 2014

Happy Halloween! Party Ideas!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Over the past few weeks I have been posting recipes that you can use for a Halloween party, suitable for a children’s party or even for nibbles for an adult party before hitting the town so I thought I would summarise and link back to all of the recipes I have posted!


These ghostly pizzas were super tasty, the ghost shapes can be melted onto mini pizzas or onto a larger one and sliced up which is what I have done. You can find instructions on how to do this yourself here.

 
These broken glass cupcakes went down a treat! The ‘glass’ was made from mints so was 100% edible and the ‘blood’ was made from red icing. Recipe can be found here.


This was pretty self explanatory so I didn't need a recipe post. I hollowed out a mini pumpkin and filled it with a ‘dip’ I used cottage cheese but you can fill this with anything! Serve with carrot sticks, peppers, celery, bread sticks or cucumber. The possibilities are endless and the pumpkin ties this in with the Halloween theme perfectly.

 
These mummified cake pops look too cute to eat! They were so easy to make and look great at any Halloween Party. I’m going to make these again tonight for trick or treaters! You can find out how I did these here.


My pumpkin cake pops came out slightly paler than I had hoped for, but still worked well for the Halloween theme. The eyes melted a bit under the heat of the lights but you can sort of see what they are, right?! Recipe can be found here.


 I hope you enjoyed reading about my Halloween food ideas.
Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with my latest and future posts. :)

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Tuesday 28 October 2014

"Broken Glass" Cupcakes for Halloween

I wanted to make some cupcakes for Halloween so when I saw this in the most recent Tesco magazine I decided I wanted to try them out! 

Tesco Broken Glass Cupcakes

I used my standard cupcake recipe which never fails me! You can see this here.
I used a mixture of green yellow and red icing which made them sort of a coral colour. 

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween Cupcakes

I then piped some green icing onto them using my Wilton 2D nozzle. You can find out more about how I ice my cupcakes here and a video tutorial here.

Wilton 2D nozzle

Rose Icing Halloween Cupcakes
  
To make the ‘broken glass’ I melted some clear mints on a low heat in a saucepan for about 5 minutes. Once they had melted, I poured them onto some foil to set. They cooled off really quickly and when it was completely cool I broke it into ‘shards’ ready to stab into my cakes.

Melting glacier mints
 

Broken Glass cupcakes

For the ‘blood’ icing, I simply mixed red food colouring, icing sugar and water and drizzled it on top of the cakes.

Broken Glass cupcakes

I think these are a great addition to any Halloween party, oh and they tasted amazing!

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Sunday 26 October 2014

Halloween Lush Haul

I recently visited Lush in Norwich to pick up a few things for Halloween. I've admittedly never tried any of the Halloween items before but as a huge fan of Lush I decided this year I was going to try some things out.


The first item I picked up, which I knew I definitely wanted to get was the Sparkly Pumpkin. It's so cute! (even if it did cover me in glitter!) The pumpkin is a bubble bar so it can be broken up and used more than once. This has a citrus smell to it due to the lime and creates loads of fluffy bubbles and turns the water orange.

Lush Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar

The next item I got was the Wizard which is also a bubble bar. I also picked one of these up for Jess as part of a Blog Swap I took part in. The outcome when using this is obviously similar to Sparkly Pumpkin due to them both being bubble bars, except this one makes the water purple. This also has a slight citrus smell to it.  

Wizard Bubble Bar Lush

The final product I picked up was the Lord of Misrule bath bomb. I'm not even sure if this is a Halloween bomb, but it's green haha. It's listed under Halloween and Christmas on the Lush website so I am assuming either way it's a limited edition one. From the outside this looks quite plain but as soon as this one hits the water it creates a swirl of green and purple and looks AMAZING. It also smells delicious too, with hints of Vanilla.

Lord of Misrule Bath Bomb Lush

On my visit to Lush I also saw all of the Christmas items and I want them all! Please let me know your recommendations and I'll be sure to do a Christmas Lush haul too :)!

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Thursday 23 October 2014

Blogger Swap!

I recently took part in a blogger swap organised by Angela Angeline from Chocolate & Lipstick. I passed on my details and she paired me up with the lovely Jess from www.glitterbat.net. I checked out her blog straight away trying to find clues as to what I could buy her. We emailed back and forth for a couple of weeks to get to know each other and I was starting to get some ideas of what to buy. I pretty much stalked every blog post and looked on all social networks for ideas, but at the same time I didn’t really have a clue! Wow, I sound creepy... Anyway...

With a budget of £15, I set myself the task of getting as many things as I could for the value for money, but also buying a couple of things that have a higher value that I hoped Jess would like.

When I received my box I was so excited! It was like receiving a glossybox but even better as I knew that someone had actually put effort into choosing things that I would like It felt like Christmas, my favourite time of the year! And how cute is the address label! 


Jess was spot on with her decisions, I couldn't have picked better items if I was buying the box for myself and it was PACKED with goodies! So.. Onto what I received.


The first thing I saw when I opened the box was these tea bags. To anyone else this may seem really random but me and Jess spent a lot of time talking about different teas and to have a selection from her tea cupboard is simply awesome. In fact, I tried one straight away!



I then saw this bar of Dark Lindt Excellence in Caramel flavour with a touch of sea salt. Yes Salted CARAMEL! For those of you that read my previous review on Lindt will know that the salted caramel bar was my absolute favourite. Topped with the fact that this is also dark, I couldn't think of a better chocolate bar. I can't wait to tuck into this!


I then delved further into the box and the items just kept coming. Jess did amazingly well with picking things that I like, and related them to the conversations we had been having, it was so nice and I could see where the thought had come from. I then picked up these Nail accessories which are glittery white and in the shape of snowflakes. I LOVE these - I am a huge Christmas fan and I can't wait to do some festive nails with these. They're super cute!



I then spotted these 3 little Lindt bears which really got me feeling festive. I can't wait to eat these (sorry little bears).



This Barry M nail varnish in Vintage Purple is a lovely colour and I don't own anything like this! This is the perfect shade for the autumn months and I love Barry M nail varnishes as they always seem to last really well before they start chipping.



I then spotted this little bath bomb called "You can't catch me". The best thing about this is that it has a little gingerbread man on top! Jess must have really listened to me as I have definitely mentioned I love gingerbread (latte's/green tea/men!) but never have I tried a gingerbread bath bomb. This is pretty special, I can't wait to use it!



I told you the items in this box go on forever.. I then found the Barry M Showgirl mascara. This is extra lengthening and I couldn't help but try it straight away. it has immediately replaced my current mascara, it's amazing.



One of my favourite items in the box was this Yankee Candle Votive in "Christmas Treats". Again, I LOVE Christmas and I especially love Christmas Yankee Candles! This smells so good! I don't think I'm going to be able to wait until the festive season to burn it.



I then got this beautiful mirror which is going to be perfect for putting into my handbag. I don't actually have a compact mirror. It seems Jess was psychic and knew I needed one! It's really chunky as well which I love as you know it's not going to break easily!



I then saw these at the bottom and was thrilled! Shimmering Snowflake & Snowmen Sprinkles! Me and Jess always talk about cakes in our emails and so she must have known these would be perfect for some Christmas themed cakes and cake pops I've been planning. I can't even believe you can buy these, I'm so happy!


Last but not least, I got this amazing Barry M Super Chic Shadow and Primer Palette which I love! The shadows are so pigmented and such good quality. The warm copper shade is my favourite for this time of the year and I wore it literally the day I opened this box. I can't wait to create some really nice looks with this.



Overall I was super happy with the swap and the items I received from Jess. She really put a lot of thought and effort into everything and I am very thankful that I was paired with such an awesome partner! Thank you Jess, it's been awesome!

To see what I bought for Jess  – click on her post here!

If you would like to get involved in a blogger swap then check out Angela Angeline’s post here for more information. I really recommend taking part in one of these - I have had the chance to try new products and it's been lovely to speak to someone new and I hope we stay in touch! :)

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Wednesday 22 October 2014

Halloween 'Ghostly' Pizza!

I saw these 'ghostly' pizzas in the most recent Tesco magazine and thought they looked so good! I really wanted to make them, but I'm not a fan of olives so I thought I would take my own spin on it. These are SO easy and can be served up for children on Halloween or placed on the table for a party.

Tesco Haunted Pizza

I started off with a ready made pizza base which I spread tomato and basil passata on top of. You can then of course add whatever toppings you like. It's all about the cheese with these! I added peppers and tomatoes to mine.

Home made pizzas

Home made pizzas

The key to these is to make the cheese into the shape of ghosts. This may have worked a lot better with a ball of mozzarella but I only had grated so this proved challenging! 

Haunted Pizza

 When the ghosts 'melted' in the oven, I used a knife just to tidy up the edges and I think they came out quite well. I used a bit of brown sauce for the face.

Haunted Pizza Halloween Party

Haunted Pizza Halloween Party

 These tasted lovely as well. You could even make mini ghosts on top of mini pizzas for snacks. What a fun Halloween snack!


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Monday 20 October 2014

October 2014 Glossybox

This month’s Glossybox is probably one of my favourite designs yet! I absolutely love the pop-art theme. I had avoided pretty much all spoilers this month too which was a bonus so the box was a complete surprise (except for the Nuxe Paris Mask). The only problem I had was there was no info sheet as Glossybox are trialing a paperless card (Bit of extra effort on my part finding it as it was poorly advertised) so I had to Google the products to find out how to use them/prices etc which was quite annoying.




Ciaté London Paint Pot
This full sized product in my box is this lovely nail varnish from Ciate. I believe the colour is called  Snow Virgin worth £9. For some reason, mine doesn’t have the little bow like some of the others I have seen! This white colour looks a bit plain on its own but I can picture myself using this alongside other colours to create some Christmas nails! I also test painted a nail and it lasted really well and stayed chip free for longer than my other nail varnishes.
Être Belle Cosmetics Lip lift Peel
 I have never owned a product like this before but it has quickly become a part of my daily routine. The scrub brushes away any dead skin on the lips and leaves the perfect base to apply lipstick onto. My matte lipsticks now glide on. I don’t know how I have coped without a product like this before and it is perfect for these colder months where my lips are that little bit drier. 


So Susan Cosmetics Flutter Mascara
 This mascara didn’t really do anything for me unfortunately. It was no better than the one I currently use at less than half the price. I did enjoy the packaging though, I think it looks really sleek and expensive but the product just wasn’t for me.



Rimmel London BB Cream Matte
I have actually got a full sized one of these which I love to use in the summer, but for the colder weather I prefer having something with a bit more coverage. The colour match is spot on for me, and I might keep this in my bag for touch-ups throughout the day. The size is quite small so won’t last me long, but at the same time I don’t really use BB creams this time of the year anyway.



Yves Rocher - Quelques Notes D’AmourI quite like the cute little bottle that this perfume sample came in. The scent is really nice, quite summery though which is a bit of a shame as I am not transitioning onto more autumnal scents and trying to find a new perfume for this season. It will get used up though all the same! These are great to put in your handbag (as long as the lid is firmly in place!).



Nuxe Crème Fraîche De Beauté Mask
 I knew that this would be in my box this month due to the spoilers we received last month, and I can’t say it’s a product I’ve ever tried before. This mask is supposed to soothe  any irritations and leave your skin feeling moisturised for up to 24 hours. I put this mask on my skin, left it for 10 minutes then rubbed what was left of it in. I couldn’t believe that the thick layer I had applied had completely soaked into my skin! That’s what I loved about this mask; the fact there was no need for it to be removed. I applied this in the evening and my skin was still lovely and soft the next day.



This month’s box also contained a spoiler for the November box -. I think Glossybox is going to have to start getting really amazing or I might be dropping it next year so I can just buy my usual products.

Please link below your Glossybox reviews, I love reading them! :)


To sign up to Glossybox, click here.



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