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MCM Birmingham – What we wore

November 27, 2015 by Bel

Last week myself, Lily and Amy all attended MCM Birmingham Comic Con. It was something we decided fairly last minute and as such we decided to wear “put together” costumes instead of handmade ones. I’d previously posted about putting together a cosplay costume, where I’d showed you how I intended to make a Gogo Tomago outfit out of clothes bought from the high street. It was this that decided us on Gogo and Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6 and since I sell a Baymax dress at Closet Geek, Lily wore this to go with us.

mcm1

Though I definitely didn’t feel as happy dressing up in store bought clothes as I do when I make it myself, it was still a lot of fun to do. Amy and I both wore wigs and while they weren’t as nice as some of the wigs we’ve previously worn, they did the job. Majority of both mine and Amy’s costumes were bought on Ebay, though we both did make alterations. While I don’t know how much hers cost to put together, the total cost of mine was around £40, plus the wig. Check out high-quality wigs that blend style, comfort, and confidence here.

gogo1jacket – £10 (eBay, second-hand)
t-shirt – £4 (Peacocks)
shorts – £4 (Sports Direct)
2x leggings – £3 each (eBay, new)
trainers – £8 (Shoe Zone)
wig, gloves and sweatband not pictured

I have to admit I did feel a little fat in it and I didn’t really think of Gogo being sporty until I was actually wearing the outfit. I was pleased at how easily it came together but sadly I don’t think I’ll wear it again.

gogo2Luckily I was pleased with the selfie instead!

baymax

Lily on the other hand looked cute as a button! (excuse my washing in the background!).

Filed Under: about me, cosplay Tagged With: baymax, Big Hero 6, Closet Geek, comic con, cosplay, costumes, GoGo Tomago, honey lemon, mcm, mcm birmingham

Easy (Disney) Cosplay Tips

October 16, 2015 by Bel

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.

JKW6 Pokerun_Womens_Marylin_Leather_Jacket_zoom

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).
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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

Week 20 – Monday Round-up

May 19, 2015 by Bel

Bit behind on my round up this week so I’m going to make it quick. As suspected, last week was busy. I had a fairly lazy Monday while the girls were at school and Chris was at work, but after that it filled up pretty quick. On Tuesday morning I worked at school in the office, came home and blogged plus had a bath. I spent the evening reading a book and by the following day I was finished with the book! You can read my review about both Marked and Claimed here. Wednesday I was at school again, just for the morning but then I headed home and started to paint my nails while catching up on TV. The girls were both going to friends’ houses after school so that gave me longer to myself but it did mean I had to turn out to pick them up and by the time we got home it was pretty much time for them to go to bed.

I spent the evening finishing my nails and watching some TV. I also got ready for the next day which was Lily’s school trip – charging my camera and packing lunches. The next day we were up early, I dropped Megan at her Grandma’s and then went to school with Lily and on her school trip. We went to Yorkshire Wildlife Park and it was a really nice day, despite being freezing cold. However the whole day was exhausting and I was fit for nothing once we got home.

On Friday it was another busy day – SHARE at school, followed by a picnic Family lunch. I nipped off shopping in between the two so it was a constant go day but it was especially nice to spend time with the girls and then be home by about 2.30pm. When we got back, Megan and I made a point of finishing off our Florida scrap book and then the three of us even walked into town to get a frame for her Baymax artist drawing. When we got back I put it on the wall which seemed to really please her.

On Saturday, Chris was at work and the girls and I had SUCH a lazy day. I did nip out to get a parcel from the post office but otherwise we did nothing. We even had a takeaway and movie night, to seal our lack of nothingness for the day! That said I did manage to pick a murder mystery for my birthday and organised everyone’s parts. I even printed it all out so I was totally organised. Finally it was Sunday and this time Chris was off too. We still had a very lazy day though, but I did buy some bits for my party and Megan and I stuck the last few things into the scrapbook, making it completely finished. I spent the evening trying out my Starter Pack from Paper Panda which I’ve had since Christmas. I’m not completely sure it’s my type of thing because it requires a lot of patience but I was stubborn enough to stick with it and at least get the first full page finished.

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: art, artwork, baymax, books, Claimed, Disney, Hollywood Studios, International Families Day, Marked, nails, paper art, paper panda, picnic, school, Share

16/52

April 19, 2015 by Bel

baymax

Another memory maker photo for this week. This was towards the latter end of our holiday, taken in Hollywood Studios. The girls (and I) were very excited to be meeting Baymax, especially since he isn’t planned as a permanent feature!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 16/52, baymax, blog project, characters, Disney, Disney World, hiro, Hollywood Studios, Lily, Megan, photos, wdw

Week 12 – Monday Round-up

March 23, 2015 by Bel

This week I have managed to make notes in a draft post so writing this round-up doesn’t seem half as daunting! Yay me! So… Monday Chris was at work early and the girls went to school. I spent majority of my day on the computer, catching up with blogging and getting ready for my scheduled posts during my April holiday. The girls didn’t have any Singing Stars this week but instead we had the dentist. I picked them up from school and we headed there, via my mum’s to brush our teeth. When we got to the Dentists it was straight in and out pretty much and so I called Chris to see if he wanted to meet for Burger King and then have a lift home. On the way to pick him up I got a flat tyre and with no wheel wrench and no jack I was pretty screwed. I called my insurance/breakdown recovery, only to find out I didn’t have any so by the time Chris got to me, I sent him to find a wheel wrench and jack to get us sorted. Eventually we managed to get the flat tyre off and the spare on, so headed to Burger King and grabbed some food before heading home. Chris and I spent the evening watching TV, while I blogged and then we also watched The Walking Dead.

On Tuesday morning I was tasked with returning the jack we had borrowed (we bought the wheel wrench) and so I dropped off the kids and then took the jack back. I headed to Tanvic to get my tyres sorted and while they were being done I headed into town. Whilst in Primark, the Be Our Guest breakfast reservations became available and so Amy and I had a few moments of madness while we tried to organise that. The tyre place rang to say that they didn’t actually have my tyre in stock but could order it and I could go back the next day. Unfortunately my car was already booked in the garage for the next day so instead I said I’d take it back Thursday. I headed home for a while and chilled while watching TV and getting some more blogging done. I was feeling a bit blah and so when Chris arrived home he ordered us pizza and chips and we vegged out while waiting for the girls to get home. They arrived back around 7pm and Lily went straight to bed, while Megan was still up when Jon and my brother Chris arrived. However Megs went to bed fairly soon and we all sat down at the dining table to play board games – this was Chris’ birthday party. The first game we played was called “Cash ‘n’ Guns and it was fantastic. Really simple and easy to play, fairly quick for each round and hilariously funny. We ended up playing it three times and genuinely I loved it.

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After Cash n Guns, we played a Walking Dead board game that Chris got last year for his birthday and we never got around to playing. Sadly it was pretty crap and so I don’t imagine we’ll be playing that again! Such a shame too as the simpler (and cheaper) Walking Dead card game that he also got last year was actually pretty good. The boys finished off with a few rounds of Inn Fighting, a dice and card game that didn’t really interest me. I moved through to the lounge and waited for everyone to leave, heading to bed when they did.

On Wednesday I dropped the girls off at school and then took my car to the garage, where mum picked me up. We headed back to her house for the day and watched Divergent, since she’s just recently read the book series. Mum went out over lunch so I wrote some blog posts and got myself some food. Megan ended up coming home with mum from school as she was feeling unwell. At the end of school time, mum gave me a lift down to get my car and then she collected Lily from school and took her home. I went to school myself but it was Parent’s Evening so I hung around and waited for my appointment. Both girls are doing really well which I was incredibly pleased to hear and this was by far Lily’s best parent’s evening to date as well. I drove back to mum’s to pick up the girls and then we headed back home and the girls went to bed. I made myself some dinner and watched TV, while I waited for Chris to come home from work. Afterwards he was home we watched some Kitchen Nightmares before heading to bed.

Some of Lily’s class work that I took a picture of at Parent’s Evening

On Thursday I headed out to take the girls to school but met my mum midway who actually took Megan off me and took her to Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar. Megan was participating in a Maths competition that morning and my mum had volunteered to provide lifts. After dropping Lily off at school it was back to Tanvic to get my tyres done but this time instead of heading into town I just sat and waited. My tyres were done by about 10am and so I headed to Tesco and got some shopping done before heading home. The majority of the day was spent tidying the house and then afterwards I went to get the girls from school. Megan had done really well in the Maths competition and her team had come first, beating all the other schools that had taken part! I was so incredibly proud of her. When we got back we had three Disney tasks to fit in – one from the day before (dress up Disney), one from that day (make or draw Disney) and one from the previous week (watch The Lion King). It was sort of hectic but we got dinner and then managed to fit it all in. I even made Chris a Cornflake Tart (his request, instead of a birthday cake). Once Lily was in bed, Megan and I wrapped Chris’ presents, as well as two for my nephews as it was their birthday party at the weekend. Megan then headed to bed and I worked some more on my blog. When Chris got home he had some of his cornflake tart and we both had a glass of wine. We headed to bed around 11pm as we were both too tired to stick it out till midnight.

When we woke up on Friday morning, it was of course Chris’ birthday. The girls came into our room and we opened presents and cards in bed. After that we all had to get ready as usual as the girls still had school and we were even going that morning too. Megan was in Shine Assembly and she got a certificate for her work. She was also in Assembly for the Maths competition the day before, where they all got certificates for coming first. As assembly ended the Eclipse was happening and so Year 5 and 6 were going into the Playground to watch it. Mum asked if we could stay and watch from there and so we did.

After leaving school we headed to the garage as there had been a car there on Wednesday that might have been suitable for Chris. However it was sold already so that was that! Chris and I headed into town and got McDonalds breakfast for his birthday treat. He then went to work for 11am and I headed into town. I really only went to Primark as the time before I’d ended up dumping all my stuff without paying for it (don’t ask!). I bought a few things for holiday and then headed back to my car. I went home for a few hours and then turned out again to get the girls. When we got back from school they had dinner and we watched The Incredibles. After that they went to bed and I blogged while waiting for Chris to come home. When he was back he had more cornflake tart and this time I made him some custard to go with it! We headed to bed around 11pm as I was feeling pretty tired.

On Saturday Chris let me have a bit of a lie-in and so when I got up it was nearly 10am. His dad called around for a while and so to let them talk, the girls and I started to properly pack their suitcases and check off their lists. After Chris’ dad was gone we all headed downstairs and then girls help me set the table and cook brunch (though more like lunch) for us all. I’d originally promised Chris a fried breakfast for his birthday but because we’d gone to Assembly it hadn’t been possible and this was to make up for it. After food we were all stuffed and it was hard to find the energy to do anything. However I worked on some sewing projects, cutting out pieces and doing as much as I could with the fabric I had. The Disney task was to cook Disney food and so we put Baymax faces on marshmallows and toasted them. It was simple but fun and nice to do something a little different for a change. In the early evening we all settled down to watch Cars and we ordered takeaway (another treat for Chris’ birthday). Once it was finished and the girls were in bed, Chris and I took turns to have a bath and then I worked on Lily’s latest dress bodice until we headed to bed.

Sunday came and went far too fast! Lily woke us early and Chris was in a fairly foul temper all day. I tried to ride it out but for the most part I just kept the girls out of his way so as not to annoy him more! At 10am I popped out to Boyes as I needed some material and when I got back I worked on my sewing. At 11.30am we headed out to Scunthorpe and to my brother’s house, as it was his twin boys birthday party and we were invited. After arriving at around 12.15pm, we stayed for a couple of hours and left at around 2.30pm. It was a lovely time and it was so nice to see my nephews after quite some time. When we got home, I went back to my sewing projects. The girls ended up sitting with me and making dolls clothes which was harder than they expected but very cute. We spent hours in the dining room, eventually making dinner and all sitting in there to eat it as well. Afterwards Lily went to bed and I started working on some blog stuff for Twice the Mum – sorting out some books and movies for our From Page to Screen feature. Once that was done I made a start on some actually sewing on my sewing machine but it didn’t feel like I got much done before eventually heading to bed!

It’s been a funny sort of a week, that’s felt incredibly busy. I can’t wait till the girls have finished this one last week of school so I can just concentrate on getting ready for Florida!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: assembly, baymax, Big Hero 6, board games, brother, brunch, burger king, car, cash n guns, chris' birthday, cornflake tart, costumes, dentist, Disney, dresses, eclipse, fried breakfast, From Page to Screen, games night, garage, parent's evening, primark, puncture, sewing, Shine Assembly, Twice the Mum, twins, tyres

Disney Countdown – Days 16 to 10

March 23, 2015 by Bel

countdown
Monday (16) – March 16th – Read Disney
Tuesday (15) – March 17th – Play a Disney game
Wednesday (14) – March 18th – Dress up Disney
Thursday (13) – March 19th – Make or Draw Disney
Friday (12) – March 20th – Watch The Incredibles
Saturday (11) – March 21st – Make Disney food
Sunday (10) – March 22nd – Watch a random Disney movie – Cars

This week has been a busy one but we’re almost there now! This is days 16 down to 10 – yes 10! On Monday we had to Read Disney which was a nice calm start to the week. We read another couple of chapters from the Nevergirls book and we’re over half way now. On Tuesday it was play a Disney game and luckily we all play Tsum Tsum most days as it was a “daddy day” meaning the kids weren’t back till late. Wednesday it was Parent’s Evening and the girls’ went to mum’s while I went to see their teachers. This meant it was late when we got back and they didn’t actually dress up till Thursday to do Wednesday’s task. Also on Thursday we had to Make or Draw Disney and so the girls worked on their Tinkerbell fashion books. Still on Thursday, we also caught up with The Lion King from last week (finally) – Thursday was a very busy day! On Friday we came home from school and watched The Incredibles. Saturday was make Disney food and as we were looking for something easy we made Baymax faces on Marshmallows and toasted them. We also watched Cars in the afternoon as we knew we wouldn’t get time on Sunday – and that was Sunday’s task, watch a random movie.

Only 10 more days and 10 more tasks till we go on holiday. This week is the last week of school for the kids and their dad is having them over the weekend. Hopefully we keep on track and get all our tasks done, before we jet off to Florida, a week on Thursday.

Filed Under: Disney Countdown Tagged With: Anna, baymax, Big Hero 6, Cars, Cinderella, costumes, Disney, Disney fairies, disney fashion, dress up, from the mist, marshmallows, never girls, pixar, The Incredibles, Tinkerbell, tsum tsum

8/52

February 22, 2015 by Bel

This is a picture I shared on Instagram this week, from when we went to Meadowhall on Friday. Outside Yo Sushi was this big Baymax which the girls had their picture taken with. This was great as we’d been to see Big Hero 6 for the second time on Wednesday and the big inflatable Baymax from the cinema had been gone. We were sad as we’d wanted a picture taking with him and this was perfect because it meant we could.

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 8/52, baymax, Big Hero 6, blog project, Disney, Lily, meadowhall, Megan, photos, Yo Sushi

Disney Countdown – Days 79 to 73

January 18, 2015 by Bel

disneycountdown

Monday (79) – Jan 12th – Draw or Make Disney
Tuesday (78) – Jan 13th – Play a Disney Game
Wednesday (77) – Jan 14th – Dress up Disney
Thursday (76) – Jan 15th – Read a Disney book
Friday (75) – Jan 16th – Watch “The Little Mermaid”
Saturday (74) – Jan 17th – Make Disney themed food
Sunday (73) – Jan 18th– Paint “Ariel” peg doll

I seriously can’t believe how fast the days are flying by. In terms of weeks, we have a little over 10 weeks to go! Anyway, this is what we got up to this week. Monday was draw or make disney again and since we were so into our hair bows, the girls and I made a Baymax bow. On Tuesday it was play a disney game and since none of us could really be bothered, it was to iPads and iPhones, to play on Tsum Tsum! Wednesday was dress up disney and Megan was back to being Elsa again while Lily was Cinderella this time. Thursday the girls were at mum’s, so we had to be prepared. I dropped off a Disney book at Mum’s in the morning and left strict instructions as the selfie rule! Megan sent me the pictures later and I combined them into one for our Instagram countdown picture. On Friday it was watch a Disney movie and this time it was specifically The Little Mermaid. I will admit its been ages since I watched this, so it was really nice to watch again. I also spent the evening sewing Amy’s “Kiss the Girl” dress so it was very atmospheric!

On Saturday we had to make Disney themed food and honestly we’re running out of ideas a little. We want to avoid always making cupcakes or biscuits that just look or are shaped like Disney characters. We resorted to the Disney Cakes and Sweets magazines that I once had on subscription but sadly majority of those recipes are very tenuously linked to the disney characters. We decided on Winnie the Pooh – Honey and Vanilla biscuits, since Pooh Bear does at least like honey! Sadly no one was particularly fussed about the biscuits and after forcing Chris to eat the majority, the rest went in the bin! That leads us right up to Sunday where the task was to paint a peg doll – specifically Ariel. She decided on doing the “Kiss the Girl” look, probably partly because I’d been making the dress and really it was a very mermaid themed weekend. On Sunday, though it was nothing to do with our tasks, we also played Disney DVD Trivial Pursuit as a family, which was a lot of fun!

Filed Under: Disney Countdown Tagged With: Ariel, baymax, biscuits, Cinderella, dress making, Elsa, hair bow, kiss the girl, Little Mermaid, peg doll, sewing, tsum tsum

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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