Monday, 31 October 2011

Halloween Horrors

Ghoulish greetings and a Happy Halloween! Still no news from genie wrangler Jessica Black, but I've ordered my clone anyway, and set her to making a few horrific offerings in the kitchen while I play about on the internet.  If you're stuck for some last minute treats for the kids, these are all pretty quick to do.


Bloodshot Monster Eyeballs
[Fairy cake, glace icing, half a liquorice allsort, red writing icing]

Graveyard Cakes
[Fairy cake, green butter icing, half a bourbon biscuit, black writing icing]

Cheesy Pumpkin
[Wotsits, cherry tomatoes, black paper]


Gingerbread Mummies
[Gingerbread men, icing, silver/sugar balls]


Rice krispie Spiders - with assistance of Boy2
[Rice krispie cakes, matchmakers, sugar balls]

Ogre Teeth
[Apple slices, peanut butter, mini marshmallows]

I've carved a fairly standard Jack O Lantern for this Halloween, but I thought I'd show you last year's effort. My brother in law got married at this time last year, and he and my sister in law wanted all the guests to carve a 'romantic' pumpkin to decorate the venue. So this is supposed to be Lionel Richie! 


Hello! Is it me you're looking for?

Pretty terrifying I think you'll agree!

Lakota x

Saturday, 29 October 2011

The Magic and Madness of Ebay, Part 4 - Djinn and Tonic

I don't know about you, but I'm knackered. It's half term, and the kids need entertaining. We threw a Halloween party for them yesterday, we've got house sale stuff to sort out, and I keep seeing reminders of exactly how many shopping days there are until Christmas. My husband - tired of going out to work every morning before it's properly light and coming back at dusk - has often opined that he could do with a stunt double, and I think he could be on to something.

Imagine the advantages! We've all read the tabloid stories about the guy who sat his twin's driving test for him - but that seems a weeny bit unimaginative. The only thing I have in common with an athlete is a pasta-heavy diet, but I'd love photos of myself completing the London Marathon. Or an Olympic medal - how cool would that be? A duplicate whom I could command to do those daily laps of the park would be great. And if she could be made to endure the annual horror of 'buying a swimsuit from the high street', so much the better. What would your doppelgänger do for you?

Bitch - you stay out there til those windows SPARKLE!

Sadly, even if one has an identical sibling, I'm reliably informed that there's no guarantee they'll be willing to work at your job as well as their own, and most draw the line at scrubbing your oven whilst you luxuriate in the bath. If only there was some way to make another version of yourself - without the associated stretch marks, back-chat and sleeplessness I've suffered using the regular method. [Also, my mini-mes have come out with a penis apiece, surely some mistake?].

But clearly only a unethical geneticist  storybook genie could possibly have the power to create a true clone.  And who has the time these days to travel to deepest Persia, searching for an antediluvian enchanted lamp? Ok, so you probably know by now where this is leading, but wouldn't it be amazing to be able to harvest the awesome power of a genuine Genie? Oh Ebay, how could I have thought I'd ever exhausted your supply of  slightly unhinged sellers? As they redouble their efforts for Halloween, it must surely be time for The Magic and Madness of Ebay part 4.

*******

I'd tried the usual suspects - but Black Forest Magick and A New Golden Dawn could only offer enchantments done by the usual witches and wizards of ancient lineage, taught by a powerful ancestor...yadda, yadda, yadda. Yawn. Been there, done that. Then I found seemingly innocuous seller Coffee596. Oh, hang on, there's an 'about me'. She's actually Jessica Black, and - what a surprise - her Grandmother taught her the ancient art of magic when she was a little girl

Aladdin was thrilled with his Ebay purchase

BUT - she does have a genie! Hardly anyone has a genie these days. [Well, aside from all the sellers offering the djinn spirit equivalent of the vampire jewellery.] And look - she's offering a rare 'Have and Control your own Clone' spell! How fortuitous. And how lucky that I found the listing just before it ended. Despite having sold 96 of it already, and the fact that it's automatically relisted, the spell "will not be offered on Ebay again". She also has 'a strong following of wealthy and famous clients', who I'm guessing include Louis Walsh. [Worry not Westlife fans, for as they replaced Boyzone, so shall another identikit band of featureless crooners arrive to take their places on the stools of mediocrity.]


It always seemed to be Kian's turn to get the coffee...

Anyway, for the minuscule price of £3.73 - or half a Cher Lloyd CD - our possibly blue pal will be able to deliver you 'an exact clone of yourself'.

"You could have the clone go into work for you, while you relax on the beach. The clone is your complete puppet. It will obey your every command. It has every skill and ability that you have. Be in two places at once. You could use this amazing clone to complete unpleasant tasks, get more done, get two jobs at once, or even find more lovers..."

At last an explanation for the ubiquitous Katie Price, and her 'alter-ego' Jordan. She must be another of these celebrity clients. That's how she's able to appear in every magazine simultaneously, whilst juggling her roster of d-list boyfriends. But I know what you're thinking. We don't all have deals with Sky Living or ITV2 - how am I going to manage with another mouth to feed? 

"This clone does not need to be fed or maintained. And it will be completely loyal to only you"

Phew. So no undignified grappling with yourself for the last jaffa cake.  But doesn't need to be 'maintained'? I'm not sure I'm fully clear on the specifics of that. Better send an email, just to be on the safe side:

Dear Jessica,

I was just wondering whether the clone needs shelter in the same way as us? It's great that it doesn't need to be fed, but we don't have a spare room. Will it be happy living in the garage - at least to start off with? Once I can work two jobs we should be able to move to a bigger house though. 

Best wishes
Lakota 

I've no idea why she hasn't replied. I do hope my reputation has not preceded me. But hey - I'm sure we can work all this out once my clone has been delivered  manifested itself. And I guess it can't be that much of a problem, as - "You can have as many clones as you like!" It'll be like the paranormal Downton Abbey. Daisy, that lamp isn't going to polish itself!


Yes, they're all me!

Mind you, much as I fancy having a clone, I don't know if I'd say it was my dearest wish. What about my pre-baby boobs? And like, world peace and stuff? Maybe if I got three wishes, the army of clones could just be one of them. Ha! I've outsmarted you, Genie! Let's see, shall we: 

"Original 3 wishes from a 1000 year old genie! Attract that sexy fun person for a lasting relationship...attract the wealth that you need in these hard times...these wishes can be customized uniquely for you and your situation. They can be used to help you knock down any obstacles in your life"

Claire's dearest wish was to date Thing from the Addams Family...

Sounds amazing doesn't it? If only the ancient Djinn could help people see the truth revealed in the sales pitch:

"Don't pay for the other knock offs with minimal results" 

No indeed - pay for this knock off with minimal results!

To paraphrase the old idiom - if wishes were lipsticks, we'd all be Kate Moss.

Lakota x

Monday, 24 October 2011

Flea Market Finds

Just a couple of things to show you, but I'm very pleased with one of them, enough to risk ruining my manicure to get it looking how I want! First of all a couple more books to add to the collection, both from the local hospice shop and 60p and 30p respectively. Both are from the 1960s.



Super stylish heroine

As well as exciting stories like 'Chewing Gum and Sheep' (makes you want to read on, doesn't it?), Dean's Premier Book for Girls also has several craft projects, from making your own pot-pourri to creating a groovy 'trinket tree' out of swizzle-sticks! I thought that the big patchwork resurgence was very much a 70s thing, so maybe the readers of this book were the early adopters of the craze - learning as teens and continuing to make everything out of hexagons as they set up home a few years later.



Cath Kidston's new book wasn't quite what Jane had expected...

 These buttons were from a car boot sale, they appear to be real snakeskin and I have no idea how old they are or what I'll do with them, but they just caught my eye!

Scaly

Finally, we went to Dulwich village on Saturday (a well-heeled kind of area, nice independent shops and a few market stalls like a one street Portobello) and had a wander round with the kids. They have limited patience for shopping, although Boy1 found a Ben10 DVD in the hospice shop, so I rewarded his rummaging and bought it for them. He also enjoyed coming into a make-shift changing room made of blankets in the market, where I tried on a 50s dress and he wondered loudly whether it felt strange to be getting undressed outside.

Down a side street I discovered a very nice vintage shop, where his brother decided to show us up by bellowing "I'm going out now, it's too SMELLY in here!", right in front of the owner. It wasn't even bad, just a little musty - they sold bric-a-brac rather than clothes. She didn't seem too offended, and I redeemed our family by buying a printers' tray. I've wanted one for ages, as my earring collection is outgrowing its current home in a cigar box and I've seen fantastic makeovers to turn them into jewellery storage. It's a bit cobwebby, but not too filthy, and should clean up nicely. I just need to sand it, wax it, maybe add some backing paper and buy and somehow screw in a gazillion little hooks...

Or I could fashion something out of swizzle-sticks...


Finally, check me branching out into beauty blogging! This is my somewhat lame attempt at the classic 'swatch' shot to show off a nail varnish colour, and I thought I'd share it as it was a win. Special K is probably the most expensive breakfast cereal on the market, and I usually buy the supermarket's own version, but as they had a promotion running to win a limited edition Nails inc polish, I bought a box so I could enter. [My Nails inc obsession is well documented]. They're giving away 100 every day, so the odds are pretty good - I won first time! It's a really beautiful classic stand out red - well worth adding to your collection. And there's a blingy lid too, for the magpies amongst us. [Er, that'd be everyone, right?]




I'll spare you the picture of my matching pedicure.

Lakota x

PS. Check out my Facebook page, I'll be running a giveaway on there soon.

Linking up to Flea Market Finds
                     Magpie Monday
                     Thrift Share Monday
                     Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays