November 13, 2018

Luxury Silk Scarves With Illustrations of Cats & Dogs in Christmas Fancy Dress Costumes - It’s the Karen Mabon 2018 HolidayCollection! (With Complimentary Worldwide Shipping During November)

November 13, 2018/ Claire Spence

If you read The World of Kitsch you will know the scarves of Karen Mabon by now, and if you follow my Instagram you’ve definitely seen me wearing a few in my stories. I’ve actually lost count of how many I have, as I’ve some that I wear, obviously as intended, but I also have a couple I bought to frame. Like the special Freud Museum print trio, and Karen’s special limited edition, annual calendar silk handkerchief, if you’re lucky you can catch a couple of these on the store at the end of the year if you are on her mailing list.

Two of Karen’s most well known, and I would assume most popular designs, as they tend to always be sold out everywhere, have been Fancy Dress Dogs, and Fancy Dress Cats. (EDIT- Store has been restocked! Fancy Dress Dogs and Fancy Dress Cats both in stock!)

The scarves depict different breeds of cats dressed up, one a shark, a pumpkin, a pirate, a princess. The dog scarf is equally adorable, with a Yorkie jester, a Pug wizard, a Labrador frog prince, a Sausage Dog dressed as Superman, and my favourite, with bias of course because of my relation to ‘Weird Judy’ who you would also know from my Instagram, a Wire Fox Terrier dressed as a lobster.

Karen’s 2018 Christmas Collection consists of four scarves, and Ms. Mabon has brought back our fancy dress friends in some Holiday costumes and they are just as wonderful as the original scarves.

Christmas Cats (shown above) HAS to be my favourite, the Santa Cat looks a bit like my Mrs Meow, if it was scowling a touch more. I love the candy cane trim too, it would look very smart when worn, even if the design wouldn’t be showing then. I think if I was wearing this scarf I would have it on and off my neck half a dozen times an hour to show people the design!

More of a Pup Person? The Christmas Dogs Scarf, like the Christmas Cat Scarf is 100% silk and both measure 55cm x 55cm. Look at that pudding Pug. Who knew a day would come when you could buy a luxury Italian silk scarf with a Corgi on it, in the fancy dress costume where it’s made to look like two dogs carrying a box. What a time to be alive. There’s even a Poodle dressed as Santa.

The Christmas Fancy Dress Scarves are both limited edition, and unlike the original Fancy Dress prints, I would hazard a guess that there won’t ever be reprints on these, and they WILL sell fast. If you want one, buy one now.

Two scarves are more conservative with a classic wreath design, in either Jet Black 100% Italian silk, or beautiful jewel tones of jade and Teal Silk (both shown above beside the original Fancy Dress Dogs Scarf, click on them to enlarge to see the design clearly).

Part of my own collection of Karen Mabon Scarves

They measure 55cm x 55cm so they can be given as a gift to either a man as a pocket square, or a woman as a scarf. You can tie the scarf loosely on your handbag handle to show off the seasonal print. Karen even suggests displaying it in place of a traditional wreath.

Every scarf in the Holiday Collection is priced £75 and during November shipping is completely free, worldwide, so get your present buying completed early! Even if it’s a little something for yourself!

November 12, 2018

Could Your Child Be An Ikea Toy Designer? Enter The New 2018 Sagoskatt Competition Now & Buy Last Year’s Winners’ Plushies In Store Now to Help Support Barnardos.

November 12, 2018/ Claire Spence

The limited-edition SAGOSKATT soft toy collection is back, and it’s packed full of colourful characters ready to join playtime. Ikea’s annual, soft toy drawing competition attracted 87,000 entries from children around the world, and they’ve made a handful of them into real-life toys.

I’ve blogged about this a few years now, and I always love to see the winners. It’s so cool seeing a child’s drawing brought to life, from the sketch to the completed toy on the shelves.

This year’s IKEA soft toy drawing competition is open now – so it’s time for your kids to get creative. They can sketch own soft toy for the chance to see their invention made into a real toy next year. The competition is open to all IKEA FAMILY members’ children aged up to 12, until November 13. So you need to be quick and visit today or tomorrow and pop your sketch in the box which is in the kids’ section of the store. If you aren’t a Family Member, just ask to sign up with a member of staff, it’s just like having a Tesco Clubcard or Boots Advantage Card, so it’s very simple.

The most unique creations will be turned into real soft toys to be sold in every IKEA store and to inspire kids’ play across the world.

If you are reading this after the 13th of November, don’t despair, the cute toys will still be on sale. They all cost £4.75 each and Ikea donates the VAT to Barnardos. You can read all about the Sagoskatt competition and more on the Ikea website.

November 07, 2018

Mr Frosty Choc Ice Maker Review - Is It One For Santa’s List?

November 07, 2018/ Claire Spence

Mr Frosty is certainly a throwback. In fact he was on my own Santa list in the 80’s, and my poor parents’ arms would despair having to crank the handle on the back of him, in his older incarnation, to dispense some slivers of ice into a cup for me, those were the days!

I’m pleased to report the Mr Frosty of 2018 is much more hassle-free, and the Mr Frosty Choc Ice Maker is one product that parents won’t be dreading seeing on the Santa list this Christmas. It costs £12.99 and you can buy it from Asda or Smyths.

We were sent one to try out this week, so we gave it a whirl. The kit contains lolly moulds to freeze yoghurt lollies, and a lovely little igloo which you then use to melt chocolate to coat your frozen lollies. It’s very cute and a fun idea to make with your kids over the Christmas break too.

This blog is a bit of a “how to” also in case you are thinking of buying the Choc Ice Maker, hopefully I can give you some tips and tricks.

I found a great hack was to buy Frubes, the yoghurt that comes in straw like tubes for packed lunches. Not only are they freezable, but they are perfect to snip off the corner and pipe into the snowman mould, rather than try to spoon regular yoghurt in there. A whole box of Frubes is never more than £2.

The lolly mould is like an ice cube tray, but it’s a flexible silicon one, which has good points and bad points. The good point is that once your lollies are set they are very easy to pop out, whether they be yoghurt, like we made, or solid chocolate, or anything you freeze. The downside is that the mould once filled with yoghurt is still quite floppy, so when I tried to carry it over to to freezer some of the liquid spilled. I would suggest putting the mould on a flat tray and putting the whole thing into the freezer like that. Also don’t underestimate the size the mould takes up with the lolly sticks protruding out, you need quite a bit of space in the freezer for it. Measure it out before you start so you don’t get caught out with a armful of yoghurt lollies and nowhere to put them like me!

The yoghurt freezes quite quickly, and is very easy to pop out of the moulds, and the roof of the igloo doubles up as a stand for your lollipops, which is so handy. You then melt your chocolate coating in the main igloo part in the microwave, and coat your lollipops.

We found this part tricky, there must be a knack to it, but the shape of the snowman disappeared completely for us! It still tasted delicious anyway. We added some sprinkles and decorations, and you could add fresh fruit or any other decorations to make the pops a healthy snack.

The clean up is very simple, I just put everything in the sink with hot water.

We definitely want to try out some other recipes. Smix wants to try some solid chocolate lollipops. I want to try some other flavours of yoghurt in there, maybe add chopped up mini mallows or Nutella.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if you enjoy kitchen crafts it’s a fun one that you will do more than once, it’s easy, not much clean up required, doesn’t take up much storage either. Would make a nice gift too. Add it to the Santa list.

October 31, 2018

Treat Yourself To A Spooky Poke! Mauds’ Limited Edition Zombie Brains Halloween Ice Cream

October 31, 2018/ Claire Spence

Resurrected from the flavour graveyard, Mauds ice creams has brought back their Halloween Special Zombie Brains ice cream with lovely chewy bits of mallow and juicy strawberry.

I had two zombies* arrive at my house yesterday delivering a delicious tub of Zombie Brains to try out myself (*they were stylishly dressed zombies, so I think they may have been from Team Mauds’ rather than the graveyard).

True to Carrick-based Mauds’ brand, this vanilla and strawberry ice cream doesn’t just have the strawberry flavouring through it, there are actual berry chunks through the creamy dessert, as well as chewy mini-mallows. It’s an absolute dream.

It also looks fairly zombie-brain-like. If you wanted to serve it up with some extra strawberry or raspberry sauce on top, you could get it looking a bit gruesome if you wanted that way. Equally, you could pair it with some broken meringue nests and make a quicky Eton Mess like a dessert-making pro with just those two ingredients.

The Zombie Brains Mauds Ice Cream is a Halloween limited edition. Check the Mauds website for Mauds Cafe locations and Mauds Stockists.

And Happy Halloween from The World of Kitsch!

October 15, 2018

Get Trick or Treat Prepared! 3 for 2 Halloween Party Food at M&S

October 15, 2018/ Claire Spence

Two weeks until Halloween & my house is already decorated (to be honest Smix pulled everything out of the cupboard the first week of October). This week is a good time to buy your real pumpkin though, and Marks & Spencer has some interesting options.

They have your traditional large pumpkin for £2, a smaller size, as shown in my photos which is £1.50, but they also have some gorgeous varieties you can use for displays in your home, or cooking if you are feeling adventurous, it is food after all. They’ve a Ghost Pumpkin, a bright white variety, and a Cinderella Pumpkin, which literally looks like a Disney style flatter, cute pumpkin, in a deeper orange. They are £3 each.

There is also this fabulous Peter Pumpkin floral display which you can order and is available from the 23rd. If you are having a fancy Halloween party this would be the pumpkin to blow everyone away!

The Halloween party treats are in store and everything is currently on offer 3 for 2. There are lots of great snacks for a get together, as well as little favours to hand out to trick or treaters who could come to your door.

There are even these lovely little felt bags for trick or treat collecting for your own kids, and they are included in the 3 for 2 offer. There’s the Pumpkin and a Frankenstein’s Monster design.

There is a Halloween version of the ever popular Minibite Tubs, with ghostly sprinkles. I also love that they’ve made a Decorate Your Own Biscuit Kit, so you can pick up this as a afternoon kitchen craft to do during the school break. Again it’s included in the 3 for 2.

Marks and Spencer have also given Colin the Catepillar a makeover, in both his large cake size and mini roll size. *The cakes aren’t in my local Bangor Store yet, I imagine they will be in closer to Halloween week

There are lots of chocolate and jelly sweets and snacks, all priced between £1 and £3, all in the offer and perfect for your Halloween party. There are Halloween themed Colin Jellies and even Halloween Percy Pigs!

The Witches Fingers biscuits are a big recommended one from me, I had them last year and they’ve brought them back. They are £1.50 and they look spookily realistic, but taste amazing with a cuppa.

October 09, 2018

Want The Most Majestic Pumpkin On The Block? Huge Pumpkin Beanbag From FieldCandy

October 09, 2018/ Claire Spence

FieldCandy are an English brand who digitally print photo-realistic beanbags, funky pillows and tents, which include many fun natural prints, as well as Beatles & Banksy themed collections.

For Halloween they have released a very cool pumpkin beanbag, which can be used for lounging, as well as a massive spooky party prop for the season. The beanbags are polyester and waterproof, so can be placed in the garden for outdoor seating too. The Pumpkin costs £59.95 and you can buy it here.

October 08, 2018

Spookify Your Whole House This Year- Asda Has Halloween Duvets!

October 08, 2018/ Claire Spence

Asda has been the best place to get fun Christmas duvet covers the past few years. They do fun, seasonal prints starting at £10 for singles, but also have the designs available in doubles and king size, and for the prices it’s affordable for something fun for a few weeks of the year.

Well for 2018 they have launched a couple of prints to add to your calendar for the month of October, with some Halloween themed duvet covers in their George department online store.

There are a couple of prints to choose from, but the Christmas prints are also in stock if you want to browse those too.

There’s also a selection of Halloween props, but there are more to choose from in your local Asda store which will have a whole aisle, however unless you have a specific Asda Home store near you, online is the best bet for the duvet prints, but shipping is free if you do click and collect to your local, regular Asda store.

October 02, 2018

Forest Feast Totally Nutty Halloween Competition - Win a Break to Lough Erne Resort Plus a Very Unusual Prize... #MakeMeAMonkeyNut

October 02, 2018/ Claire Spence

Smix & I were dashing about this morning at 8.45am, him trying to clean his teeth while I simultaneously tried to do his hair, when I heard a knock on the door. When I ran down to open it, a very intriguing box was on the steps, because the top of it had wild, orange fuzz poking out of it.

When I got home from the school run, I realised it will filled with wonderful nostalgia. Yes, MONKEY NUTS. I realise I’m already turning into my parents because the number of times I’ve begun lectures with, “when I was a child I didn’t even HAVE a computer in my house”, and I’m about to sound like I’m ancient again, but here I go.

1980s Halloween. There was no “Halloween aisle” in Tescos. Okay, that’s mostly because there was no Tesco in Northern Ireland, but there was maybe a small section with those plastic masks that cut your lips when the condensation built up behind them during the evening while you wore them, there was a witch hat. You had to make the rest of the costume out of bin bags. There were no decorations beyond a cardboard skeleton or witch.

There were no other Halloween home decorations up until around when Smix was born because I was still a total rockabilly type then and when TK Maxx got all the Halloween decorations in the first year, imported from American stores, who always DID decorate, I bought a tonne of it to decorate my new house. That was 2007.

Anyway, this is supposed to be a blog about Forest Feast, so I’m almost getting there. Pumpkins- kids now, you don’t know how good you have it. Have you ever tried hollowing out a raw turnip with a spoon? That will build muscles on a seven year old.

I’m guessing we didn’t have pumpkins because they are so hard to grow locally, and I have first hand experience of that this year. I had several huge pumpkin plants I grew inside a greenhouse, upward rather than along the soil. They flowered and I cross pollinated the plants by hand daily. In the end I managed to get one pumpkin to grow, which only took in mid-August, so it’s slightly smaller than a tennis ball right now. It’s also green. It might be ready for Halloween 2020.

So those Halloweens were more basic, but you had to DIY it more, you had to make your own decorations with your family, your own outfits, snacks, and wasn’t that a lot more fun? I certainly have so many fond memories of my childhood Halloweens, when they were less commercial, when it was about the simple little things, which finally brings me to- MONKEY NUTS!

That’s the term for peanuts sold in shell, which for some reason was, and is a tip top Halloween treat. I remember every year my Dad would buy a big bag of them, and a big bag of mixed nuts in shell too. I would love the walnuts and brazils too, but found them so hard to crack. Monkey Nuts, or Peanuts in Shell, which you can buy from Forest Feast either regular or Roasted, are very easy to crack. The shell is soft and you can break it with your hands usually.

For Halloween 2018, Forest Feast also has a 500g novelty bucket of Peanuts in Shell, smaller bags of Walnuts, Hazelnuts, and Mixed Nuts. Completing the spooky selection shoppers can choose from share packs of Chocolate Peanuts, Chocolate & Yoghurt Raisins, Super Natural Mixed Nuts, and Frightfully Good Fruit & Nut.

Forest Feast is a Northern Irish brand, based in Armagh, and you should find them in leading retailers, I know my local Spar & EuroSpar stocks their ranges.

Now you have your nostalgic snack fix for the spookiest month ahead, how about winning a five-star weekend for two at the luxury Lough Erne Resort, and a very unique, nutty prize? Forest Feast have enlisted the incredible skills of the world’s ONLY monkey nut artist, Steve Casino, who will model you and a friend or family member in miniature, much like the little figures below.

The competition is easy to enter, and don’t worry, you don’t have to start whittling your own peanut shells! All you have to do is tag yourself and your friend on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #MakeMeAMonkeyNut The competition runs until Halloween, 31st October 2018.

If you want to follow Forest Feast on Instagram they are @forestfeast. For their Facebook click here. For Twitter it’s @forest_feast.

Here are some more examples of Steve Casino’s excellent work, please visit his Instagram and give him a follow, I have. All photos here are from his Instagram, click on any below to enlarge for a closer look. This is how your miniature you could look if you win the competition! He also does tiny Tic Tac art, and other amazing pop culture work. It’s great when you stumble upon some cool, unique art like that in such a random way like via our very own local Forest Feast!