Heatons is an Irish Department Store, but readers outside the island can order on the website, and orders over £30 are delivered free.
I'm crazy about their leopard print cardigans which start at £6.00 each as some colours are in the sale. If you watch my Vine channel you'll see I'm very attached to my two green versions.
Heatons' website has lots of well priced fashion to carry you through autumn.
love these wellies
This is such a World of Kitsch service, I just love it. Sick Note is a personalised gift service with packages of goodies to get your loved ones better.
You can choose a themed pack, such as the expectant mother, or bearded man packs, or you can put together a bespoke selection of gifts by hand from the treats available.
The gorgeous cloth bags can be with your recipient within 3 hours of purchase, if they live in central London. Same day delivery applies to the rest of London, and elsewhere in the UK is 48 hours. Packs like the Hangover one they sent me, would be great to give a hen or stag before they head off for a crazy weekend. Visit Sick Note for a nosy,
Who remembers the first time they watched a Wallace and Gromitt movie? I remember being amazed when I first learned how painstakingly they shot each frame, moved the characters a fraction of a millimetre, then shot another frame.
Well I was reminded of this when I discovered a new iPad game called "Tidy Kids" by the folks at Jolly Wombat. Of course, there's a lot less animation than in a Wallace and Grommet movie but the characters are really enchanting and beautifully crafted. I imagine they had almost as much fun making this app as we had playing it. So much love has gone into all of these plasticine characters.
Another thing which is unusual about this app is that the whole family play together, like a board game. What's more, when you finished playing, the room is tidy! Who ever thought that would be possible! So, here's how it works. When it's your turn, you spin the wheel and get a tidy up task. For example, "Tidy up something blue" or "Tidy up while you hop like a kangaroo". Music starts and you have to finish your task before time runs out. You better be quick because if you're not back in time "The Lazy Lump" (A furry blue monster) will show you what he thinks! Michael has never had so much fun tidying up. Dad helped out too and I just enjoyed the artwork.
Click the image below to buy the app.
I'd imagined the Magic 8 Ball, in some incarnation, would have been around for quite some time. In fact it first made an appearance in a 1940's Three Stooges short, as a comical fortune telling device called a Magic Ball.
The ball we recognise today, with the answer popping up in a floaty, blue pool of disappointment, was invented by Albert C Carter, inspired by his clairvoyant mother. Back then in the late 1940s & early 1950s it was called a Syco-Seer, and had a clear casing. It was Chicago's Brunswick Billiards who commissioned a black & white eight ball version to be made, and it's popularity ensured the design remained.
Whilst most Eight Ball toys on the market are the regular black & white variety, there are some interesting themed versions. I wonder did the Hannah Montana Eight Ball see Miley 2013 coming?
Your teenage years were not complete without an afternoon sitting shaking a Magic 8 Ball asking it would you marry your latest crush, and reshaking until you got the answer you actually wanted.
If you're an online bingo player, answers are more straight forward with a visit to BingoFind.com
With the dozens upon dozens of sites to choose from, Bingo Find lays out the options for you to compare sites, offers and free credit to play deals.
Finding a unique Halloween costume is hard work. You can make your own, but if you haven't time you sometimes end up as a bog standard witch, zombie or ghost. If you want to turn heads this year, how about taking advantage of Costume Express' one day super sale. This Tuesday 3rd September, they are offering up to 50% off outfits, as well as other great deals.
The website is based in the US, but they ship to the UK and if you definitely have plenty of time for your costume to get here if you do order tomorrow.
Today millions of people play slots games online. Of all the casino games played online, slots are probably one of the most popular as the games are quick and easy to play, and you can play for pennies at a time. In fact you can even play for free on many casino sites, where you can play in demo mode with virtual coins rather than real money.
There are slots to suit all tastes – including those that are themed on superheroes, TV shows, film characters. Many casinos host the same slots games, so some of the progressive jackpots can be huge amounts. Click here for more information on slot games.
Of course, although many slots online feature more than fifty pay lines at a time, you’ll also find online slots that bear greater resemblance to the original slot machines of the late19th century. Slots were actually invented as a way of playing a game that had a similarity to poker, but could be played as a one-player game. The first slot machine attempts had five reels but this presented a difficulty as there were too many possible combinations.
The original trial machines needed simplifying and the first person to do this was a man called Charles Fey, who lived and worked in San Francisco. Fey invented a slot machine that had three wheels and five symbols on each wheel, which reduced the number of possible symbol combinations to a manageable amount. The first slot machine of Fey’s that was a real success was the Liberty Bell, and it’s for that reason that many of the slots today still feature the bell symbol. The Liberty Bell featured diamonds, hearts, spades, horseshoes and the Liberty Bell. There was an automatic pay mechanism with the top prize being fifty cents when the reels stopped to reveal three bells in a row.
Similar early slot machines featured fruit symbols on the reels and paid out fruity chewing gum as prizes, hence the reason that they earned themselves the name ‘fruit machines’.Chewing gum was offered as a prize to get around strict US gambling laws which made gaming illegal. The ‘BAR’ symbol that is still found on slots machines both online and off today was the symbol of the Bell-Fruit Gum Co.
You can still find vintage slot machines or one-armed banditsof different types on sale in antique fairs around the world, and you’ll also find them on Ebay, both in working condition and various states of repair. You can even buy spare parts – like the side lever or arm that was used to set the reels in motion on the original machines. There are two reasons whyslots machines used to be called one-arm bandits – firstly because the side lever was the way to get the reels spinning, but secondly because it was said that these machines could leave you as penniless as a real bandit would.
Of course, the vintage slots won’t win you a fortune, but they make great conversation pieces!
When I want my barnet chopped, I step back in time, to Belfast's Vintage Rocks Hair Parlour, owned by the talented Clare Afshar. If you prefer to discuss future tattoo plans, rather than prospective holidays, Vintage Rocks is for you.
Catering for far out hair styles and colours, but also glamorous, timeless updos for formals and weddings, you're in safe hands with these girls.
Clare is the only one I trust with my son's hair, and earlier in the year he starred in their sassy promo video, shot by Jennifer Atcheson, which you can watch here. The photos used in this post are stills from the video.
Vintage Rocks is open Tuesday through until Saturday, and is a wonderful place to pick for wedding parties.
My son
Siobhan from Fingerpricks.com
Me! With red hair a while back, getting it chopped
children get their own seat and a special Vintage Rocks gown
beautifully detailed up do
the parlour says, 'goodnight'
prices as of August 2013. phone Vintage Rocks to book a consultation, appointment, or to chat about any hair creations you have in mind that regular salons wouldn't dare do!
As heard on BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne Show.
