Fabfrocks for mamas: Take a Trip to your Local Pumpkin Patch

Hi guys,
Looking for something fun to do with your little person to get them into the spirit of the season? Something halloween-y but not scary, outdoorsy and energetic, and not too expensive? Then I really couldn't recommend a trip to your local pumpkin patch more highly! That's exactly what we did this sunny-but-cold morning, and we had a great time:

We had such a lovely morning out; we let Wilbur ride in the wheel barrow before we loaded it up with our pumpkins. We counted pumpkins, hunted for first big ones and then small ones, and searched out muddy puddles that we could jump in wearing our wellies. Wilbur had such a great time counting out each of the 'pompkins' to us, stopping to examine the ones that caught his fancy more closely, and he chose and re-chose the one we would take home with us, just to be sure he was making the right decision.

If you're in the Norwich/Norfolk area and are looking for somewhere to go to pick out your own pumpkins then we went to the Hill House Farm, North Walsham Road, just outside of Crostwick. We chose five pumpkins (2 huge ones each for Mike and I and a smaller one for Wilbur) and paid just £7.50 for all of them: a remarkably small price for such a fun morning out and so much cheaper than going to the supermarket too. Now I can't wait until we can carve them: Mike and I have spent an age choosing our designs. I'll share the finished products with you as soon as they're done!

Are you carving pumpkins this Halloween? And do you have any more ideas for fun Halloween activities you can enjoy with toddlers?

Love Tor x

Halloween Costume Inspiration Without Looking Like A.....

Hi guys,
Whenever I start thinking about what to go as for Halloween that infamous quote from Mean Girls always pops into my head: "In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it."

I am not much of a slut: I like to keep myself covered up so I'm not very good at it! That means that my Halloween costumes require a little more imagination. As I mentioned in a previous post, we are throwing a mixed child and adult Halloween party for Halloween this year, so I need a costume that won't scare small precocious children but that feels adequately 'Halloween-y'. I turned to my go to site for all of my one stop fashion needs: ASOS, And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by some of their Halloween offerings. Here are my picks:

SKELETON FUN

I love this skeleton look because you could wear the pieces individually again - It's a good way to justify the extra expense of the costume's component parts and means that you won't have to wear horrible polyester all night. Those leggings would look cool with a simple t shirt dress and the tee is perfect for pairing with jeans.

PUMPKIN PRINCESS 

This is a great outfit if you want to wear your favourite black dress whilst still looking like your wearing an awesome costume. Accessories are also cheaper than buying a full costume, which in an added bonus if you're only going to one party and then won't be wearing the outfit again! This is definitely what I would wear if I was going to a fancier evening party.

GHOULISH GHOST

This is probably closest to what I will end up wearing: a super casual sweater so I can run around after kids all afternoon but still with a distinct costume-y feel. Wilbur is going as a super-cute (and not at all scary) bat, and Mike is toying between being a zombie or a vampire. Decisions, decisions!

Need a little more costume inspiration?
Here I am as Madonna in 2011
Here I am as Lady Gaga in 2010 
Here I am as Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit in 2010 

Have you chosen your Halloween costume yet? Do you have any fantastic ideas or inspiration to share? I'd love to hear it!

Love Tor x

October 2012, According to my iPhone...

Hi guys,
It's officially November! That means it is officially the month we will be having this baby - it feels like I've been waiting forever! But it's not time to get ahead of myself and think about next month when I haven't told you what I did last month yet.

Here's what I got up to in October:

Carving pumpkins - You can check out my tutorial on how to carve your own here.
Baking cookies for my nephews first birthday party - I can't believe he's about to turn one!
Caviar manicure - I was really excited when I saw this new nail technique (and it looks great!) but was disappointed on application. It only lasted one day, and the little balls started falling off almost immediately.
Hello Kitty lust - I saw these lipsticks in Superdrug and immediately bought one because of how cute the packaging was. As a lipstick it has no staying power at all, but it does brighten up my dressing table!

Checking out dresses - At the V&A. I went to see the ballgown exhibition with some friends and was just obsessed with some of the dresses. I wish we lived in a time or place where I got to twirl and dance in full skirted frocks occasionally!
Bedroom mini-make over - The bedroom was the only room we hadn't done anything to since we moved in, so I decided to give it a quick mini makeover: new bedding and curtains, new blankets and cushions, and new artwork. Easy peasy!
Pickling! - It's that time of the year again! If you want to make your own pickles and chutneys for Christmas then you need to get a wiggle on - God, I sound all domesticated and old don't I?!

Feeling festive - In Primark! Primark have got a great selection of Christmassy jumpers instore at the moment - early I know - for both men and women. In a slightly-ironic-but-secretly-awesome way, I really love a good Christmas jumper but because you can wear them so little they just aren't worth the money. These Primark ones are the solution!
New eyebrows - I had my eyebrows shaped at the Benefit brow bar. More expensive than a quick wax at my local salon, but the results are totally worth it.
New hair - I've been trying to get myself pampered as much as possible before bubs arrived, so I also had my highlights redone. Next on the list is a relaxing pedicure and a massage or two - I'm reliably assured that in a couple of weeks I won't have anytime to do these things so I'm making the most of it!

Love Tor xx

Fabfrocks at Home: How to carve a pumpkin

Hi guys,
Pumpkin carving is something of an annual Halloween tradition in the Fabfrocks household: hubby and I carve a pumpkin each every year, and compete to see who can create the best design! But if you've never carved a pumpkin before it can be quite daunting. Which is why I've written this quick step by step tutorial (complete with pictures) so that you can create a scary Jack-o-lantern of your own!

1. You will need: We don't buy special pumpkin carving kits, we just use the tools we have in the kitchen. We use a sharp knife, a blunt normal eating knife, a spoon, and an ice cream scoop. You will also need a biro to draw your design template.

2. First you need to do your prep work. Take a sharp knife and remove the top of the pumpkin: traditionally this is done in the shape of a simple circle. I like to create a star shaped lid. Once you have removed the lid comes the boring bit: emptying the pumpkin! Remember that the more of the flesh you can remove, the longer your pumpkin will last. I use a spoon and an icecream scoop to remove as much of the flesh as possible.

3. Choose your design. Google images is a great source of inspiration for this! Once you know what you want your pumpkin to look like, take your biro and draw your design onto the front of your pumpkin: this will provide the template that you will cut out.

4. Get cutting! Take the sharp knife and remove the skin and flesh from your design. I then use the blunt knife to smooth the edges as much as possible: I find it much easier to control and stick to the design that way.

5. Insert your candle, light you're pumpkin, and put it in your living room window so that it can frighten all the children on your street....Mwah hah hah!!! It really is that easy!

Have you carved a pumpkin for this Halloween? What design did you go for? I'd love to see your pumpkin pictures!

Love Tor xx

Happy Halloween!

Hope you're all having a suitably spooky weekend! Mike and I carved these pumpkins this weekend (he did the Hello Kitty!) and are on our way to the London dungeons for their "hell-oween" experience: i'm wearing my skull scarf and pumpkin orange nails for the occasion! Have a great day!

Love, Tor xx

Halloween costume ideas

Hi guys,
With Halloween just a few days away, everyone is talking about what costumes they are going to be wearing. I love Halloween (we will be spending ours at the London Dungeons) and I love dressing up, but I hate unimaginative slut costumes: what exactly does a playboy bunny have to do with Halloween? My thoughts exactly! A costume party is the perfect opportunity to express yourself: do you really want people to think the inner you is a stripper, or worse still, that you have so little imagination you think its OK to dress as a witch? (again!)

So if you still haven't decided what you're going as and you need a costume quick, here are my picks of the best ones to be had:

Of course there was bound to be a Lady Gaga costume or two in the mix. And lets be honest, the Lady is pretty scary! This has all the aspects needed to be a great Halloween look! For around £40 you can buy the two official lady gaga outfits. But lets be honest, the quality is unlikely to be great, and for that money you could buy a dress you might actually wear again! Why not just invest in a couple of cans of coke to wrap in your hair, throw on a pair of fishnet tights with either a black dress or black leotard (depending on how daring you are!) and then add a black studded leather jacket. The one in the picture is from Topshop.

Corpse bride: I have weddings on the brain at the moment, and the corpse bride costume is a nice easy one to do! Tesco's had an amazing corpse bride costume on their website (it's now sold out online) However with a little time this is a costume that can look great on a budget: buy an old wedding dress or long white dress (the older the better!) from your local charity shop. Tear it and add either streaks of dirt or fake blood. White out your face with facepaints and your hair with talc and you're ready to go. Easy as that!
Speaking of my wedding (were we? again?) Alice in Wonderland characters make great costumes (especially if you team up with a group of friends) and are so popular they are no 2 on the list of 100 most popular homemade costumes. From Alice and the Queen of Hearts to the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit, these would be super-easy to buy, and easy to make too (especially the hatter and the rabbit) The Alice dress shown is available from etsy.

Other great ideas for fashion lovers include: Marie Antionette, a 1920's flapper girl, Anna Wintour, and my personal favourite: Karl Lagerfeld.

I can't wait for the start of the witching hour: i'm making jellies with spiders in, and am even attempting orange cake pops (I want to make them look like pumpkins!)How will you be spending your Halloween? What will you be dressing up as this Halloween?

Love, Tor xx