Sunday 24 November 2013

Cream Tees giveaway

I found this great site selling all kinds of retro-style t-shirts! You name it - they have it! Back To The Future, zombies, TV tie-ins, Keep Calms - you could be happy for hours just browsing!

Yesterday I saw on FB that they're running a giveaway for a free tee. You can enter right here: https://www.facebook.com/creamtees/app_228910107186452

It's a simple Rafflecopter entry with lots of options to win - the only problem you'll have is deciding what tee to choose!I'm eyeing up a zombie one but I also love this one which is of course from Back to the Future:


Thursday 26 September 2013

Win! Heat Holder socks!

As a long-time fan of Heat Holders socks, I was delighted when they asked me to run a competition so that you can win some of your very own! They're giving one lucky entrant FIVE pairs of ladies or children's Heat Holder socks for themselves! Free!

Which would you choose? http://www.heatholders.com/uk/products/overview.php

 I discovered them last year and was intrigued when I saw that they had a tog rating. "Like a quilt?" I wondered. "Are they really that warm?" So I invested in a pair - pink - in case you were wondering - and looked forward to seeing if they could beat my foot-warming method of socks over tights. I was especially impressed that Heat Holders recognise that women can and do have big feet, so I was able to select a pair designed for my foot size and know that I wouldn't face a tug of war to try and get the heel in roughly the right place.

 Well, they were warm. Wearing them was honestly like having my feet in front of a radiator. They have a thick fleece on the inside that is heaven to frozen toes! I immediately went and bought him two pairs and another pair (purple, this time) for myself. Despite his initial scoffing at my outpourings of love for my socks, he gave them a try and was also impressed by the intense warmth that Heat Holders brings to your toes. My purple pair are still going strong without any sign of wear or holes (and I've worn them pretty much constantly) but alas, my pink pair met their fate in the jaws of my puppy, otherwise I have no doubt that they too, would still be serving my toes with a generous supply of constant warmth!


 So if you would like to win FIVE pairs of these fabulous socks, just enter using the simple Rafflecopter!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I have not been paid or received any incentive for writing this review or running this competition.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday 21 September 2013

My Big Night In!

How would I create my perfect, fun night in? Well, many of my hobbies are of the solitary variety: reading, cross stitch and other such activities that would, frankly, be ruined by the presence of others. One thing I do love to do that would lend itself well to a group activity is ghost hunting! So  - as my friends are all fellow ghost and horror addicts - I would host a Hallowe'en party - with a twist!
The house decorations would, of course, fit the theme - I would have light up pumpkins to guide revellers up the path, past the vampire bats glaring malevolently from the plum tree and into the House of Horrors - Once inside the house - decorated with cobwebs, ghouls, bones and gravestones - the guests would be greeted by a zombie maid bearing Hallowe'en Sunset cocktails - a frighteningly delicious concoction of Grenadine, pomegranate juice and vodka, served with black ice cubes and a licorice stick stirrer. Virgin Blood for the drivers - the same concoction but sans vodka. I anticipate smaller guests in the early part of the evening and would serve them a Bubbling Witches Brew - comprised of a ghoulish green limeade, a sprinkle of baking powder to produce the bubbling effect and a green gummy worm hidden in the bottom of each ghastly glass!

The fun night in would primarily be about seasonal Samhain shenanigans but I would provide a modest Spooky Spread. Younger guests will find themselves eating Dead Man's Sandwiches - the recipe and preparation both very simple and the effect deliciously horrifying!

Cream cheese or peanut butter
Almonds
Strawberry Jam

Remove the crusts from white bread. Spread with butter and cream cheese or peanut butter. Roll up the sandwiches and make three marks with the flat edge of a butter knife to represent the finger joints. Trim the end of each "finger" into a V shape and, using a little cream cheese as glue, press an almond onto one end of each to represent fingernails. Smear a little strawberry jam on the other end to resemble blood! Ewww!

Ghostly Meringues are ridiculously simple to make and loved by all:
Older guests would be offered a slightly more sophisticated but equally ghoulish repast. I have a large, square platter which I would transform into a Ouija board, using cheese and blood-red beetroot vol-au-vents, skull and bat shaped cheese straws, and other such "delights" to spell out the letters. Myself and my friends are all great fans of pizza, so the main dish would be various pizzas with appropriately spooky designs formed from pepperoni, ham and other toppings. Dessert for all would be Gruesome Jelly. Again, very simple to make but very effective. Individual jelly bowls filled with lime jelly with a gummy worm in the bottom.. Just as the jelly reaches setting point, add a teaspoon of freshly made hot red jelly and gently swirl the dish to create a red misty effect through the centre, before chilling immediately.

But the main point of the party is to have fun and to be scared, and the traditions and customs of Samhain fit both bills. I would have a quick round of Pass the Possessed Parcel - to suitably scary music and containing such delights as foaming blood sweets, wind up false teeth and other such devilish delights, before inviting all to take part in a traditional Bobbing for Apples - blindfolded!

 Perhaps a game of Beastly Bingo with a new release horror film as the prize - trust me - you do NOT want to keep your eyes down for this one! Do YOU really want to shout "Haunted House"!?

 As the night wore on, the younger guests would go up to the spare room for the rest of the evening. A Spooky Sleepover is awaiting them and a Horror Magician/storyteller is on hand to ensure that they.....do not sleep well. Muhahahahahaha!

Downstairs - with the impressionable guests safely out of the way, the Main Event is about to begin and it's not for the fainthearted.

The lights dim and the guests fall silent as the zombie maid announces that we have special guests joining us, attracted by the Jack-o-Lanterns, the bats and the overall general spooky atmosphere emanating from My Big Night In!

I have hired a fortune teller and another mystery guest to entertain us - most of my friends are firm believers in horoscopes, fortune tellers, fortune cookies and so on so this would be the ultimate fun for all of us!  A couple of the gang won't even go out if their fortune cookies have forbidden it, so this will be the ultimate fun activity for my circle - especially after a few more devilish brews! As for the doubters,  even the sceptical enjoy having their fortunes told, if only to give them something to laugh about later! Seeing as it's Hallowe'en, I will ensure that the fortune teller adds a little touch of extra spooky fun by using traditional runes - made from pieces of bone - to divine what awaits us all!

I wonder if she will divine the fact that the second guest is a medium - ready to pick up (or maybe not!) on any spirits around us? Will we be enthralled by demonic possessions as in the horror films we all love so much? Will we hear mysterious footsteps and screams emanating from the remote regions of my House of Horror? Maybe - but it could be coming from the smaller guests upstairs as the Horror Magician saws one of them in half....


Or will it be more reminiscent of the ridiculous antics of "horror" as depicted in the Scary Movie series that had us all groaning in a mutual facepalm moment at the sheer stupidity?

Will we learn exactly what makes that noise just after we get in bed every night? Will - will we perhaps have an actual, genuine sighting? I will have my EMF meter ready to monitor the atmosphere and will encourage people to film the proceedings - will we capture any footage? Will Yvette Fielding and the Most Haunted team be in danger of losing their jobs to my intrepid Ghost Hunting Guests?


Who knows - but one thing is for sure - it will certainly be fun!

This is my entry for the Big Night In blogpost competition for http://www.twolittlefleas.co.uk/hub/

Two Little Fleas