Fancy Dress Galore from the Online Joke Shop

There are so many celebrations throughout the year where you need a costume, St Patrick's Day and Sports Relief to name just two upcoming events, and the Online Joke Shop can meet all of your fancy dress requirements. Whether it's something cute for your child's birthday party, a spooky outfit for Halloween or historic items for school, they are certain to have something for your budget.

The Mini Mes have their birthdays approaching (28th March and 8th April) so I've been looking for Super Hero party ideas over the past few weeks. They are both a little obsessed with Marvel and DC characters and each of these outfits costs less than than £20 which I feel is great value. Not only can they wear them for their parties but they can go in the dress up boxes for rainy day play too so they will get plenty of use over the years to come.

World Book Day Costume Ideas with Duck Tape

When the letters come home from school about World Book Day I generally look online and purchase a costume for the Mini Mes and we've had some great ones over the years. But this time, to save money and to have a little fun in the process, we decided to create our own. After all, nothing beats a little imagination and effort for a home made design.

It gives us all a great sense of achievement too.

What the Ladybird Heard is a lovely rhyming tale by Julia Donaldson. The illustrations are bold and bright and the glitter adds even more magic to the pages. Ladybirds have always been a favourite creature of Minxy's so she has dressed as one quite a few times.

To create this Ladybird costume we just used a large cardboard box, red and black Duck Tape - it really is that simple!

World Book Day Costumes

As soon as I visited Jokers' Masquerade I knew exactly which costumes to choose for the Mini Mes ready for World Book Day (6th March).

When the book fair visits school, 'Where's Wally?' is always the first book they seek out, sit down together with and enjoy. It was always the first I looked for too with friends as a child. Trying to find the man dressed in stripes among all the other characters was always great fun and would even get a little competitive! Plus, the outfits both Wally and Wenda wear are very distinctive so they really appealed.

Christmas Gift Giveaway - Simply Fancy Dress

Whether you want to be the belle of the ball or let the little ones have fun dressing up as their favourite characters and superheros, Simply Fancy Dress have something to meet every taste and budget.

The Gruffalo is a well loved story in our home and we were thrilled to received the costume to match - Jamster rushed to put it on straight away and got in to the role! Made from Polyester it's comfortable to wear and easy to clean, you can just pop it in the washing machine with the rest of your laundry.

We received age 3-5 and this fit Jamster (aged 6) just right so there is plenty of room for growth and years of fun to be had. You can pass it onto siblings too as it's a tale that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

It's superb quality and it has all of the Gruffalo features mentioned in the story...

" He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, And terrible teeth in his terrible jaws."

"He has knobbly knees and turned-out toes, And a poisonous wart at the end of his nose"

"His eyes are orange, his tongue is black; He has purple prickles all over his back"

There is a Velcro opening at the front so children will be able to dress themselves with ease and elasticated straps to the feet and hands for a better fit. Jamster had no issues getting in and out unaided. The costume is very durable and as well as fun at home it would be great to celebrate World Book Day in March! - There is free delivery included too.

*** WIN ***

Simply Fancy Dress have kindly provided a costume in age 3-5 years worth £23.99 to giveaway!

You can enter via the Rafflecopter entry form below before 20th December 2012.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can find this costume and more kids fancy dress on their website: 

http://www.simplyfancydress.co.uk

*We received a Gruffalo costume for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own*

Fancy Dress Ball - Halloween clothing

Fancy Dress Ball have a HUGE range of wonderful costumes for every occasion and with Halloween on the horizon now is the time to pick up your perfect fancy dress outfit.

They have a great mixture of seriously scary and gruesome dress up to super cute and fun items that suit every taste and budget.

We picked out two costumes to review; Minxy selected a Gothic Vampiress set and I selected a spooky Living Dead Dolls Hollywood costume.

The costumes arrived quickly and I was pleasantly surprised with the feel and quality of the items.

The vampiress set includes a dress and collar and it comes in a soft, velvet-like material. The sleeves are long and the tie up detailing is a nice added touch to the front of the dress. It was easy to put on and it fitted well. Minxy is quite petite for an 8 year old (we received an 8-10 years costume) but the length was ideal for her with room to use again for next year too. At only £8.99 I feel that this is superb value! She is already looking forward to wearing it properly at Halloween.

Minxy: "It's really comfortable and I think it looks good without being too scary for children"

My Living Dead Dolls Hollywood costume has pretty lace detailing to the neckline and bottom of the dress. As it is made from Polyester it's silky smooth to the touch and soft against my skin. Considering I am 6ft it fit really well with the dress ending mid calf. It doesn't cling so it's quite flattering on my curves and it is really comfortable to wear. As part of the set it came with a mask too which has an elasticated strap for a great fit and it has eye and nostril holes so you can still see and breathe! It is flexible and soft so wont rub or scratch while wearing it either.

Both of the costumes came with popper sealing bags and hangers making them easy to store away.

Fancy Dress Ball also stock a variety of accessories to go with your costumes including make-up, weapons, jewellery and more. We were sent a wig to wear with my costume that is adjustable to fit any head. It wasn't itchy and it kept in place well.There weren't any noticeable bald patches and it was really soft with nice waves that stay.

If you wish to buy either of these costumes or take a peek at the rest of the Halloween range you can do so here: http://www.fancydressball.co.uk/halloween-costumes.htm

What are you dressing as this Halloween?

*We received costumes and a wig for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own*