Disney Vampirina Boo-Tiful Dress - Review

We are massive Disney fans in our house and Erin's current favourite, aside from Frozen which I think she will be obsessed with for years, is Vampirina.

If you haven't heard of Vampirina, it is a show on Disney Junior which follows Vampirina "Vee" Hauntley who becomes the new kid in town after she and her family move from Transylvania to Pennsylvania. They open a bed and breakfast called the Scare B&B for visiting ghouls and goblins. Each episode is packed with music which I think is what E loves so much about it. She has even progressed from just watching the show to watching people play with Vampirina toys on YouTube, and then subsequently asking me if I can buy her every single one.

E was so excited to get her hands on the Vampirina Boo-Tiful Dress so that she could transform into Vee herself. E has always been a massive fan of dressing up, we have a huge box full of costumes and she likes just embodying the character. The Boo-Tiful dress comes with the dress, a bat wing headband and fingerless gloves.

The dress is suitable for children aged 4-6 years. E is a little under that at 3.5 but it does fit well (she wears 4-5 years on occasion) with a fair bit of growth so I would say it's true to size. I absolutely adore the dress and with its velour feel, it seems a bit higher quality than most other costumes that we own - this does mean that it must be handwashed only though. The addition of sparkles to create the web effect on the dress and the images on the gloves really caught E's eye - she's a sucker for glitter and you even have a little badge with the image of Vampirina on the chest.

The headband and gloves are a nice touch to set off the costume. The headband fits E's head perfectly and I am pleased to say that even two weeks later, the bat wings haven't drooped and still stand erect. Although the gloves are baggy on the hand, we did have to jiggle and really push her fingers through the holes to get them on properly without feeling like they were going to fall off.

This is a gorgeous little costume for any Vampirina fans out there and I've actually struggled to get E out of it, she loves it that much! It retails at £24.99 and is available to buy from Debenhams.

(We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

Youngsies Bee Onesie - Review

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I am obsessed with kids clothing. I am constantly posting pictures of my children, showcasing their outfits so when I saw that Youngsies were looking for reviewers of their fabulous rompers, of course I wanted to do it!

Youngsies sell a wide range of onesies or rompers for children aged 6 months to 2 years and you can choose from lots of different animals. I opted for the Bee suit thinking E would look adorable and boy, was I right!

When I first opened the suit out, I did give a little squeal at how cute it was and I had to get it on E right away. I usually associate bees with yellow and black but the stripes on this one are brown. I did think that this was a little odd at the beginning but it doesn't detract from how awesome this suit is!

I chose size 12-18 months as that's what E usually wears and there is plenty of room for growth. I can't cope with how sweet E looks in it so she will definitely wear it a lot. The quality is amazing too. With Halloween coming up, I think these would be great to use as a Halloween costume due to how thick they are, especially if you are taking your little one trick or treating. Regular Halloween costumes tend to be made from quite a thin material and little ones won't want to wear a coat as they want to show off their costume. The thickness of these mean that your child will be kept a little warmer than they would be with these thin ones.

The Bee Onesie retails at £17.99 and you cam view the full selection at the Youngsies website. You can also give them a follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

(Disclaimer: We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Halloween at Aldi

I was never a huge fan of Halloween before I had kids. Now, I love to dress them up in cute costumes and have the house spookily decorated even though they don't really understand what is going on. 

Aldi have recently released their Halloween range and it's packed with loads of reasonably priced items. I do sometimes worry that cheap items equal rubbish quality but we recently received a few samples of their Halloween range to put them to the test and hopefully find that I was wrong.

Firstly, we received 2 boxes of their LED Berry Lights in green and orange (£4.99 for 90 lights). I think that this is a great price for quite a lot of lights. In addition to this, you are supplied with the 3 AA batteries that are required and they come with a 3 year warranty. They shine brightly too which is great! Aldi also do similar battery-operated lights in ghost, eyeball and pumpkin shapes for the same price! 

Secondly, we have the Halloween gel stickers. I love gel stickers. I always have the Christmassy ones up during the festive season but this is the first I've spotted Halloween ones! I love the running fake blood and they stick really well. Perfect bargain for only 99p! Their decorations don't end there though. You can also pick up hanging decorations for £1.49, and a stretchy indoor spiders web for 99p. If you're planning on throwing a Halloween party, you can scare your guests with skull, hands, feet and arm and leg bone table decorations for £3.99 and a fab 'Enter if you Dare' wooden sign for only £1.49. 

Thirdly, we received a gorgeous witches costume. This is 3-4 years so a little too big for my baby girl but I love it so much that I actually think I'll keep it for her! The material and colours are fantastic for it only being £3.99. I love the tutu underneath the skirt and spooky ghost print on the skirt and hat. The children's costumes go up to age 8 and also come in vampire, skeleton and baterella designs. 

There are some fab children's accessories too and C is quite taken with the felt masks. I prefer felt masks over paper ones any day (less chance of children ripping them and tantrums ensuing. We received a pumpkin one and a Dracula one but bat and witch designs are available too for only 79p - bargain! 

You can purchase your child a Halloween headband for £1.49 or stripy Halloween tights to finish off their costume for £1.29. These are available in black & purple, black & orange, black & pink and black & white so there is something for every costume! 

Aldi stock adult costumes too. From vampires to skeletons and witches for only £7.99 and you can add Halloween accessories such as a witches hat or red devil horns for only £1.99. 

Lastly, no Halloween is complete without kiddies trick or treat bags. Getting sweeties is the most important bit! These gorgeous felt bags are just £1.49 and I can't wait to use them on Halloween night. You can also pick your child up an LED Glow in the Dark torch for £1.99 for trick or treating in the dark. 

When you've come back home from trick or treating with all your goodies, Aldi will help you settle down with some Halloween DVDs for £2.99 or your child can unwind with some playtime using the Halloween Play Doh (£4.99). 

These items are available from Aldi stores from 2nd October 2014 and are available while stocks last. 

(Disclaimer: We received these samples free of charge in exchange for a review and piece on Aldi's Halloween range.)

Win a kids Princess Fiona Costume

I am always dressing C up and Chris jokes to me that he'll hate me when hes older. My saying is, if you can't dress kids up in cute costumes then who can you dress up!?

The lovely people over at Joker's Masquerade have offered my readers the chance to win a fabulous Princess Fiona costume in a childs' size.

Dress your daughter up as Princess Fiona from Shrek! This stunning green child size outfit includes a headpiece with attached green ogre ears, making it a fantastic choice for the dressing up box.

This is a pretty simple Rafflecopter entry - you only need Twitter!

UK residents only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Make Your Own Halloween Mask

Halloween is a fabulous time of year for creating and crafting. Whether it’s carving a pumpkin and making some delicious spiced pumpkin soup for the family, or making your own costumes for a touch of trick-or-treating, there are activities to suit the whole family and children of all ages.

We all hate to show up to a party wearing the same shop-bought masks and costumes, so why not start making your own? Halloween isn’t until the 31^st after all… and the kids will love showing off their home made scary masks. Here’s GaltToys’ suggestion:

What you need:

Galt Play Apron
A protective cover for the surface you will work on
Galt PVA glue
Balloons
Old Newspapers
Galt Paintastics water-based paints
Galt Paint Brushes – one for glue and one for paints
Galt Safety Scissors
An Egg box (with no eggs in!)
Card

1) Squeeze some PVA glue into a container and mix with a little water. Cut or tear your old newspapers into strips around six inches long by one inch wide. Inflate one balloon per mask.

2) Paste half of the balloon with your PVA glue mix and stick your newspaper strips onto the balloon, painting them with PVA glue mix once in place. 

3) Create your monster face! Use the cup sections of an egg box to make monster horns or a witch’s chin and cheekbones. Make a hooky nose or spiky hair out of card, or use newspaper sausages for scary monster eyebrows. More card can make spiky scary teeth or a monstrous mouth! Use newspaper and PVA glue mixture to secure the facial features in place. Cover with one final layer of paper (white or green or orange can be especially Halloween-y!)

4) Allow to dry (you’ll know it’s done when you can knock on it and it is rock hard). If it appears a little soft, add another layer or two of newspaper, pasting it each time with PVA glue mixture. Once your mask is completely dry, pop the balloon and ease it away from the back of your mask. Trim the edges to make them smooth (a grown up should do this as scissors can dangerous in little hands). Then, cut some eye holes and a slit for a mouth.

5) Time to paint! Either paint the whole face or, if you pasted with a background colour like green, then paint the mask’s features. Black eyebrows, dark red lips, or a cut and a bruise on your monster's head adds to the full effect. 

6) Once dry, coat with a layer of PVA glue mixture to seal in the colour. When completely dry, an adult can make a hole in either side to attach elastic or string.

You don’t have to stop here! Make hair with wool or string. Add a scary beard. Whatever you and your little one can think of is a possibility.

Now this year, you’ll have a unique mask that stands out from the crowd. 

Happy Trick or Treat-ing!!!!

(Disclaimer: This is a guest post from Galt Toys. I was not compensated for publishing this post in any way.)