A wonderful Harry Potter night!

I feel like I haven't had much that is very interesting to post about recently as our weekends have largely been taken up with house-based issues, concerts and work preparation and our Half term in February was spent at home in Essex.  I apologise for this. It has largely been a bit uninspired!

Well, the final Wednesday of term was spent in a most unusual way. 

CBC's work had organised a Harry Potter night which he had been to last year and enthused over as well as bringing me back some treats.  

Well, this year, he was asked to be one of the Professors for it- he was asked to be Newt Scamander from the Fantastic Beasts and where to find them movie.

In case you are not sure of the Harry Potter link, Newt Scamander is the author of the book entitled, Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them which is on Harry's required reading list in his first year at Hogwarts.

This month, in preparation, CBC has spent time searching for costume items to make his costume up. I was getting very excited and wishing I could also dress up though in the end, I just wore his colleague's academic gown!

The excitement began at the entrance.  They had covered the main doors with this brick wall material which you had to step through rather like Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross. I failed miserably at getting through and also tripped up!

 After putting my bags in CBC's office, Sorry NEWT's office, I headed to the library to hear CBC and his music ensemble playing the Harry Potter, Hedwig's Theme.

Here began the first of 3 sorting ceremonies, introduced by two of the pupils who were organising, most beautifully! It was very clever the way they got some pupils to come up and used their knowledge of the pupils to make a judgement.

 The space was disguised beautifully with the long tables set out like the Hogwarts dining room, fairy lights and then these 'floating candles' on the ceiling!

 At this point, I had a look at CBC's costume- someone had made him a wire Bowtruckle which was attached to his suitcase (this once housed Grasmere Gingerbread!)

 Here is CBC as Newt Scamander! My Mum made him a really cute crocheted Bowtruckle which was annoyingly not pictured as it cheekily poked out his pocket on the other side.

 At this point, the students were sent to their lessons- each had been given a timetable of Hogwarts lessons to attend.

I crept into Transfiguration where they were using the Wingardium Leviosa spell to try and make their feathers float!

 A previous Headteacher seemed to be a talking, moving portrait!

One very cool thing you could do was you had to change your money at the Gringotts bank for Wizarding money.

I chose to change £5 for 11 sickles which surprisingly, bought a lot!

Next, I headed to Diagon Alley to see what I could spend my money on.

Here, you could buy Nifflers- these canny Critters are attracted to treasure and steal it!

Golden snitches were also for sale!

Honeydukes were selling their famous treat mix!

You could buy the Monster Book of books which is what CBC bought me last year! The one in the cage was very fierce!

Pumpkin pastries could be purchased!

Or Golden snitch cake pops!

One of CBC's jobs was to be accosted by pupils at various times who had to seek the various professors around and obtain their autographs by answering a question about that particular character!

At various times, CBC's suitcase burst open and animals escaped!  He had a lot of my soft toys in there and we bought some Nifflers!

Another of the tasks was to seek various objects hidden around the building such as the Sword of Godric Gryffindor!

As well as specific lessons the pupils had to attend, there were various 'free-period' activities and lessons they could take part in. Here was one of the potions free choices.

I headed into Herbology and paid 1 sickle to try and repot a Mandrake! It was one of those 'don't touch the wire' games but with a Mandrake attached and going from one pot to another! I wasn't very good!

Always remember to wear your furry earmuffs for Mandrake repotting!

 There were lots of scary looking plants in the Herbology lab!

But rather goofy too!

Next, I caught the tail-end of one of the Potions lessons which involved some chemistry and at the end of the lesson you had to put something through a bunsen burner flame.  Confession- I was deadly scared of these at Secondary School and never touched one in my 5 years of Science!

I spotted Aragog , the enormous Acromantula lurking by the shredder! AHRGH!

 Back in Diagon Alley, I had a go at one of the games which was to guess what was in Dobby, the House Elf''s socks. Got all of them right but one!

CBC and I tried some Butterbeer. It was NOT nice!

At this point, I spotted Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes!

I headed to the Hall to watch the Quidditch lesson!

I didn't manage to catch any of the other lessons such as Divination or look at all the stalls but what I saw was super!

The final event was the announcement of the winners of the House Cup and the Yule Ball which I played flute for.  We played the Waltz from the Yule Ball whilst some students waltzed like in the Goblet of Fire and then the Wyrd Sisters performed, Can you do the Hippogriff?

There are many other things I haven't mentioned or photographed including lessons, decorations, stalls, games, things to buy. All the Professors looked amazing- there was Hagrid, Mad-eye Moody, McGonagle, Sirius Black, Professor Trelawney, Madame Olympe Maxime, Professor Dolores Umbridge, Professor Sprout.

The whole thing was utterly wonderfully organised and great fun.  The delight of all the pupils who attended was really obvious. I kept giggling with delight all the time.

What did I spend my 11 sickles on you may ask?

Well:

2 sickles were spent on a Pygmy Puff,

2 sickles on a bag of Honeydukes treat mix

1 sickle on a Golden Snitch.

2 Sickles on a Niffler, 

2 sickles on a wand.

1 sickle on a Pumpkin pastry (not pictured)

1 sickle on a Golden Snitch cake pop

CBC also bought a Niffler and I was given a wand glow stick as I left.

You could also buy Bowtruckles like his.

Oh and here is the Bowtruckle my Mum made!

The whole event was brilliant! I hope if anyone reads this, it might give them some ideas of an event like this to organise!

x

TARDIS Tuesday- #If I were her Companion- Forays into the 13th Doctor's New Assistant

There is a great cosplaying Instagrammer called Bancroffed who created a rather fun challenge over the summer which basically involved imagining that you had been cast as Jodie Whittaker, the new female Doctor Who's companion and posting pictures for 7 days of what your companion might wear.

This sounded right up my street and I decided to name my character, give her a backstory and write some details about her adventures!  Plus, for anyone who is a Classic Who fan like me, I made reference to lots of old Doctor Who stories and characters as well as a few modern ones!

Even if you are not a Who fan, I would be totally intrigued to see what you think of these story ideas or outfits I've created!

I thought I'd join in with the fun and imaginative challenge that the fabulous @bancroffed has created, #ifiwerehercompanion . Aka, the new 13th Doctor's companion. Well, my companion is a space Librarian from The Library who left to explore the Universe just before Vashta Nerada took over the Library. Unfortunately, she's ended up on a planet where Giant Fruit rules the planet by stealth. Unsuspecting and a bit ditsy, having shockingly not read up on this strange planet, she ends up picking some baby pears growing on the nursery trees and finding her self surrounded by an Apple army which grows immense until the Doctor rescues her from imminent execution! The Fruitalia planet is very warm so she's wearing a polka dot dress and cardie-cool but she bought a Watermelon collar from the market when she arrived and her favourite Dorothy inspired shoes because she likes to be able to walk round libraries feeling comfy but glittery. I wonder how the Doctor saves her and sorts out the problems on Fruitalia? 

In the 2nd episode of #ifiwerehercompanion , the Doctor discovers that Merry, her new companion, has never visited Earth and given her passion for libraries, decides to take her to the British Library in London in the 1960's. Merry is a bit doubtful about visiting Earth, but decides she likes the idea of the Library anyway and sports her book outfit- book dress, book pins, book-shaped bag and flat shoes as always and they arrive. Unfortunately, they find a Body in the Library and the Doctor decides she wants to embrace her inner Miss Marple and sets out to find the killer. It turns out that there is a group on Intergalactic beings who are engaged in a sort of Treasure Hunt to seek certain books of Time round the Universe and the key to finding the murderer is finding the book! At the end of the mystery, Merry begs the Doctor to let them join in the search for The Books of Time as a way to explore the Universe. And there we have our story arc for series 11! SWIPE for details.

In the 3rd episode of #IfIwerehercompanion, the Doctor and Merry, having taken up the challenge of seeking the Books of Time and the clues in the scrolls of the Book of time, lead them to find themselves seeking the next book on the planet Svartos which the Doctor realises she has been to before.  The planet is cold, dark and full of snow so the Doctor has a rummage in the TARDIS wardrobe and resurrects her brown fur coat from meeting the Yeti.  Merry, the vegetarian, decides instead to wear something a bit more modern- Baker Boy hat, checked coat, flat boots as ever (there might be a library!) and Romana's old white scarf, which makes the Doctor a little nostalgic as she mentions her old companion to a bemused Merry. On Svartos, they seek the second Book of Time, the ancient book of Wisdom, which is rumoured to be encased in a great Blue Glacier. The Doctor & Merry also find themselves a familiar Rival in the form of Savalom Glitz, who has returned his formerly named ship, Iceworld, to its home planet. Now alone he is seeking the book for an anonymous 'Special Customer'. Many journeys in sleighs ensure, with menace in the form of Sinister Giant fur beasts until  they find the Book. Merry wishes she'd worn the fur coat...

Day4/Episode 4of #ifiwerehercompanion - Merry and the Doctor are after the Next Book of time on the most beautiful place in the Universe, The Eye of Orion. They are seeking the Book which tells of the Secret of this beautiful place. It is hidden in the Well of contentment. The Doctor, telling Merry that this is her favourite place to rest in the Universe, decides to take a break and leave Merry​ to search for the book. What could possibly go wrong? Hearing that the Eye of Orion is a beautiful place, Merry dresses in a light summer dress and Vintage Straw hat, thinking that this is the easiest mission. But unfortunately, discovers that the Weeping Angels are on the Eye of Orion! Luckily, she has read about them, being an erudite kind of girl. How will Merry find thr books AND escape the angels? 

Day 5of #ifiwerehercompanion ! Merry and the Doctor discover that the next book is the Log book of The Marie Celeste! They travel back in time and Merry find what she thinks is what the Navy wears. Oh how wrong she is! The Doctor dresses as Captain Jack Sparrow! Unfortunately, they are locked up straight away as Stowaways!!!! A strange sea monster is menacing the waters and it doesn't seem to be of this world!! Strangely enough, in the end, it isn't the sea monster that scares the crew off. Merry and the Doctor are saying goodbye when they spy THE TARDIS materialising and the DOCTOR REMEMBERS she was there before!! She sees her old Companions, Ian, Barbara and Vicky plus her old self arrive and then the DALEKS turn up in their time machine!! They hide because they don't want to distract the former Doctor from escaping the DALEKS and change time!

I'm a bit early with my 6th day of #ifiwerehercompanion but I'm on duty straight after lunch and in rehearsals so it is now or never! In the 6th episode, the Doctor and Merry head to a very swanky planet called Viennis for the New Moon Ball. Merry wears her fanciest dress, which sadly isn't THAT fancy, Balls at The Library never happened. She wears it with her idiosyncratically flat shoes. It is rumoured that the owner of the 5th Book of Time is to be present. No other information is available but the other seekers of the books are getting desperate and Merry is captured and held to ransom by one nefarious hunter! 

Final episode of #ifiwerehercompanion . The next book is hidden on the planet of Kilnooin which is warm and intensely green, full of trees. Merry dresses for a Summer afternoon- warm weather appropriate and very light. Flat shoes as always! The Book of Time, which is to be find on this planet, was stolen only last week by a band of intergalactic fugitives who have yellow skin and 3 eyes. They seek it because it will give them dominion over all the planet. The Doctor and Merry must seek it, not only for their original mission but to save the gentle tree-dwelling furry folk who live in harmony there, harvesting life-giving medicines. 
I'm afraid, if you want to find out how The Books of Time story arc ends, you'll have to lobby the BBC and Chris Chibnall to employ me as Script writer for series 11. Thanks to @bancroffed for initiating such a fun challenge!!

What do you think?

Do you like the outfits and any of my ideas for 13th Doctor adventures?  

Would you like Merry as a companion?

Who would your companion be and what would they wear?

xx

Magnapins & Brooch converters- a guide to getting more out of brooches

Hello All,

As you may know if you are a regular reader, I am rather a fan of brooches.  In my myriad 5 Brooches posts over the past few years, a few of you have confessed to liking the idea of brooches but not liking the ideas of  making holes in your clothes or finding it hard to wear them.

I agree with this problem. Some clothes, it doesn't seem to affect them, particularly if they have a wide weave, but with certain items, the holes you create as you stab a hole into the garment with a brooch pin seem huge! Also, positioning them right is also very difficult whether you put the brooch onto the garment when you are or are not wearing it.

To this end, I thought I'd share a few solutions I have discovered to this problem.

Magnapin

The first one is a magnetic brooch fastener called Magnapin.  It is made by a US company but over the last year or so, they have been imported to the UK by some online retailers.
It comes in a box and the magnet is extremely powerful. It is about the size of a British 5p piece.

It comes in two pieces- the magnet and the metal part which has a hole through which you post the long pin of your brooch.  The hole has some sort of foam inside it which ensures your brooch doesn't rattle in the hole, it is a snug fit.  You can see below, that you open your brooch back pin and insert it through the hole. You will encounter a little resistance. Push it to the middle and then make sure the flat side is facing outwards- you can then fasten your pin as usual.  Position it where you want to on your garment and then hold the magnet the other side of your garment until they 'snap' together.

For larger,heavier brooches, they suggest you use two magnapins, but I've not actually tried this at all yet though I do have two.

Where to buy:
In the UK, you can purchase Magnapins from Daisy Park - they retail at £13.95 or  from Kitty Kat Uk for £11.95. I got my two on special offer so they were cheaper. They are slightly cheaper if you purchase direct from Magnapin in the US but they didn't used to ship to the UK.

Any problems with them? 
Well, occasionally, the magnet doesn't sit flat, it wants to tip and touch the brooch back that is attached to the brooch, so it sits diagonal. I think this might be because the metal of that type of brooch pin is magnetic and so the magnet is attracted to it. This is occasionally annoying but for the most part is not a problem. On this shiny material below, it slipped a little too when I knocked it around after a day.

Excuse the double chin- but you can see this is quite a substantial sized brooch and it held fairly well at my collar. This one did slip a little when knocked but otherwise, they hold really well.

Brooch Converter

Sometimes though, you just don't want a brooch- perhaps your fabric is delicate or you can't get it in the right position or the material is too patterned for you to notice the brooch.  Instead, the second solution for wearing your brooch is using a brooch converter to make it into a necklace. 

You can see that they are very simply a tiny thin tube with a loop attached. You simply post your brooch pin through the thin tube the way you did with the Magnapin. There is no sponge cushioning it and making it a tight fit which I think causes the problem mentioned below.*

The two types allow for brooches that are fitted to their brooch horizontally, as pictured below, or occasional vertical ones.

Where to buy:
I purchased mine from somewhere I have avoided since I discovered they don't pay their taxes.  If I cannot get it elsewhere, I will buy something from there, otherwise, I will always try to find alternatives which is usually no problem.  Yes, I am talking Amazon- I bought the vertical brooch converter from Beadaholiques here for £2.19 and their horizontal brooch converter for £2.89 here

Any problems?
*Yes- I have found that certain brooches, particularly heavy ones, big ones where the pin is quite far away from the top edge of the brooch or ones with a long pin really tip forward or backwards and just don't sit right and I gave up on wearing them with the brooch converter. Still, one of two of them have worked quite well.

You can see the horizontal converter in use here with this heart balloon brooch. It does rock a little because the tube doesn't have sponging inside but this brooch pin isn't too large so it largely sits straight.

I've not tried the vertical one yet, but I will add to this post when I do.

What do you think?

If you are a brooch wearer- would this revolutionize your brooch-wearing? If you are not, what do you think of the ingenuity in these products?

xxx

P.S. I'll say this anyway, even though you know it. I was not given these products by any company wanting a glowing review- I just purchased them myself in order to protect my clothing and extend my brooch versatility usage.

Super easy, eco-friendly Valentines Cards ideas

Hi there,

Just in case you have left it too late to buy a card or you fancy making your own, I thought I'd link to a few previous posts of mine in which I have shared simple ways to make cards:

 6 easy peasy Valentines cards you can make yourself

This Dot to dot post card was one of the 6 ideas I suggested in the post above.  This one, as you can see, is ridiculously easy to make.

Dot to Dot

Envelope hearts

As part of a Heart swap back in 2012, I made a box of heart cards for Tracy, my partner and this is a design I have made numerous times for engagement cards which uses recycled envelope inards in contrasting patterns. It could work well for Valentines too!

Heart swap post

The card below was the card I made for Tracy to accompany the gift, but I don't see why this couldn't work as a simple Valentines card. I used the heart stickers I had used as masks to paint her a heart mug, as they were still sticky, rather than chucking them away.

Just add stickers...

Citrus hearts

These card are not Valentines cards as such but since they contain hearts, they could be a nice non-soppy idea for someone in your life!

Hearty drink 

A slice of my heart

Ribbon hearts idea

If you click the link in the caption, you can see how I made this card by utilising those annoying ribbons in clothing that are for hangers but stick out of jumpers and dresses annoyingly.

Ribbons from clothing card

Buttons:
 Buttons can act like Mosaic pieces and I love a good mosaic! All the below were a case of arranging and sticking with PVA glue or sticky tape! If you save those buttons from clothing but never seem to use them, now is your time!

Button heart idea

The wedding card that could be a Valentines.

Rainbow buttons

Yet another button card... The background blue is from a Tissue box!

Office Essentials holepunch card

I had sooo much traffic to this Valentines idea post a few years ago, I think it was because it said the phrase, Office Essentials in it! Anyway, this one is another very non-soppy idea and rather like the buttons is a form of mosaic but with hole-punched pieces from some paper that was going into the recycling.

Holepunch valentines

Origami hearts:
 If you look for a You tube tutorial, this is where I got this idea from for Origami hearts. These ones were made out of old envelopes! I am TERRIBLE at Origami but I found these super easy and I even managed to get one of the girls in the office to make one for her boyfriend by showing her how.

Origami hearts

Scrap card mosaic:

Most of the card in this mosaic for my husband came from tissue boxes, junk mail or other packaging except for the holographic one- have a look and see what packaging can be used!

And finally, here is yet another mosaic card idea,but this was the first Valentines my now-husband made for me back in 2010, so it's not just me who likes to give the crafty idea a go!!!! If I can find any of his other ones, I will post them..

Do you have any Valentines cards ideas? Do share if so and let me know if you use any of these!

Much love,

Kezzie xx

Linking up with Creative Mondays at Claire Justine's! So long since I last linked up!