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Our Harry Potter Convention and Ball experience

August 16, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Not this weekend just gone but the one before, myself and my best friend Nat took Megan and Lily with us to Nottingham, to a Harry Potter convention and then followed by a Yule Ball. We’d had it booked since about February and we were all looking forward to it. We had a hotel booked for the night, but also so we could get changed in between the convention and the ball. Although we had a weekend ticket for the convention, we had pretty much decided we would only attend on the Saturday (unless it was really good and then we might go again on the Sunday morning). However in the end we actually decided to only go Saturday after, checking into the hotel (Premier Inn) first and then walking around.

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In the morning I still needed to work but while doing that I made us all bows. Megan was Ravenclaw, Lily Gryffindor and since I sway between Gryffindor and Slytherin, I picked Slytherin. Nat is Gryffindor too so she decided on a Deathly Hallows inspired Gryffindor bow. We all wore Harry Potter t-shirts too. We set off for Nottingham around 2pm and were there for about 3pm. We checked into the Premier Inn and then walked the 10 minutes to the convention.

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When we got to where the convention was (Nottingham Conference Centre), there was a blue ford Anglia car outside and a replica of Hagrid’s bike. Sadly I don’t think either were genuine. We headed inside and there definitely wasn’t much of a wow. Outside were some owls, inside were some stalls (both upstairs and downstairs). Apparently there were some workshops and special effects stuff but there was no timetable or map to carry around so we just looked at stalls. Megan bought a watch and Lily bought a pokemon (yeah not HP related). We spotted a reptile area on the way out but otherwise we spent about an hour looking at stalls and nothing else.

watch

We headed back to the Premier Inn, grabbed a cup of tea and sat for a while before deciding we should get ready for the Ball. Nat curled Megan’s hair, while I did Lily’s. We had attempted to do Lily’s hair beforehand with the help of some Curlformers I’d bought but sadly they had mostly fallen out. It took about an hour to get them both ready and then about the same again for Nat and I. We put on our dresses and makeup, heading out of the hotel around 7.30pm (the ball was due to start 6.30pm but we didn’t want to be too early).

ball

When we got to the conference centre, it wasn’t really that clear where to go so we asked. There was a bar and the ball upstairs and a hog roast outside. We headed for the bar first and got drinks, then into the ball which was like a wedding no one wanted to be at. There was a band playing but everyone was sat down looking miserable. After about five minutes we decided to head out to the hog roast instead. Luckily, this was amazing and sitting outside was nice too. After not being there long, a string quartet started up and it was quite enjoyable to sit there and listen.

hogroast

Though to be honest, Nat and I could quite easily have left at this point, Megan was all for it too, Lily asked if we could go back into the Ball. As we headed inside there was a photobooth (pretty rubbish at that) so we had a picture taken and then went back up. Lucky that we did really as a few people were dancing and we bit the bullet and joined in. Within 15 minutes everyone was up, the live band were back and the lights were dimmed. This last hour was the best of all and thanks to Lily we ended on a high note. Though we didn’t stay quite till 10, we made the most of the evening and enjoyed it despite its lameness. I’m glad we went but it wasn’t worth £25 each.

We headed back to the hotel, got changed and climbed into bed. It had been a pretty nice evening but really we had made it enjoyable between the four of us, rather than the event itself being good.

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Filed Under: where we went Tagged With: Ball, convention, dressing up, events, harry potter, Lily, Megan, Nat, nottingham, Nottingham Conference Centre, Premier Inn, Yule Ball

Disney Bounding

May 10, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

I love to sew and make cosplay costumes or even inspired outfits, but I have to admit I have never actually gone Disney Bounding. When we went to Disneyland Paris the first time, it was very much an impulse visit (we were 10 hours away, further south in France) and when we went again a few years later, it was far too cold to think about dressing up (it snowed!). The same was true when we visited the Christmas just gone but now in May we are going again and then myself and my two best friends are going in June too. I love the idea of Disney Bounding and it doesn’t take anywhere near as much effort as cosplay. Here are some ideas I’ve been toying with.

Pic Credit: Vivien of Holloway

Minnie Mouse is very iconic of Disney, as is her dress. As such, a Minnie Disney Bound is a pretty obvious choice. With all sorts of variety when it comes to red spotty dresses, it won’t be hard to find one in a style you like. Pair it with some yellow shoes and maybe even some Minnie Mouse ears on a headband and you’re all set to go!


Pic Credit: Jones and Jones
Make it Pink! Make it Blue! No matter which version of Aurora’s dress you like, its fairly easy to find something in either pink or blue. This dress screams Aurora to me, because of its shoulder straps, but its short length makes it much more re-usable. Couple this with a little crown or tiara and you’re totally a Princess!

Pic Credit: Chi Chi London

This beautiful shade of blue dress says Cinderella to me and if you couple it with the right shoes and maybe even a plush mouse or too, you’re definitely on your way to bounding Cinders. Maybe a glass slipper necklace or some pumpkin earrings if you’re into the finer touches, but really you can’t go wrong.

For me, I much prefer the idea of being a Disney Villain to be honest. Luckily it’s fairly easy to shop for sexy black dress for Maleficent or the Evil Queen. That’s what I did when I was dressing up as Morticia Adams. In fact a lot of the Disney Villains are simple plain dresses, that can be made to look more bounding with a few accessories.

Whether you prefer to wear dresses or if you’d rather throw some top and trouser combinations in there too, Disney Bounding is really such a simple idea. When Amy, Nat and I visit in June we’re hoping to bound so stay tuned for whatever we pick to wear!

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Filed Under: about me, bounding Tagged With: Aurora, Cinderella, cosplay, Disney, disney bounding, disney parks, disneybound, dresses, dressing up, minnie mouse, online shopping, shops

10/52

March 6, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

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This week’s picture is from World Book Day. Megan went as Where’s Wenda, while Lily went as Harley Quinn. I actually had a lot of choice this week as it was also Lily’s birthday. However I love when the girls dress up and these were some fun and interesting costumes this year!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 10/52, blog project, comic book, costumes, dressing up, Harley Quinn, Lily, Megan, photos, where's wally, where's wenda, world book day

2/52

January 10, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

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Quite by accident, this weeks pictures also include products I have sewn! Lily decided to dress like Harley Quinn (I made the dress), she put her hair in bunches by herself and even found her new black boots to go with it. In her stocking at Christmas there was some Harley Quinn perfume so of course there was a squirt of this included too! Megan on the other hand was modelling some “Mickey” mouse ears for me, that I made over the weekend. These were my first ever attempt and I was really pleased with how they turned out. They are Cinderella themed and I’m sending them over to Liv, to go with the Cinderellla dress I made her for Christmas!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 2/52, blog project, Closet Geek, dressing up, handmade, Harley Quinn, Lily, Megan, Mouse ears, photos

42/52

October 19, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

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This week its separate pictures for a change! Megan is her eating a chocolate cupcake we made at the weekend. The cases were edible and for some reason this was exciting. Megan does love sugar paper mind you so I can see why. Lily was ill during last week but on Wednesday she was feeling a little better and dressed up. She even had on some makeup!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 42/52, baking, blog projects, cupcakes, Disney, dressing up, edible cases, Elsa, frozen, Lily, Megan, photos

Easy (Disney) Cosplay Tips

October 16, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

So as you know, I love to make costumes and I love to cosplay. I’ve been to a few conventions now – LFCC last year, London MCM in May of this year, SFCC in August and a small Lincoln one in September, two of which I cosplayed for. However not everyone has the ability to sew (or the money to buy handmade) so I decided to share some tips about costumes you can threw together easily, using clothes readily available in stores and online.

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For MCM Comic Con, I was originally choosing to go as Go Go Tomago. If you haven’t seen Disney’s Big Hero 6 then you’ll have no idea who that is – and if you haven’t seen it, then you should! Go Go is an awesome female character and her “everyday” look is really easy to replicate.

The costume is basically made up from a black leather jacket, white t-shirt, black (and purple) leggings, black shorts and black trainers. Depending on how exact you’re wanting to be with your costume, sourcing the exact items might prove tricky. However if you’re happy to improvise, you should get most things fairly easily.

I started with the leather jacket. Of course I wasn’t going to get actual leather, as that would be expensive. I headed off to Ebay to find something cheap and secondhand. The important thing to note about Go Go’s jacket was it’s style – the way it zips up, neckline etc.

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Can you spot the difference between the two?

After the jacket, the rest should come fairly easy. A simple white t-shirt, relatively non nondescript. Black leggings, with purple poking through rips – either a double layer of leggings, black over purple with tears cut in the black – or black leggings with rips, patched up underneath with purple material. Black fingerless gloves. Black trainers. Black shorts. Depending on how close you’re wanting to match, I’m sure you can find black trainers with a splash of purple and black shorts with a splash of red. Failing that you could always add your own – paint for the trainers and ribbon for the shorts.

Last but not least, this leaves the hair. Of course if you’re radical you could cut and dye your own (I actually tricked all my facebook friends into thinking I’d done that) or you can buy a wig.

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So long as you plan fairly far in advance (allowing time for shipping from China) you should be able to pick up a relatively cheap cosplay wig. Mine was around £10 mark and took about 3 weeks to arrive. There are some great bargains out there, for all things cosplay, the more time you allow and the further it can travel from!

Filed Under: cosplay Tagged With: baymax, Big Hero 6, clothes, comic con, cosplay, costumes, Disney, dressing up, ebay, fancy dress, Go Go Tomago, GoGo Tomago, LFCC, London film and comic con, MCM expo, MCM London Comic Con

38/52

September 20, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

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Today’s 52 Project photo is actually taken today. We attended a small sort of a comic con in Lincoln called “Geeks” and both girls dressed up. Lily had wanted for a long time to be Harley Quinn, so I made her a dress for the occasion. Megan wasn’t really sure what to go as but since she had the Belle dress from when we went to Florida, and the apron, she decided to go as Belle. Neither were really cosplaying, more just inspired, but it was lovely to see them enjoying dressing up!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 38/52, Belle, blog project, comic con, cosplay, costumes, dressing up, geeks, handmade clothes, Harley Quinn, Lily, Lincoln, Megan, photos

Super Hero Father’s Day Competition

June 19, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Want to win £100 in shopping vouchers? Well now is your chance! However, you have to hurry as the competition ends tomorrow. Men’s Fashion site, Fashion Beans is hosting a Father’s Day Competition with a twist of fun. It’s called “Dress Dad Competition” and the rules are really simple so you should definitely enter.

First you need to grab a dad. Preferably your own, or the kids. However it’s not restricted to dads, it can be a partner, step-dad, brother, an uncle etc. Next you need to dress them up and snap a picture of them. Easy so far right? Finally you need to share your picture on Instagram, using the hashtag #DressDadComp. And that’s it!

The entries so far can be seen here and the rules are here. The closing date is June 20th so you really don’t have long to get dressing up those men!

What and how you dress them isn’t important, it’s more about having some fun and of course using the opportunity to make the men in your life look silly! Remember that the competition ends tomorrow, so get snapping those pictures, upload them to Instagram and remember to use the hashtag #DressDadComp!

Filed Under: promo Tagged With: competition, dress up dad, dressing up, Fashion Beans, father's day, super hero dad

19/52

May 10, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

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Stupid picture this week but its one of the few when you can see both the girls faces clearly. We went to see Disney on Ice in Nottingham on Saturday and the girls both dressed as Elsa. Afterwards we went for lunch at Five Guys.

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 19/52, blog project, Disney on Ice, dressing up, eating out, Elsa, Five Guys, Lily, Megan, nottingham, photos

11/52

March 15, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

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This week’s photo was taken on Saturday, as the girls did their dress-up Disney task. They were waiting for Liv to come downstairs so I snapped a quick photo of them together. I can’t help but think how young Megan looks in this pic! But both still my beautiful girls.

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 11/52, blog project, Disney, Disney fairies, dressing up, Lily, Megan, photos, Silvermist, Tinkerbell

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Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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