Tuesday 26 October 2010

Sailor луна


As much as I love looking at other people's outfit posts, I find mine pretty boring. To make things slightly interesting, I think I'll make a blingee of every outfit's "inspiration." Enjoy.







I got this dress a couple of years ago from the Dalston Oxfam. It was probably something like 4.99 and was floor length. I hemmed it and now I'm kind of like a Sailor Scout with a Russian hat (bought in Lancaster). I paired it with my new favourite JC Litas, which make me normal height. Thanks.

Friday 22 October 2010

Mail time

The past few weeks have been an amazing time for mail.

1. My absolutelyamazingwonderfulthegreatestshoestoeverexist Litas courtesy of Jeffrey Campbell came in. Did I mention they go with everything I own?

2. I received the best present ever (now a staple in my handbag) made by my super talented little cousin, Angeline. Thank you Angel, how did you know a wallet is just what I needed?

Onto the photos.

In the winter, I dress for warmth and comfort. This often means I look like a shrunken granddad. Grabbing one of my Little Fille headbands makes me look like I at least put some effort into it. Double effort with the Litas. Actual effort required? Marginal.




I am really rubbish at these outfit posts - partially because the camera I use is of an ancient species, mainly because I am inept photography and posing. Most of the shots I have are blurry, and look like I need to pee. Or both.



But the real reason you are here:

My wallet - made with the finest duct tape money can buy.

The best part? It's personalized!

Bonus photo: my Simon Amstell in Grandma's House face:


Isn't it perfect? (wallet, not the face) I definitely think so. And no one else in the world has one. I will treasure it til my dying days.

Here is a parting photo of me, Angeline (left) and her sister Cel - two extremely talented budding fashion designers. (Sorry, Tita Anna!)

5 minute chocolate cake man.

I don't know why I'd never heard of this before - I mean, those who know me would probably think, "Oh, who eats an excessive amount of desserts and would probably know of some way to make a chocolate cake in five minutes? Mari, probably."

Lazy and cake are two words that are synonymous with me. Not the sort of lazy where I don't do anything all day (I wish), but the kind of 'ohgod why is the remote control so far away, nevermind, i'll just watch this, maybe it will be interesting' kind of lazy.

Anyway, I made this yesterday:



Twice.

The first time, it came out kind of dry - I think because I left it in the microwave for too long. It says 3 minutes, but I say start with 1:30 - it's nice for it to be all gooey on the inside. Also, I used half an egg. Again, I think this adds to the gooeyness factor. I also used drinking chocolate, even though it said not to - it works, but just don't add the sugar.

From Instructables:



You will need:
* microwave!

o coffee mug
o 4 tablespoons flour
o 4 tablespoons sugar
(no sugar if you're using instant hot chocolate -it's already in there)
o 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
(I used Green and Black's hot chocolate mix - 6 tablespoons, to compensate for the sugar)
o 2 tablespoons whisked egg
(I used half an egg)
o 3 tablespoons milk
o 3 tablespoons oil
o 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
o splash vanilla or other flavoring - try peppermint or cinnamon


step 2 Mix your ingredients

* Add all of the dry ingredients to the mug and mix.
* Add the egg and combine well. It gets pretty pasty at the point.
* Stir in milk and oil.
* Add chocolate chips* and splash of vanilla. Stir well.

step 3 Nuke It!

* Microwave for 3 minutes (start with 2, or even 1:30) in a 1000w oven, or 4 minutes in a 700w oven.

Variations from Squidoo:


Easy Variations on the 5 Minute Mug Cake

* Chocolate Chip - Add chocolate chips of course. Simple but delicious
* Vanilla - Replace the cocoa powder with custard powder. Check the timing and don't cook too long.
* Fruit Sponge - Place fruit in the bottom of the mug and mix in another container. Pour half the mixture over the fruit before cooking as usual. One recipe will make two mugs this way. To make it a vanilla fruit pudding leave out the cocoa and add custard powder. When cooking half the mixture this way, half the timing too. e.g. 1.5 minutes in 100W microwave.
* Very Lemon - Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Leave out the cocoa and vanilla and add extra flour. Check timing for your oven.
* Poppy Seed and Almond - Add almond essence and a teaspoon of poppy seeds. Leave out the cocoa and add a little extra flour. Watch the timing as it might need a little less time than the chocolate.
* Ginger Pudding - Add ground ginger and crystalised ginger chopped finely. Leave out the cocoa and add a little extra flour.
* Chocolate Cherry - Simply add chopped glace cherries, or add cherries and coconut
* Chocolate Peanut Butter - Add some small blobs of peanut butter before cooking. Or put a larger lump in the middle. Chunky peanut butter works best for this
* Surprise Cake - Add a small lump of something interesting to the centre before cooking. Try cream cheese, marmalade or jam. (This will be hotter than the cake so take care)



And there you have it. See you soon, morbid obesity!

Mari x

Saturday 9 October 2010

Little Fille A/W2010 lookbook

It's been so hectic around here - eat, sleep, headbands. Lots of potential good news to share with you soon, I hope. Here's a look at full A/W2010 Little Fille collection, I'm very proud of it! Hope you'll find some pieces you love. Let me know what you think.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Paperchase

Daniel spent lots of time concocting his latest video, a Poptent entry for Ecomagination. I provided the helping hand(s).

Sunday 3 October 2010

Halloween

This post is dedicated to the lovely Michelle Elaine at Fvncy. ;)

Halloween is my favourite. Since it's October, I've decided to chronicle all my Halloween costumes since 2003 in one image-heavy post.

2003:



Ah, Gogo Yubari and my terrible oily bangs. This was when I thought turning photos BW and upping the contrast made me cool and artsy. Philip went as a giant tampon and this is the before photo.

2004:

I'm not sure - some type of one handed zombie bride with bad socks, who stole Julian Casbablancas' jacket.

2005:





The following year, Phil stole my costume. Him and Rene were the corpse bride and groom. I was some sort of broken-hearted, decapitated then revived, gothic elf who enjoys late night dinners at Wendy's.

2006:





Lots of recycling going on here again as Phil's used last years mask to create quite possibly the worstgreatest Darth Maul costume I have ever seen. I used toilet roll and duct tape to create the blaster of my ultimate ~style icon~ Princess Leia. Rene was the same guy from last year but with a gun. Just kidding, I think he was someone from Battle Royale.

2008:

Diy'd again. I think this costume cost less than 5 quid to make. I wore false eyelashes cos my 15 year old asian boy non-makeup face creeped me out.

2009:

Last Halloween, I had a wedding to attend, so didn't plan much of a costume. I made this out of a tea towel, a pair of tights and some underwear, how resourcefully gross. I did go to a Halloween party afterwards, but it turned out to be quite a small gathering of people I didn't really know at the time, and no one was really wearing costumes, and I didn't really want to be the elephant in the room. HAr. When I posted this as my facebook profile picture, someone thought I was wearing a breathing apparatus.

This Halloween, I'm not really sure what I want to be. I really wanted to go to Disneyland Paris because apparently they've got the most wonderful Halloween theme going on, but a trip on the Eurostar doesn't really look likely because it costs loads and loads.

What's everyone going as this Halloween?

Mari x