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I tend to find that when I make a wishlist, I babble on about what the things are I want and why I want them. The truth is, I want them because they’re pretty and because they’re Disney. However I’m trying to be really good with money right now and so I’m not buying anything. Some of these items appeared on my last wishlist post and some are new. It’s probably not even everything I’d like. However they are a combination of Beauty and the Beast items (my favourite) and Christmas decorations.
Dress: Hot Topic
Cardigan: H&M
Tights: Peacocks
Boots: Stead & Simpson
Necklace: Hot Topic
Last week we headed out for dinner as a family and I finally got to wear my new Alice in Wonderland themed dress. It was pretty darn cold that day so I had to winter it up somewhat, but I liked the way it turned out.
As you may know, I’m a bit of a movie buff. I love most genres and to be honest, most movies. I love a trip to the cinema, a night curled up on the sofa, or just sitting and sewing while watching a good movie on Amazon Prime. I’m lucky really in that I get to go to the cinema quite often, so I figured I would share the movies I’m most looking forward to in 2016. Right now, I’d really love to go and see “Joy”. I think it was technically released in December but either way, I think I might even head off to the cinema by myself!
To be honest January’s movies don’t hold a lot of interest for me, so I’m going to skip right on to February. The first of the movies I’m looking forward to this year is the much awaited “Deadpool“. I absolutely love Ryan Reynolds and there has been a huge amount of build up and hype to this movie so it had better be good! To be honest I don’t know an awful lot about this anti-hero but I have seen most of the trailers and it looks hilarious!
March brings the release of “Divergent: Allegiant” and this is one I’m really looking forward to. While I’m disappointed that they decided to split the last book in two, I’m also glad that it means two more movies. This Allegiant movie is the first part of the last book and will release shortly, while the second will presumably be another year away. I have really enjoyed the Divergent series so far and hope that this won’t disappoint like Mockingjay Part 1 did. Plus, more chance to see Four? I think so…
April is another month that can be skipped for me. A live action version of “The Jungle Book” is being released by Disney but to be honest I haven’t even seen The Good Dinosaur yet, so I doubt that will be top of my list to see.
“Captain America: Civil War” is out in May, as is “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass“. I absolutely can’t wait for the Captain America movie, despite not having seen 2 yet (I must watch that this week”), but Iron Man is in this one and also it looks epic. I hate that Cap and Tony are going to be fighting it out for the majority of the movie, but I’m sure it will make for a good story line! Also the new X-Men movie looks awesome. I’m really loving these “younger generation” versions of the movies that they are making at the moment and love all the people they have cast in the roles. Apocalypse looks like one of the best so far and I’m excited to see how it turns out. Finally, Alice in Wonderland has the sequel, Through the Looking Glass being released. I was very late watching the last Tim Burton movie but I have to admit I enjoyed it. While I probably won’t be heading to the cinema for this one (unless it fall around my birthday) but I’m sure I’ll be watching it sooner or later.
June has the next Turtles movie coming out, but since I only saw the other on the plane home from Florida (and wasn’t fussed), I doubt I’ll be queuing to see this one. Also “Finding Dory” is out and while I’m sure it will be good (it’s Disney), with Finding Nemo not being anywhere near my top 10 (or 20) Disney movies, I don’t think I’ll be planning to see this either. “Independence Day Resurgence” is about the only movie that holds interest in June but that’s because I enjoyed the first one. I’m not convinced a follow-on will be any good but it looks packed with action so it might be worth a watch. Sadly there is no Will Smith and he was a highlight of the first one for me, plus there is Jeff Goldblum and he is most definitely a downside for me. That said, Liam Hemsworth is in it, so it might be okay, if only for him.
“The BFG“, “Ghostbusters” and “Star Trek Beyond” are all released in July but I think only Star Trek I’m looking forward to. While I do love Roald Dahl, there is already a BFG cartoon movie that’s pretty good and I’m not sure I see any point in re-making it. That said I haven’t seen pictures or a trailer so I will reserve judgement for now. Ghostbusters is something that I’m sure will get a huge cult following, mostly because of the original movies. However for me I’m never sure when they make another sequel, so many years after the last. Just look at Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull! So that just leaves Star Trek and while many people have had negative things to say about the more modern versions, I love them. I especially love Chris Pine as Kirk and so honestly you can’t really go wrong for me. This third one (of the newer versions) looks full of action and adventure (not to mention another lost enterprise) so I’m sure it will be great.
“Suicide Squad” is pretty much the only movie of interest to me in August. Until about a year ago I didn’t really know much about the Suicide Squad storyline but with watching “Arrow” and some extra knowledge from Chris, I now think I understand a lot of it. Not to mention Lily’s favourite “Harley Quinn” will be in it and also Will Smith, so it’s go to be worth a watch. Also Villains. You know?
Neither September or October have much of interest for me though I spotted “Bridget Jones’s Baby” which might be worth a watch (eventually) and maybe “Gambit” too. November has “Doctor Strange” which I don’t know much about but the stills look pretty cool. More importantly though it has “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” which again I don’t know much about but absolutely can’t wait to see. Whether it will be cinema worthy or whether curiosity will just drive me to see it at the cinema anyway, I don’t know – but I hope for good things! Sadly December holds nothing of interest yet either but I believe there is a Star Wars spin-off set to be released and since Chris is into Star Wars, I guess we might see that.
There are a few I haven’t mentioned that I either don’t know enough about to comment on, or I’m not sure when they’re being released. I guess time will tell if any others start to appeal throughout the year, but at the moment – these are my top picks.
In Summer, Amy and I (plus Kariss who we met there) attended SFCC (Sheffield Film and Comic Con). Last year we were attending LFCC (London Film and Comic Con) but unfortunately the timing just wasn’t right to get to that one this year. I’ve also attended MCM Comic Con in London this year, back in May. However in the end we decided not to cosplay for that, so SFCC was our first cosplay of the year.
Amy and I decided on Disney cosplay (surprise surprise). She was going as Briar Rose and I was Belle. Both choices are their “peasant” dresses, so in a way we’ll be a pair.
I started on Amy’s first as I couldn’t get the fabric I needed for mine without ordering. The first thing I did was find a pattern that would work for what I wanted (I only ever work from patterns). It was pretty easy and didn’t take me too long. Ironically it was another Disney pattern, one used to make Elsa’s Coronation dress.
Next was to pick out some colours. Luckily both costumes comprise of basic block colours, so cotton poplin is perfect for what we need. I headed off to Boyes, picked out come colours and then started to work with the pattern and fabrics.
So once I cut out all the pattern pieces I was sure about, there was the grey to figure out. I picked one that I thought might be a bit dark and when placed together with all the other fabrics, it was decided between Amy and I, that it was too dark. Sadly this began our own 50 Shades of Grey disaster which took about 8 fabric samples from Ebay before locating. However with the grey only effecting the skirt, it was easy to still continue and make a start.
I have a post on Closet Geek dedicated to all the Cosplay outfits I’ve made so far. But keep an eye out as I will be updating it before too long I’m sure!
This week I’m attempting to keep up with what I’m doing, so as to have a bit better round-up than last week! Its been another lovely week of summer holidays and I hope it doesn’t end too soon. On Monday the girls went to their dad’s, after he collected them around 11am. Chris was out on a driving lesson and so I got some sewing done. However I didn’t really have the concentration for it in the end, so I sat and watched TV while working on computer stuff, blogging, ordering some sewing bits etc. I watched Sharknado 3 (yep, I’ve seen the other two as well), worked on my new store (Closet Geek) website and generally just relaxed.
Tuesday I needed to head out to get the girls from their dads and Chris went out on his driving test. When the girls and I got back from Lincoln, we went to Aldi and Chris text to say he passed his test!! The girls and I spent the rest of the day doing our own thing. Mostly I sewed and finally got somewhere with the Alice cosplay I’ve been working on recently. We had lunch, dinner etc. and I allowed the girls to wait up till 10pm when Chris got home from work. We opened a bottle of fizz and all had a toast for him to celebrate his pass.
On Wednesday Chris was off work and we didn’t have anything planned so we all just bummed around. I spent majority of the day sewing again, while Chris was on his computer, Megan spent majority of the day reading and Lily was on Minecraft/YouTube. For dinner we treated ourselves to Chinese takeaway, again a sort of celebration for Chris and that was pretty much it (I believe I went back to sewing!)
Thursday was a day out. Mum picked us up at 10am in order to head to York. We popped to Boyes, then to the NRM. We wandered around the museum till 2pm, when we then went to the theatre to see The Railway Children. Afterwards we headed back to the car and drove home. On the way back we stopped for dinner at NYC Bar and Grill, before finally getting home and collapsing. I came on my computer (and started this post), while Megan read and Lily went on her computer. Megan switched to her computer as Lily went to bed and I just spent the evening watching TV and working on blog stuff.
Friday Nat came around for the whole day which was lovely. I sat and sewed while we chatted and the girls played happily on their computers. In the evening I finally got the Alice in Wonderland cosplay finished and even managed to start on my own. Saturday I managed a bit of a lay-in, then the girls and I went into town for a while and there was a beach day going on which was quite good fun and the girls had their picture taken with a giant deckchair and we had Subway for lunch followed by Candy Floss. I then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sewing.
On Sunday we headed out to look for a car for Chris. We’d found a couple of garages open on Sunday towards Scunthorpe so started there. We saw a car we liked almost straight off but checked two other places as well. In the end we went back to the first place and bought the car for Chris. It was after lunch time so we all headed to a Tesco nearby but when we spotted there was actually KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut etc we actually decided to have McDonalds. Chris sorted out all his insurance for his car on the wifi and then we headed off home separately. On the way back he went to see his Nan and we came home. I spent the afternoon and evening sewing, before starting to read my latest book, Paper Towns.
Great week and another planned. Really loving the summer hols so far!
First of all I want to apologise for my lack of online presence at the moment! I’m so busy with other things – especially sewing and launching my online store – that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. I don’t want it to though – as I have books to review, Inside Out to discuss and today we’re going to see The Railway Children so I’m sure I’ll want to tell you all about that! Hopefully tonight I’ll be able to make another couple of posts and schedule them for the next few days, but right now I have to get the kids ready and make a packed lunch! My trip to York includes a stop for sewing supplies too so I imagine that will mean even more sewing to do!
Promise I’ll be back soon but in the meantime here is some of the stuff I’ve been working on and some that will be stocked at Closet Geek!
Custom cosplay costume for a Kariss – Alice in Wonderland
Pencil Cases, various – for Closet Geek
Pinocchio Girl – Disney inspired dress – livvybirdadventures IG
Briar Rose cosplay costume for Amy
As you know, I’m in Florida!! Now, instead of gazing hopelessly at a computer screen and wanting all the Hot Topic products, I can actually go and get them! Today I’m sharing my Hot Topic Wish List with you and you’ll just have to wait and see if I come back with them all!
A. Dumbo scarf – ever since buying my Princess Quotes scarf and my Doctor Who one, I’ve realised just how much I like wearing a scarf. This Dumbo scarf is a little different to the ones I have, as its an infinity (loop) scarf instead. The print is so cute though and I think I’d genuinely get a lot of wear from it.
B. Belle compact mirror – I’m a huge fan of this more grown up style of sketch and as Belle is my favourite princess, this mirror really appeals to me, even though I’d barely use it I’m sure. It’s neat and stylish though and it would make a great edition to my handbag.
C. Anna and Elsa Pocket Pop Funko – I mentioned in my wishlist post last week, that Megan and Lily already own the Pop Funko figures of Anna and Elsa, but that they stay in their room, rather than with my collection. I’d love to get these pocket figures, just to sit with my collection and represent!
D. Once Upon a Time’s “Evil isn’t born, it’s made” vest/tank top – as yet, I haven’t bought any vest tops from Hot Topic, largely because I really went off them as an item of clothes, due to my fat upper arms. However as summer comes around again and now I’ve lost a little weight, I’ll be looking forward to embracing them again. This t-shirt is just amazing and it would definitely be one of my “must-haves”. There are loads more though, to be honest.
E. Alice in Wonderland/The Little Mermaid tights – If you read my shopping post a few weeks ago, you’ll know that in preparation for this holiday, I bought myself some new dresses. One of those was Alice in Wonderland and the other was The Little Mermaid. Obviously in Florida it will be far too warm for tights but when I come back I’d love to keep on wearing my dresses. As such these cute tights would couple nicely with each dress, to make an awesome colder weather outfit.
F. Daryl Dixon’s Chopper – I’m going to ignore the innuendo in the title of this product and just point out that it’s a Pop Funko figure of Daryl Dixon on his motorbike. While majority of my Pop Funko wants are Disney related, this is one of the few that isn’t. Daryl is a character from The Walking Dead and has long been my favourite character. I’d love to get this figure to add to my collection, just as he’s so awesome.
G. Beauty and the Beast/Rapunzel hairbrush – these hairbrushes first arrived on the site before Christmas and I really wanted one for the girls but honestly we don’t really need them. However I love the Beauty and the Beast one and would happily throw out my current one, in order to replace it with that. For the girls I’d like the Tangled one as it just makes sense – Rapunzel has long hair that needs brushing, so what better choice is there?
H. Rapunzel umbrella – I honestly do not need another umbrella. My first ever brolly was Sylvester and Tweety Pie and I still have it to this day. Just before Christmas I bought myself an Alice in Wonderland one from BHS and I think I’ve only used it twice. However I do love the lantern scene from Rapunzel and that makes this umbrella almost irresistible to me!
I. Villains backpack – for a long time I fancied the Beauty and the Beast stained glass window backpack, but really it was just a little “loud” in colour for me. However when this Villains one came along, I was sold. Anyone who knows me, knows I have such a soft spot for Disney Villains. That makes this backpack straight out cold – regardless of the fact I so rarely use a backpack!
J. TWD Crossbow keychain – I definitely don’t need another keyring and yet I want one. This keyring is Daryl’s crossbow (from Walking Dead) and a tag that reads “Fight the Dead, Fear the Living”. Mostly I want it because of Daryl, but it’s cool and it’s about time I had something to represent my Walking Dead fandom.
So right now, these are the things I have my eyes on! Look out for a Hot Topic haul post when I return from my Florida trip!
One of many Disney Memory Maker pictures. This was taken in the first week of our holiday, at breakfast in the Grand Floridian (1900 Park Fare). It’s not necessarily the best of pictures but I love their outfits and the fact they were holding hands!
As the whole of April on my blog is “Disney Month”, today’s wishlist is Disney related – specifically Disney Pop Funko figures.
This is my current collection of Pop Funko figures. To be honest I never really considered buying them myself, but when Amy bought Belle and the Beast for Chris and I, it seemed wrong not to! For my birthday last year, a friend called Jon bought me both the large Maleficent and also the mini Maleficent and Evil Queen (I believe he made an error when ordering). After that Amy bought me Lumiere for Christmas and Chris got Judge Doom from her too. The girls also have Anna and Elsa but I don’t class them as part of my collection, since they’re upstairs in their room. Between Chris and I we do also have three other Pop Funko figures, but they aren’t Disney so I skipped them from this post!
So rather than list each of these Pop Funko figures separately, I’ll just say that you can buy majority of them from places like Amazon, Forbidden Planet and Funko Pop Vinyl.
Row A: From left to right, these figures are Cogsworth, Belle and Mrs Potts. As I already have Belle (in her yellow dress), the Beast and Lumiere, I’d love these three figures to complete the set. My favourite is probably the other Belle (in her blue dress) but I would really love them all.
Row B: Next up is Alice, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter. I was never really into Alice in Wonderland before but over the last few years I’ve developed a love for it (probably because both Lily and Chris like it). Wanting Alice is really because she just represents the Alice in Wonderland world as a whole, but the Cheshire Cat because he looks amazing and the Mad Hatter because he’s simply crazy!
Row C: For this row, it’s all princesses. As I have Belle already, it would be nice to have some of the others. Cinderella, Ariel and Snow White are fairly iconic princesses and would make a great start to my collection. There are a few others available like Merida and Jasmine, but these other three would be my first picks.
Row D: This row is Villains. Everyone who knows me, knows I like Disney Villains. These are just a few of the ones I like – Jafar, Captain Hook and Ursula. I also love King John, Scar and Cruella De Vil. They would all go perfectly with the Maleficent and Evil Queen I already have (and Judge Doom if you count Chris’) though I perhaps need a full size Evil Queen instead.
Row E: Final row is a bit of an assortment really – ones that don’t belong in a set or that I just don’t want the rest of. Tinkerbell, Boo and the Genie are just a few of the ones I’d like. In all honesty I would be happy with any Disney Pop Funko figure but there are plenty I would pick first, even before the others.
Do you have a favourite Disney Pop Funko figure?
Yep, that’s right! No more days till holiday! In fact, we’re on holiday right now. Not technically in Florida, but away from home at least!
This morning we set off from home, just before 10am. We headed to my mum’s, where we would swap all of our stuff over to her car and then head off down to London. Since I was up till 2am last night, sewing Megan’s final dress, I was exhausted and actually managed to sleep for some of the journey. We stopped not long after midday though, for the toilet and to eat lunch. After that we headed to a car park where we’d parked once before (for LFCC) and headed into London on the tube. We made our way to Leicester Square where there was a “pop-up” Cinderella Exhibition, that I’d booked us tickets for.
Though we did have to queue for about 20 minutes, in almost rain, we got inside fairly easily and wandered around the exhibit. It was relatively simple but lovely nonetheless. We bought a souvenir programme and were given some Cinderella postcards for free. I took loads of pictures and it was so nice to see the props and costumes up close. The highlight was most definitely walking into the side of a pumpkin and coming out of a carriage! All in all, the Exhibition took about half an hour to go round but I’m really glad we took the extra time to do so.
After Cinderella, we took a walk to Covent Garden and the Disney Store but sadly it was closed due to an underground fire nearby. Instead we took a wander around nearby, doing some shopping using the money off vouchers we’d found at www.voucherbin.co.uk. When it got near to dinner time, we caught the tube to ASK Italian, where we enjoyed a lovely dinner, using up some ASK vouchers I’d gotten from Tesco ages ago.
Finally we headed back to the car and then drove to the Travelodge we were staying at. That’s where I’m typing this from, winding down and getting ready to call it a night. Tomorrow we head off to the airport and fly away to Florida – I can’t wait. My scheduled posts begin tomorrow too, but I’ll hopefully find time to check in now and again. I’ve left Saturday, Sunday and Monday free for impromptu posts!
Today is the last of my Countdown posts, all the way from 120 where we started to day 1 (yesterday). I skipped doing it on Sunday as there were only 2 more days left after that and instead have combined all 9 days into this post.
Monday (9) – March 23rd – Make or Draw Disney
Tuesday (8) – March 24th – Play a Disney game
Wednesday (8) – March 25th – Watch Hercules
Thursday (6) – March 26th – Read Disney
Friday (5) – March 27th – Dress Up Disney
Saturday (4) – March 28th – Watch a random Disney movie – Cinderella (motion picture)
Sunday (3) – March 29th – Make Disney food
Monday (2) – March 30th – Read Disney
Tuesday (1) – March 31th – Make or Draw Disney
On Monday the girls had a long day and didn’t have time to make or draw (they both had homework and a class to prepare). Instead I took over the task as I’d been making loads of Disney clothes anyway. I completed my favourite dress to date which is the Queen of Hearts one for Lily. On Tuesday it was play a disney game and both girls got this done but not with Tsum Tsum for a change. I think Megan played on Disney Infinity while Lily was on Frozen Theater. Wednesday was watch Hercules but we actually completely forgot because we were planning a class about Harry Potter for Lily to teach the following day. Instead we caught up on Thursday, watching Hercules AND reading chapters 7 & 8 of the Never Girls book. Friday was dress up Disney and Lily was feeling too ill to dress up so Megan just wore her dress that I’d completed that day. I was pretty pleased with her Ariel mermaid dress too. On Saturday we were set to watch a random movie and luckily I’d booked tickets for the new Cinderella at the cinema. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as the Frozen Fever short. On Sunday the girls headed off to their dad’s and we just didn’t have time to make any Disney food – or the inclination to be honest. For the first time ever we just skipped it completely but I can assure you that none of us had a Disney shortage. On Monday it was read Disney and we finally finished off book 4 of the Never Girls. I’m looking forward to purchasing and reading some more when we get home. Tuesday was the last one and it was Make or Draw Disney. Megan persuaded me into making her another dress so we classed that as our task. We also watched Pocahontas though!