Dressing as The Demon Dentist for World Book Day

World Book day is almost upon us for another year and this time I had the challenge of finding a costume that met the approval of my rather fussy nine year old. Although he wanted to join in with the day and demonstrate his love of reading, he sees himself as too 'grown up' for the supermarket dress up costumes that his younger sister loves. The contents of his wardrobe don't exactly lend itself to adaptation either, unless of course he decided to go as a football player!

So when the lovely folks at Pretend to Bee  offered to send us their Mad Scientist Lab Coat to create a World Book Day costume with, Ben had an idea that involved a head torch and a bottle of ketchup...

Ben is a big David Walliams fan and you may remember his extreme reading challenge last Autumn when he had to read in an interesting location. His book of choice was The Demon Dentist and it was this that had given him an idea...

Reflective reading... Ben's half term homework was to read in an unusual place! Here he is reading David Walliam's Demon Dentist in the hall of mirrors at @mtblackpool #extremereading #explorerkids

A post shared by Jen Dixon (@mymummyspennies) on Nov 2, 2016 at 1:31am PDT

The Mad Scientist lab coat from Pretend to Bee arrived quickly and was a good fit for my tall 9 year old, with it's simple and unisex design with pull apart velcro fastening at the front. I could see it being a fantastic base for a multitude of costume ideas from Crazy Scientists, to Doctors and of course Dentists...

Although the The Demon Dentist herself, Miss Root is a women, that doesn't mean that Ben couldn't be his own version of the terrifying tooth tackler!

So we teamed the lab coat with a disposable dust mask (available from most DIY stores- a surgical mask would be a good replacement but we couldn't get hold of one of these) and his camping head touch then got out a bottle of Ketchup!

I've got to say that I did have fun standing in our yard squirting my 9 year old with ketchup, although my neighbours probably think i'm nuts! (If they didn't already!)

Here is the finished result ready for tomorrow, he's really pleased with it, what do you think?

What's more is the ketchup should easily wash off the lab coat so it can be used again for different costumes and role play which makes it great value.

What are your children dressing as for World Book Day tomorrow? I'd love to see some pictures, do tweet me to share them at @mymummyspennies.

Celebrate Roald Dahl Day in Manchester this Weekend

'A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.' Roald Dahl

I loved reading as a child, and although he wasn't my favourite author, Roald Dahl was definitely in my top five. His books filled part of my childhood bookshelves and have always stayed with me. My favourites were George's Marvelous Medicine and Danny, Champion of the World!

2016 marks 100 years since the birth of one of the greatest Children's authors and 13th September was his birthday. There are events happening all over the world to celebrate and plenty happening in Manchester over the weekend. My children will be dressing up as their favourite characters for school on Tuesday to mark the occasion (Fantastic Mr Fox and either Matilda or a witch - she's not decided yet!) before before that we'll be heading in to Manchester City Centre on Sunday to have some fantastic fun!

Glittering Eyes pop up cinema

On Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th there will be a fantastical  Glittering Eyes pop up cinema at New Bailey near Spinningfields. There will be showings of James and the Giant Peach,  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,  Matilda and The Witches. It's not just about the movie showings though as there will be a wonderland of Dahl themed activities from a walk through Willy Wonka's garden to a giant peach pop-up library and loads of Children’s entertainment as well as lots of tasty street food traders to tempt your tastebuds! 
New Bailey Street, Salford, M3 5AX (tickets from £7.50 available at www.eventbrite.co.uk).  

Roald Dahl Big Picnic Day at Tatton Park

To celebrate this special birthday Tatton Park are opening their Gardens to picnickers for the first time on Sunday 11th September 2016, so you can bring a picnic and settle down in their gorgeous formal Gardens! And what's more, they will be free to enter for everyone! During your picnic enjoy exploring the 50-acre garden. There’s a fabulous Danny the Champion of the World Trail to follow full-of-fun obstacles. James and the Giant Peach and the Twits provide further fun! A great afternoon entertainment programme includes a mini disco, Roald Dahl inspired performances and the young ones can settle down and listen in to storytelling. On the day you’ll be able to give a little by treating yourself to a slice of the most humungous, yummy birthday cake baked by our very own baker …..the proceeds go to Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity caring for seriously ill children. Go dressed up as your favourite Roald Dahl character and you could win a superlicious surprise! Gardens open from 10am. Activities take place between 12pm and 3pm. Ice cream, beers and hot and cold refreshments are available to purchase. Car parking is £6 per car. Find out more here

Marbled Ghost Cakes and A wizard at a disco? It must be Halloween....

Although Halloween isn't officially until next week, as most children will still be on half term my son's school hosted their Halloween Disco last Thursday! So this was to be Ben's first proper Halloween party!

I was slightly worried as he has always had quite a considerable fear of anyone dressed up! We have not been able to visit Santa's Grotto since his very first Christmas (when he was just 4 months old and didn't really know what was going on!) and our trips to see his favourite characters such as Peppa Pig and Fireman Sam have always ended in disaster with a screaming child clinging to me for dear life!

But over the past few months he has improved, although he still gets a bit funny if he sees some totally dressed up with their head covered, he's much better with normal dressing up costumes and I think we may even be able to attempt a Grotto this Christmas!

So after deciding he was brave enough to go, Ben needed a costume for the disco. As you may remember we ran a great competition with Fancy Dress Outfitters earlier in the month and they were kind enough to send Ben a costume for the disco and for us to review!


While browsing through their website I could not believe the vast array of costumes they had! The choice in both Adults and children's Halloween costumes is extensive! Knowing that Ben would not want to wear a mask or have his face completely covered I narrowed the choice down to a few I felt were suitable and let Ben choose. I was not surprised when he chose the Wizard!

The costume arrived very quickly and was well packaged. Inside the postal packaging the costume had it's own resealable bag that fastened with poppers which is ideal for storing it between uses! The Smiffy's Wizard Costume we ordered came in 3 sizes to fit children from 3 - 9 years. As Ben is a rather tall 4 year old we have chosen age 4 - 6.

                  


The costume itself consists of three pieces, a blue hat with two stars and a moon printed on it and a star dangling from the top, a blue cape with a collar, fastening at the front with velcro, again decorated with stars and moons and a beard that has two velcro tabs to attach it to the hat.

Ben was very impressed and wanted to wear this to school the day it arrived! The hat fitted well and wasn't too 'floppy' the cape looke great over anything! (he tried it on with a cardi and jeans but wore it over a smart shirt and trousers fot the disco!) The beard did really last long on the velcro but Ben was facinated with it and kept holding it up to his face and saying look I'm Daddy! (btw I don't know where that cam from as Daddy doesn't have a beard, stubble sometimes but never a beard!)


I really do like this costume, it is good quality, folds up small to store and can be worn over normal clothes. It should also fit be a while so will get plenty of use! With it being a wizard costume it is not unique to Halloween so can be used on other occasions when Ben can wear fancy dress. (and I'm sure it will be regularly used to 'dress up in' when playing at home too! For £13.09 this costume is great value for money!



We are going to a local Halloween festival on Sunday so Ben will be wearing this again and I'll share some more pictures then!

Fancy Dress outfitters are the one stop shop for fancy dress costumes and all things party! They offer a fabulous selection of children's and adults costumes and accessories for all occasions and to suit all budgets! With costumes starting from under £10 and sizes suitable from 1 year up to 14 years (and adults too!) they really are the ideal solution! Buying a costume is much more cost effective than hiring one as it can be used again and again and even passed down to younger siblings!

Fancy Dress Outfitters have delivery starting from just £3.59 (or FREE for orders over £50) and if you've left it until the last minute then they also have a next day delivery option available too!

They can also be found on facebook and twitter too so pop over and follow them for the latest news, offers and competitions....

So the costume was sorted we just needed to make a contribution to the disco! These are the choices we were given... buy a raffle prize, put up some decorations, before the disco, tidy up afterwards, help out during or provide some cakes!

As lack of childcare ruled out some of these I decided Ben and I would have some fun making cakes together so After school on Wednesday we decided to make some Spooky Halloween marbled Ghost cakes! These are really simple to do and taste yummy!

You simply make two separate mixes of sponge cake, one vanilla and one chocolate, then spoon them together into the cake cases! The mix it to create a funky marbled effect!

After baking for 15 minutes and leaving to cool, we added a haribo ghost sweet to each cake on top of some gory red icing!

Ben had lots of fun making these and couldn't wait to take them to school the next day!