Halloween Cupcakes

Since I have some time off school, I thought there was no better way to spend my Tuesday then to bake. Not just any old bake though, this was the mighty Halloween bake where I attempted to make up some devilish treats that looked and tasted the part.  The substance was without a doubt delicious, as for style though, let's just say it was more about making the best out of a bad situation. *SPOILER ALERT* sometimes icing just doesn't want to stick to the chocolate pumpkin no matter how much you try. 

You will need:

Cakes (however many you want - I made 8)

Buttercream (whatever flavour - I chose white chocolate)

4 Smarties Chocolate Pumpkins

Marshmallows

Galaxy Cookie Crumble Bars

Orange Royal Icing

White Icing/Modelling Paste

Black Icing Pen

1. Dip all four chocolate pumpkins into the orange icing. I'm not going to lie, this was a struggle. If I could give you any advice, it would be to keep the icing cool and thick or just skip step 1 and buy some ready-made sugar craft pumpkins. 

2. Cut out four irregular disc shapes from the white icing. These do not need to be perfect!

3. Spread the buttercream over the cupcakes. You can pipe it if you prefer, but the buttercream isn't going to be seen so it can be as messy as you like!

5. Add a marshmallow on top of half of the cakes and place the white discs on top to create the body of a ghost.

6) Crush the cookie crumble bars into small pieces and sprinkle on top of the remaining cupcakes to look like mud.

7) Ice the faces onto the ghosts and pumpkins. I gave up with the pumpkins in the end as the icing wouldn't stop slippin' and slidin'. If anyone asks, it was intentional, they're melted pumpkins! Oooh how spooky and appropriately festive!

They weren't a complete failure I guess! 

Have a lovely Halloween whatever you're doing, let me know below in the comments! 

"Where there is no imagination, there is no horror." - Arthur Conan Doyle Sr. 

Lots of love, 

Lily

Decomposing Zombie Halloween Makeup Look

Having a last minute panic because you haven't got a costume sorted for Halloween? This look is perfect as it is so quick and easy. All you need is liquid latex, white face paint, horror flesh and tissue paper or bandage (all comes in a make-up FX 'mummy' set sold in Asda) and a few basic eyeshadow colours. What I love about this look is that you get the best of both worlds (no Hannah Montana pun intended). One side is utterly gross and Halloween appropriate but you're still able to flip to the prettier side whilst you talk to that cute person  you like. 

Start by randomly applying the liquid latex to the skin. Just a little warning, this stuff does not smell pretty. Add the bandage or tissue paper on top and build up the latex until the texture is rough and bumpy. This was actually my first time using latex, and I think it's fair to say that I could do with more practise. 

As the latex begins to dry and turns tacky, you can tear gashes into it for a realistic wound effect or snip into the bandage with scissors for a rougher texture. 

Next, layer the horror flesh on top and in any empty spaces. There really isn't any right way to do this, nor do you need to be technically skilled, just add it where you think it is needed. 

Sponge on some white paint so the latex and the horror flesh looks more combined. 

To make it look more like skin, add some foundation in random patches. 

For a moldy and bruised effect, add shadows of green, purple and black eyeshadow.

Take the black and purple eyeshadow all around the eye for some hella bags and also on the lips along with some foundation to dull them. I also added some red gloss on the bandage for a touch of blood. 

Et Voila! 

 I think it looks great to play up the other side with gorgeous makeup to really show the contrast. 

"Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story." - Mason Coole

Lots of love,

Lily

Seekers of Sun Luxury Temporary Tattoos

I'm not majorly in to tattoos, for two reasons really. 1 being that I've just never really lusted after them and 2 because I'm such an indecisive person that the thought of permanent scares me slightly a lot. Seekers of Sun though is somewhat different to your conventional tattoos. For a start, they're temporary, but they actually offer a realistic alternative to the real thing or can be worn as a gorgeous accessory. I decorated my hands with these temporary tats in honour of Diwali as the patterns remind me a lot of henna. I also think they'd make an amazing festival trend.

As for my personal experience with these, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily they transferred on my skin. The directions are extremely simple and easy to follow too:

1. Cut selected temporary tattoo and place over desired body location

2. Place printed side on skin and dampen with water

3. Wait 30 seconds until transfer and remove paper

What I love the most about these tattoos is that you can play about with them until they make your desired design. I actually cut a few of them up and created new shapes which made it all the more fun! Just a little warning to any fellow ditzy brains out there though, remember to remove the plastic! It took me a good 10 minutes to realise why a few weren't sticking - silly me! 

You can purchase your own at Missguided or if you're looking for more inspiration, be sure to check out their Instagram page. 

"Art enables us to find ourselves & lose ourselves at the same time." - Thomas Merton

Lots of love,

Lily

Booklook: Recent Reads

I thought I'd update you on what's been going on book wise. If you read my Summer Wishlist Tag you'll know that I set myself a goal to read more books this summer. If I'm honest, I didn't read loads but I have a good excuse! I've just been busy getting things done so I'm now excited for things to slow down and to get stuck in to some great reads this Autumn. I did read a couple of books on holiday though, both of which I enjoyed so much that I wanted to share more about them with you.

Finding Violet Park - Jenny Valentine

Finding Violet Park or Me, the Missing, and the Dead in the U.S. is a coming of age/mystery novel about a fatherless teenage boy, Lucas Swain, who finds an urn containing the ashes of the titular Violet Park abandoned in a minicab office and determines to lay her to rest. When I first read the blurb of this book I was concerned that I would find it disturbing and un-settling, but I actually found it fascinating more than anything - it is so interesting watching the story un-ravel. I'd recommend this to those who love realistic teen fiction. 

Room - Emma Donoghue 

This story is told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother. At first, I found this book quite difficult to get into because the story moved quite slowly in the first chapter (there are 3 chapters in total). By about the second chapter though, I was completely hooked.  The relationship between Jack and his Mother is totally endearing and I couldn't help but feel as though I was experiencing everything with them whilst reading. As for the story, well, let's just say this is about as shocking as it gets. I don't want to reveal too much because starting this book completely un-aware of what the situation is it what makes it so great, but, it really is worth a read. 

I am currently reading If I Stay at the moment. I challenged myself to read the book before watching the film, but I'm a slow reader and now I'll have to wait for the DVD! *sighs* I feel like history may repeat itself with Gone Girl too! Has anyone seen either of the films or read the books? Let me know if they're good. I am also open to any book recommendations so let me know if you have a favourite! 

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." - Haruki Murakami

Lots of love,

Lily 

Jamie's Italian, Wicked and Squirrels

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Other than becoming a wildlife photographer (MAN I LOVE SQIURRELS), this weekend consisted of two of my favourite things - food and musicals. It was all part of my Mum's Birthday celebrations. We also stayed overnight in the West Ham hotel but I didn't take many pictures (slaps hand) so you'll just just have to take my word for that one. We ate at Jamie's Italian for the first night which was a cool experience. We then had a mini tour of London the following day where I may have went slightly camera happy - apologies if you're not one for London photography. I've wanted to see Wicked for ageeeeeessss and I have to say it was one of the best musicals I've seen. Defying Gravity gave me chills! 

So as you can see my weekend was slightly hectic but amazing. It was all finished with a nice, chilled out session of Strictly followed by X Factor as always, too.

What did you get up to this weekend?

"It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap." - Elphaba, Wicked

Lots of love,

Lily