Happy New Year to the three people who actually read my blog. If for some miraculous reason there is more than three people reading this, Happy New Year to you too! I was hoping to get a blog post up sooner than this but find myself unwell or too busy to even take the photos I need for the posts I want to put up. I will be moving into my own space soon and until then I'm busy, with the help of others, getting it ready. I do find it very hard to do anything blog related when I'm in such a small space at the moment. Oh and lets not forget about the awful, dark, dull, rainy days we get here in Ireland too. It's actually snowing right now.

When I move, I'm hoping to get things with my blog, rolling. I have lots of posts planned and even some videos I want to make. I don't have the best equipment for when it comes to videoing and editing those videos but some of my favourite YouTubers use their webcams or crappy cameras and still manage to produce interesting and awesome content so surely I can do the same!

Grey Hooded Cardigan: H&M, Skeleton Top: New Look, Leggings: Penneys/Primark, Boots: Littlewoods

OK ok, enough rabbiting on. Yesterday I done my makeup, put on some clothes and ended up really liking how it all looked together. I said to Steve would he be able to take some quick photos of me before we lost the light. These are some of the photos he got of me! The photos came out great but the quality isn't the best as the ISO was up pretty high because we had hardy any light, which basically means they're a bit grainy and I noticed they make my foundation look a little cakey. I promise it looked way smoother and nicer than that.

Above are just some photos of the look with my glasses on. I ended up taking them off because of all the raindrops on them (which you can see in the last photo above)! Plus they hid my eye makeup, although this eye makeup and outfit does look well with glasses.

The long grey hooded cardigan thing is from H&M and I searched but can't find it online, sorry! I got this the time I bought a load of awesome grungy, edgy stuff including the dress and leather vest jacket I wore in this post. I love it a lot and wear it loads! It's not super warm though, best for layering or on chilly evenings. Not for when its nearly snowing and in these photos you can actually see my chest going red from the cold! The things I do for blog posts. Shhh.. don't tell Nana.

My skeleton top is from New Look during Halloween last year and isn't available anymore, sadly. It glows in the dark!! I love it.

My foundation is Mac Studio Fix Fluid and it's AMAZING. Well so far anyhow. I will do a review sometime in future I'm sure. On my eyes is two shades from the Limecrime palette "Venus" and on my lips is Limecrime's "Cement" Velvetine. Now I know everyone is completely and totally against Limecrime but to be honest and in my opinion they have great products, I have literally no problems with them and I share the same views about Limecrime that Stephanie Nicole does in this video (starts at 10.22). Totally understand if you don't like them but don't get all angry over some makeup, man! Calm down! You can read more about the scandal's and stuff here, including the whole FDA thing.

Limecrime's Venus palette is amazing, I'm in complete love with it and doing a review post of it is actually one of the many posts I want to get up soon. It's a very red based palette which is perfect if you like your grungy looks. They blend so so well and I will definitely talk about them more in future. In this look I went for an orangey rusty look which I think looks really well with "Cement". Their Velvetines are the only liquid to matt lipsticks that actually stay on my lips for a good while. I don't get the long lastingness like some people do because my lips are ridiculously dry and it does start to fade after awhile but this is the first time I've ever been able to wear anything on my lips for so long. Can't rave about them enough! The colour is an amazing deep grey and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to get it! I got this along with some other things and the Venus palette on sale around Christmas. It was a freakin' amazing sale. Got some Velvetines for pretty much half price. Delighted. Will have a review of all in future.

My boots are from Littlewoods and the only sale thing I bought from there. I find Littlewoods has gotten so bad over the last few years clothes wise. Especially in the plus size section. Bin bags. Yep. 'Cos no plus size lady has actually got a shape and they certainly don't want anything fitted and not baggy. UGH. Anyhow I was going through the sale and spotted these boots for €17! They're actually still on sale but gone up to €21. Not that I need anymore boots but these have low heels and all my other boots have a bit of a heel so I thought these might be a bit more comfortable. To be honest I can't give a good enough review of them right now because I only wore them once. But I love how they look!

And finally onto my jewellery! The pentagram necklace is from Fashionology.nl a good while back. I added it to a different chain so that it would be a little shorter. My choker I bought in a set of 5 from aliexpress.com for like a euro or something. And the Ankh earrings I made myself and get so many compliments on!

I had to obviously include a photo of Steve, my photographer for the day. He froze his little fingers off and moaned about the cold but got me the shots I wanted, so thanks :P He's currently working on a blog post so head over to his blog to see it when it's up!

I have no idea when I'll have another blog post mainly because of being busy and all that I explained at the beginning but definitley in the next few months I'm hoping to get a bit more frequent with posting! You can follow me on my new facebook page Spooky Ash which I've already started to post to! If you have bloglovin, twitter or instagram you can follow me at those places too for updates :)

Thanks for reading!!

I've spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect phone case for my iPhone. I see such lovely ones on ASOS and other sites but for ridiculous prices that I just can not find it in me to pay for. Unless of course it was unique and you're not going to find it anywhere else. But a lot of the time these phone cases can actually be found other places and for a hell of a lot lower prices. Same with jewellery.

Two of my favourite places to search for iPhone cases is eBay and Aliexpress. They have super cheap cases on there although you do have to wait up to a month or even longer for the item which doesn't bother me much seeing as the item is so cheap.

I first actually saw this phone case on someones Instagram and they said they got it on eBay I think. It's on both eBay and Aliexpress.com. I just done a quick search on Aliexpress and this is the cheapest I could find. But if you search around you might find it even cheaper. That one I linked is just over €3 and I've seen them on other sites for €20! Also note that prices will vary on the model of phone you have. I have noticed that 4 and 4s covers and cases are becoming less and less available now. Like there is this amazing Baymax cover I want so bad but it's only available for newer iPhones. Boo.

On eBay I could only find the Ghost case for iPhone 4s here and it's a bit more expensive at €7. But for newer versions it's cheaper at about €4-€5. I do find Aliexpress better price wise.

I search "Silicone Ghost iPhone" Or "Silicone Ghost iPhone Case" it also helps to put in the model of your phone but not always. Sometimes you might find more available just searching the first simple one. Also while I was searching for that I found this amazing No Face from Spirited Away iPhone Case.

This is a perfect example of how you should search as many different names and descriptions as possible. No Face is from the Studio Ghibli animated film Spirited Away which I highly recommend you watch, but on this eBay sale there is no mention of that. I found it searching "Silicone Ghost iPhone" and the name they have given it in the listing is "Ghost Monster".  There is actually quite a lot of them in that search. This one being the cheapest but not available for iPhone 4S. He's also available under that same search on Aliexpress. I've seen the same with Totoro phone cases, sometimes he's under "Cartoon Bear" or even "Cat iPhone Case".  I even found these cute Monsters Inc cases by searching "Cartoon Bear iPhone".

Just to show you the size! Also got that WITCH hat on eBay or Aliexpress for a couple of euros!

So this was meant to be a short review on the super cute perfect for Halloween Ghost iPhone Case but ended up as a bit of a guide to buying phone cases. I hope it helped someone anyhow. If you find a phone case you like, it never hurts to head to eBay or Aliexpress and see can you get it cheaper. A lot of the time you can find alternatives. I know a site that's selling these Bluey Green Shell iPhone cases for a lot more than €4 ;) Those Boys Tears ones are all over Aliexpress as well!

The Ghost Phone Case I have is so great. I think some people might find it bulky but I like the bulkiness. Its great to hold and the silicone means it doesn't slide around on surfaces. The only down side was the pumpkin fell off! Well it was kind of my fault. It's not meant for pockets. Jean pockets anyhow. It got stuck in them and when I pulled too hard the poor pumpkin came off. I have since glued it back on and it's fine though! It's one of my favourite phone cases and perfect for this time of year! Oh and did I mention, IT GLOWS IN THE DARK! Yessssss! :D

Let me know if you get one for yourself or any of the others mentioned or if this post helped you at all with looking for your perfect phone case without breaking the bank!

Here in Ireland the only Halloween decorations that are really avaliable to us are from the Euro Giant (€2 Shop), Dealz and other pound shops as well as some super markets like Tesco's, Dunnes and Supervalu. Well here in the midlands of Ireland anyhow.

I have bought everything I could possibly buy in the pound/euro shops last year and the year before. This year they've put out the very same stuff bar a few odd new things. The sort of Halloween stuff that is available is cheap and kiddy with a mix of some awesome stuff you might hang up all year around.  Same goes for Tesco's and Supervalu which have a lot of costume related things and not so much decorations you can keep up, like I want to do.

Dunnes are probably best out of all those shops for more grown up kind of decorations but they're ridiculously expensive. I saw a plastic candle holder for €25. Eh no thanks.

But then comes the arrival of TK Maxx in Mullingar and not long after in Athlone. I've only ever been to the TK Maxx's in Dublin and don't usually stay very long as its oddly laid out and too busy. But we decided to go have a look and see if there was any nice clothes or shoes. We (Steve and I) ended up finding some really nice stuff including some Vans for himself and Blowfish boots for me. Which sadly I haven't really gotten to wear yet cos the weather is still way too warm. What's happening Ireland?

Then we headed towards the homeware section and I nearly died with excitement. A table of Halloween stuff! But pretty, solid, not so cheap looking Halloween stuff! I was really worried that all the stuff would be expensive but as it turns out they're very reasonably priced! I was delighted and went a bit overboard :P But my excuse is good! I'll be moving into my own place soon and obviously need to decorate it with all this amazing stuff!

Guys, would you just look at the amazingness? Firstly I had no idea TK Maxx did Halloween stuff but it's probably good I didn't know cos I have no idea how I would have gotten all this back from Dublin. Now that there is stores in Mullingar and Athlone, which are both not far from me, everything can be brought back in the car with us.

Everything is just so sleek and perfect for year round decor for my house and not tacky and glittery (not that I don't love that but just not year round). I have no idea how much everything is because they're all packed away at the moment, I think the big skeleton guy could have been about €20, he is super heavy and totally worth the money. Everything else varied, smaller items being about €3.99-€8.99 and medium ones like the skull and bones tray and candle holders being about €12.99 I think. Those are all estimates and some might have been even cheaper or dearer than what I'm saying. Anyhow for the most part everything is well priced and I was so happy with what I got!

That's Steve holding the Skeleton just for size reference. He's got a little bowl at the top to put stuff in. I'm thinking probably sweets? We'll probably hold something else in it though, sorry Steve :P

I have since made another visit to the Mullingar store and bought some more stuff! I know, I have a Halloween problem. But I've packed everything away and have no photos for you! I will of course be putting them out when I'm in my new house and you'll definitely see them all then and I will dedicate a whole post to it.

But I did get some photos of the four items I got in Athlone. I took these photos in Snapchat so apologies for the quality. If you want to follow me on Snapchat, fluffyvw, please do! I follow most peoples back.

I'm dying!!! Snowglobes!!! Halloween, gothy, amazing snowglobes! I had already bought one or two (I've already forgotten what I got!) on the second shop in Mullingar which I don't have photos of but then spotted these in Athlone. I think the snowglobes are about €16.99 and maybe €20 for ones that you can wind up and plays music. The ones I have there is a Gargoyle holding a lantern and it has little bat confetti in it. The second one has those amazing skulls around the base and inside is a graveyard scene with a crow and tree. Again it has the bat confetti!
Then I have the books of spells with the crow on top. Look at that. And a small tombstone with a bat on top.  They're all heavy and well worth the money.

Steve has banned me from visiting anymore :P but anyone who is from Ireland and especially the midlands that wants some awesome spooky decor for their rooms or houses get to TK Maxx now!

I hope you enjoyed this post and sorry I don't have better photos of everything. One of the reasons I haven't blogged in awhile is because it's very hard to take photos of things for this blog. I live in a small space at the moment and anything I've bought I've had to store away for now. But as I mentioned I will be moving soon and will have lots of room but until then I just decided to post what I could as I really enjoy blogging, this time of year especially!

Lots more Halloween related posts to come! ;)

 

Happy 1st of October! 

The Questions:

1. Do you still Trick or Treat, if not, what age did you stop going trick or treating? I think I was starting to get into my teens. It was very depressing but if I could and it didn't seem really weird I would still go trick or treating.

2. Do you like going to haunted attractions? I don't think I've ever been to one that I can think of. But yes I would like to go to some haunted attractions.

3. Favorite Halloween Candy: Nestle Milkybar Ghosts, Milk Chocolate Pumpkins with Smarties inside and Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cups. All above! NOM NOM NOM.

4. Favorite Halloween Movie: I have a few, Hocus Pocus being an obvious one. Trick R Treat is a great Halloween horror movie. The Lost Boys I love to watch around autumn time.

5. Favorite Scary Movie: It's very hard to find an scary movies these days. I'll go with The Thing. Love it so much and still has me on edge when I watch it for the millionth time.

6. Favorite costume you ever wore as a child: I always went as a vampire, haha! But maybe when I changed things up and went as a Banshee. I know there is a photo somewhere but I haven't seen it in along time. I hope it's not lost!

7. First costume you can remember wearing: Vampire, like I mentioned above. Although when I was very young I'm pretty sure I wore one of those cheap kids masks.

8. Favorite Fall Food and Beverage: Do the chocolate things above that I mentioned count as food? And I don't have a favourite beverage specifically for autumn.

9. Do you have a festive background on your phone? The photo above is the background I have on my phone right now. It doesn't look festive to you but it is to me! It was the first of October and I was out with Steve taking photos of the changing Autumn colours.

10. What are you going to dress up as this year? I'm not dressing up this year unfortunately but I would love to. I haven't dressed up right in a long time. I would love to try this Masquerade Flesh Mask tutorial.

11. What would your pet be?  I have a dog called Merle and he's crazy and definitely wouldn't let me dress him up but just recently we got him that awesome Halloween collar in the photo above!

12. What candy do you have left in your stash after you eat everything else? I'd usually always leave the nicest Chocolate til last.

Windowsill in my room

My Halloween projector.

13. Do you decorate your house? Unfortunately I don't have my own house at the moment so it's not decorated but my room is! And if I had a house it would be decorated with Halloween stuff all year round.

14. Pumpkin Patches, Corn Mazes, or Hayrides? I'd love to go to all of them but mainly a pumpkin patch.

15. Going to a Corn Maze, what do you wear? Something comfortable I guess? I've never been! Or maybe dress up and scare people as you meet them.

16. Vampires or Werewolves? That's a hard one as I really like both. I think I would go with Vampires just because the transformation of a Werewolf really looks like it hurts.

17. Do you believe in ghosts? I think so yes but I'm still sceptical. I have yet to see something spooky and unexplained with my own eyes.

I can't remember how it was I came across Dead Man's Bones but when I first heard them I couldn't believe that was Ryan Gosling's voice. I heard them long before he was in films like Drive, Only God Forgives and The Place Beyond The Pines. I only knew him from The Notebook and as Hollywood's latest heartthrob. I did not think he could produce music like this.

Of course he wasn't alone. He started up Dead Man's Bones with friend Zach Shields. When they met, they actually hated each other but eventually found out they both shared a love for the creepy and macabre. They both put together their love of Horror and created the amazing and eerie "Dead Man's Bones".  Straight away I loved it and it has become one of my favourite albums to listen to around Halloween time. If I make a playlist you can be sure they'll be on it.

I should also mention the amazing choir that are also featured throughout the album, Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir. Now I have to admit, having a choir on an album doesn't sound very appealing to me but this works very well and I urge you to give it a listen even if it puts you off.

All the songs have a spooky element as they decided to write love songs about ghosts and monsters. "In The Room Where You Sleep", "My Body's A Zombie For You" and "Buried In Water" being some of my favourites.

In The Room Where You Sleep (Live)

"There's something in the shadows

in the corner of your room.

A dark heart is beating

and waiting for you.

There is no open window, but the floors still creek.

In the room where you sleep.

In the room where you sleep…

Where you… sleep."

My Body's A Zombie For You

"The smell of my breath

From the blood in your neck

Oh, I hold my soul

From the lands unknown

So I can play the strings of your death"

Buried In Water

"When the women and kids are asleep

The wolves there, in the skin of the sheep

So lock all the windows and doors

The devil's coming for you and yours."

Name In Stone

(Live from a Graveyard)

"In the end we'll make a home

A name in stone

A name in stone

In the end we'll make our home

A name in stone

Your name in stone."

That last song "Name in Stone" isn't actually on the album for whatever silly reason! It's a wonderful song and that video is just perfect.

I didn't think there was anything about a new album until I saw this tumblr post. I can't seem to find any official news though. And I do wonder if it's false, especially because the date is June of this year and well, there is nothing out so far! All news about it is from last year as well... We can only hope!

I will leave you with a link to the whole album on YouTube. Be sure to give it a listen in full as it's wonderful. It's not all doom and gloomy I should mention and you should know if you listened to the songs above. It's great for those raining autumns days, yes, but also for those sunny crisp autumn days!



I hope you enjoyed reading and listening to this post! I should have some more Spooky Halloween Soundtrack's very soon! Make sure you're following me on Bloglovin or here on Blogger for updates on my blog!

Until next time...

Don't you just love old vintage* style Halloween stuff? From awesome stickers, decorations and ornaments, the internet likes to tease me!

Note: some of this stuff mightn't actually be "vintage" it's mostly that they have a look or feel of that wonderful Halloweeny vintageness :P

Halloween Silhouettes from Ed Emberley's Big Orange Drawing Book. 

(On Amazon)

Charles Addams Halloween MugMates

Why don't you exist mugs?! Cos I would buy the hell out of you. 

Hallmark Halloween Scratch Cards

I really want to scratch and know the answer to these!

Halloween Hallmark Card Stickers

You can never have enough Halloween stickers.

Halloween Decoration from Etsy.

Etsy has tons of awesome Halloween decorations and ornaments like this Haunted House wall art!

Vintage Halloween Garland on Etsy.

This Etsy shop has some seriously awesome Halloween style Garland's and just amazing vintage style garlands in general! Be sure to check them out. 

For more Halloween goodness you can check out my Halloween Etsy Finds For The Home and Halloween Etsy Finds You Can Wear as well as some Halloween Art. 

Thanks for reading! :)

So, have you seen my first Halloween Etsy Finds? It has lots of Halloween home decor! Now we're onto stuff you can wear!

There are so many wonderful Halloween related jewellery/clothes/other stuff on Etsy and it was very hard not to include it all. But I do have a Halloween list on Etsy that you can keep an eye on as I will be adding lots to it over time.

First up are these amazing earrings!

All earrings above are by PinkPandemonium on Etsy!

Army of Darkness Dangle Earrings | Evil Dead 2 Stud Dangle Earrings

Michael Myers Halloween Knife Earrings | Elvira Coffin Shaped Earrings with Pumpkins

I just love these so much! What better way to show your love for all things Horror than a pair of these homemade Horror earrings?!

The Evil Dead Ash Hair Bow on the left is by the same person who made the awesome earrings above! I also found this amazing Halloween Horror Movie Bow that I think every horror movie fan needs!

I just love this silhouette of the Bride of Frankenstein. So pretty! You can get it as earrings or a lovely brooch.

I love this Jack O' Lantern Dress so much! And how awesome would it look with this long golden necklace with skulls?! UGH. I would wear that everyday.

These two also pair well! A Slime Green Glitter Beetlejuice Brooch and a Green Slime Collar which I need right now.

Halloween Nail Decal Pack & Black Bat Halloween Vinyl Nail Decals (Set of 50)

I really need to get myself some Halloween nail decals. I'd never stop using them!

Acrylic Ghost Earrings

I love how cute, spooky and simple these ghosts look! 

How amazing is this Beetlejuice Handbook for the Recently Deceased? It's just like in the movie! Thinking of being Lydia Deetz this year? Well you can't be without this book!

And lastly how great is this Hocus Pocus iPad Case? You can also get it as a makeup bag from the same shop but I really need to find it as an iPhone case! It's the best thing!

I could have honestly included so much more but like I said keep an eye on my Halloween list on Etsy for more Halloween related awesomeness! 

Anything here catch your eye? Let me know! :D

Don't forget to check out the first Halloween Etsy Finds and I also have an Autumn Etsy Finds over on Sempre Sorres. 

Thanks so much for reading/looking!